There are pasta bars, then there’s Tipo 00. It remains one of the most sought-out spots since its 2015 opening, still on everyone’s lips as the place to twirl probably Melbourne’s best pasta.

The rustic room has a lo-fi bistro vibe, but no bells and whistles are needed here – they’re packing them in night after night, letting that luscious pasta do the heavy lifting as busy waiters navigate the tight space like ballerinas.

Order up and you’ll soon be delivered house-made focaccia, warm and crunchy with a generous spoon of fresh ricotta. It’s delicious, not to mention on the house.

Back it up with silky burrata that comes with two discs of pliable eggplant fried in golden crumbs for a comfort dish worth hanging the diet for.

Enjoy the interlude between entree and the main act with a Tuscan sangiovese from a good-priced list of Italian drops. Casarecce pinging with chunky pork sausage and radicchio for a salty sucker punch of flavour, a splash of white wine keeping its tangle lush, while roly-poly tortelloni beds down with cauliflower, Parmesan and sage to tasty effect.

Dolce? Perhaps a panna cotta heady with lemon verbena or the hero “tipomisu” blending chocolate, coffee and mascarpone.

Named after the flour used to make its winning pasta, Tipo 00 remains at the vanguard of showcasing the best of Italy.

Must eat dish: Casarecce with pork sausage
Instagram: @tipo_00