Boccata Restaurant & Wine Bar — Restaurant in Melbourne

Overall, everything was just okay, but compared to other Novotel locations (even the ones in Melbourne), the experience felt below average. The restaurant itself is pleasant, and the food was just fine, but the service was quite slow and a bit careless.

We ordered the fried lasagna bites as a starter — they were fine, though nothing remarkable (unfortunately, there was no focaccia available). Our first main was the pappardelle ragù, which was average in both presentation and flavor. We then waited almost 30 minutes for the truffle mushroom gnocchi, which turned out to be disappointing and not worth the long wait.

We finished with a tiramisu that was clearly pre-plated and refrigerated — a bit dry, but still decent. We also ordered a glass of Pinot Noir, which was fresh, smooth, and easy to drink. We would have ordered more, but the staff rarely came by our table. In fact, several nearby tables also had to call the waiters over to check on their orders or request dessert menus. It often felt like we were being forgotten.

Our first waiter, a young man, seemed uninterested — when we asked for recommendations, he admitted he wasn’t a big fan of most dishes, which wasn’t very encouraging. Later, another waiter served our desserts; he was much more attentive and pleasant, which helped end the evening on a better note.

Overall, not a terrible experience, but definitely room for improvement. The restaurant can be visited without staying at the hotel, and they offer 90 minutes of free...

Ate here tonight while staying at the attached Ibis Styles Melbourne Airport Hotel. The service was very good and the atmosphere quite nice but the food was overpriced and very underwhelming. We got 2 entrees, the deep fried lasagna and the potato focaccina with tomato butter. The "lasagna" just tasted like deep fried bread crumbs and the foccacina was glorified bread with bland tomato butter. For mains I had the $65 MB8-9 sirloin steak (which did not include sides) and ordered it rare, it came out less than blue and I'm quite sure it was not defrosted properly from frozen. The inside was closer to tuna than steak and the outside was lacking a decent sear. Photos attached. My partner had the rigatoni, which had a sauce that was quite nice, but the pasta was quite undercooked, certainly not al dente. The sides which were roughly $15 each (chips, and broccolini - substituting cauliflower they had run out of) were very nice. The limited cocktail selections were quite nice also, the Espresso Martini and Lemon Sour were both good. Also a few nice whiskeys on the menu. All in all the drinks were decent if lacking a litte variety and the food was a big let down, I definitely wouldn't...

BOCCATA RESTAURANT Novotel Melbourne Airport. Saturday 16th August 2025. Dinner tonight was a big surprise it was very good. As I explain you will understand. I’m at the Melbourne Airport at the Novotel. I went to BOCCATA RESTAURANT. Expecting the usual bland salty food. I read the menu. “Interesting “.

So entree - Deep Fried Lasagna. Yes lasagna fried. I had to try it. It arrived nice square crumb morsels. Bit of creamy tomato sauce. Okay I’m intrigued fried lasagna. Well now wow there you go it’s a thing. It’s very good it’s lasagna crunch. So the outside is the pasta the inside is the meat sauce then add the tomato cream sauce. I think it’s very clever. I’d come back for it. Main - Mushroom truffle Gnocchi. Wow now we are having a good time. Light clouds of puff gnocchi with a very good sauce of mushrooms with truffle. I really liked it. Add to that the service and people were really good. I chatted to the chef the maître d & waiters. Just good old fashioned interaction. I don’t believe I found a good restaurant anywhere near the airport. But I did. I recommended...