La Camera, Italian Restaurant

"We had a lovely time dining at La Camera. Perfect location for dinner before a show at Hamer Hall. Highly recommended."

"We had not been since Covid- and La Camera is as good as ever. We were well looked after, our Italian chianti was delicious and linguine pescatore was seriously better than one would get in Italy. ( we have much better seafood!)"

"What a great place to stop in whilst in Southgate. Positioned beautifully over the Yarra with city and river views, you’ll be welcomed by the friendly staff at this traditional and family feel Italian restaurant. Loading up for the half marathon the next day we were led to our table in the warm balcony dining area. The host recommended us and we followed and thankfully we did. We ordered the linguini pescatora, the porchetta, the lasagna for the teen and the risotto. Nothing could be faulted with amazing flavours, beautifully served and large portions as you’d expect from a family grown Italian restaurant. We didn’t have the space for dessert but will most definitely be back to try the ox cheek and the slow cooked beef Ragu option. The overall experience deserved six stars given the location, staff and food quality, serving size, flavours and price ( all of this Despite the local having some medical issues that needed attention (thanks to the staff for helping out and ensuring she was soundly cared for)! Thanks to everyone there and especially Peter/Paul (I can’t remember) for the amazing service and recommendations that were amazing"

"24 Jun 23. Four of us dined for lunch. We queued up outside as the restaurant was just opening for lunch. We didn't have to wait long. We were seated upon entering the restaurant, offered sparkling water and given menus. However, after ordering, we saw the table next to us had a specials menu that we didn't get. This menu had $25 pasta and pizza specials, which included a drink. I told our waitress that we didn't see this specials menu but she didn't really care as we'd already ordered. We ordered a small Garlic, Herb & Cheese pizza ($12), Chicken Parmigiana with chips and salad (31.50), Rigatoni Alla Genovese ($34), Gnocchi Di Zucca ($34) and Gnocchi Carbonara ($33) instead of Spaghetti Carbonara ($28.50). The pizza came out first after 30 minutes. Three of the mains came out together, but we had to wait another 5 minutes for the Gnocchi Carbonara. The parma was huge and tasty, the chips and salad looked and tasted good. The Rigatoni Alla Genovese was nice, but nothing special. I ordered the Gnocchi Di Zucca believing it was pumpkin gnocchi, but it was normal gnocchi with diced pumpkin as part of the sauce. (Description on menu: Pumpkin gnocchi, burnt butter, spinach, crushed walnuts, mushrooms, crispy prosciutto topped with shaved parmesan). The gnocchi was lovely, but I was disappointed as was looking forward to pumpkin gnocchi. The burnt butter sauce wasn't burnt so was very oily. The walnuts, prosciutto and mushrooms were sliced so small with a scattering of spinach leaves and a few shavings of parmesan. The Gnocchi Carbonara, the gnocchi was lovely but the sauce was thicker and cheesier than a normal Carbonara sauce, making the meal heavy and a bit gluggy. Disappointing presentation of this dish too."

"Atmosphere was lovely, we had seats on the balcony overlooking the Yarra river and beautiful lit up city views ( enclosed with plastic blinds for the cooler months). We ordered a small garlic and cheese pizza to share for entree it was very yummy. For main’s two of us ordered the risotto, unfortunately it was very bland, not much taste at all, it’s saving grace was the peas as I love peas! However my husband ordered the Spaghetti Carbonara and said it was the best he had ever had in his life. There’s not a lot of choice for vegetarian but a few dishes. We finished off with gelato which was nice but only a few flavours to choose from. Staff were friendly and attentive m. I had high expectations of La Camera as we had heard great reviews from friends, it didn’t quite get there for me. I would dine there again, maybe a pasta or pizza next time."