Its tiramisu is the talk of Toorak Road but Bar Carolina has more than just dessert drawing the crowds. While Insta check-ins are fast and furious on weekends, this slimline corner bar-cum-restaurant also has enough substance to pull a full house on a wintry Monday evening. Killer combo. 

Start with a fresh ball of oozy burrata spread on charcoal-tipped balls of sourdough and a smear of spicy ’nduja but know the main event here is a bowl of house-made pasta, just like Nonna used to make. There’s short pasta with clams or roast duck agnolotti but the pappardelle with braised rabbit, artichokes and truffle pecorino gets our vote for being as luscious as it is moreish. 

If you’re hungry, the 700g rib eye is a textbook perfect cut for two but it’s pricey and lacking the soul of the pasta. As for that tiramisu: you’d be hard pressed to find a table that doesn’t peer through the liquid nitrogen fog to gleefully smash into Carolina’s now-signature white chocolate sphere hiding mascarpone and tiny squares of coffee jelly. 

Perhaps not the best in town, but Bar Carolina looks good on a strip where looks count.

Must Eat Dish: Pappardelle with braised rabbit and artichokes