Ilona Staller

Saucy sister to St Kilda's Cicciolina, Ilona Staller (also named after the Italian-Hungarian porn star) has found a fitting home on Balaclava's lively, bohemian Carlisle Street. The Art Deco building, a former bank turned fast-food joint, has been gussied up with zebra-print bar stools and caged bird wall fixtures. Like the waiters, Staller is flamboyant and cheeky, serving bistro food with bite. Among classics, the 'bee sting' is a standout starter - a fried jalapeno chilli stuffed with feta, lime and pinenuts. It's delicate and delectable, as are entrees such as fatty, crisp pork belly, served with a zesty calvados jus. Lemon linguine, dotted with sauteed calamari, pinenuts, currants, tomato, spring onions and squid ink-infused panko crumbs, zings and sings, while less boisterous mains like kingfish fillet with prawn farce may not be quite as memorable. Desserts, including chocolate bombe - the meringue crust scalded with a blowtorch - offer sweet redemption.