Napona

A little way from Ocean Grove's main strip, Napona isn't easy to find, making it all the more popular with locals, who love its wraparound deck. By day, this light-filled, modern space functions as a family-friendly cafe serving things like baked eggs and gnocchi with taleggio. But come evening, it has more serious ambitions, underpinned by the metropolitan experience of chef Will Swinton, who did a stint at Cumulus in Melbourne. The menu roams across Mediterranean and Asian flavours and might include gnocchi with blue cheese or pork belly in XO sauce. Entrees are generous and satisfying, particularly crisp pumpkin fritters with labne on a mound of cracked wheat salad, and thick-cut tuna sashimi with a wasabi-infused pea puree. Not every dish fires on all cylinders - on one visit a bearnaise sauce was lacklustre - but that's the price you sometimes pay for this kind of flamboyant cooking. Desserts are sensibly limited to four crowd-pleasers, including Eton mess and creme brulee.