1800 Lasagne is Melbourne's first hatted lasagne restaurant

The following is an email I sent to my editors last week. After some slight tweaks, we decided to run the email itself as this week's review.

Hi folks,

I could use some help thinking through the score for 1800 Lasagne in Thornbury. Because, honestly, it is kind of a perfect restaurant. I think I need to go back to try to find something wrong with it ... though that seems silly because its basic premise is that it just sells lasagne and things that go with lasagne. So if it does that as well as is possible by the laws of the universe (and it does), why quibble?

The lasagne ($26.50) is SO GOOD. The mix of beef and pork and delicate pasta is as good as any I've had anywhere, but the thing that makes it stand out is the crown of fluffy, creamy bechamel, an excess of delicious goo that is both somehow rich and light at the same time. The dish is a goddamn wonder. My husband, a lasagne-obsessive, said, "All of my dreams have come true" when presented with this lasagne.

The vegetarian eggplant version ($26.50) is almost as good, the eggplant appropriately smooshy, the decadence firmly in place.

The garlic bread ($8) is SO GOOD. It's standard old-school garlic bread, a simple roll partially sliced, with garlic and butter. But, like, so much garlic and butter, an embarrassment of garlic and butter.

The simple cos wedge salad ($9) is perfect – crunchy lettuce, anchovy cream, a flurry of grated grana padano.

The cocktails are so much better than they need to be – they're classics, but ... that's what you want, right? At a lasagne restaurant? You don't want a kumquat milk punch before your lasagne: you want a martini made to your specifications; you want a Manhattan stirred down and served in a beautiful glass with two cherries.

The wine list is SO MUCH BETTER than it needs to be: all Italian, affordable, full of exciting things. The staff doesn't know it very well, and will push you towards things they sell by the glass because that's what they've tasted. That is literally my only complaint.

And the service isn't formal at all, which is 100 per cent appropriate! In fact, if it were, it would detract from the fun of the place. You don't want fine-dining service at a lasagne restaurant. You want friendly people who will bring you a delicious plate of lasagne.

The room is nostalgic fun but not disingenuous at all. Brick, wood panelling, orange pendant light fixtures. If anything, it honours the long tradition of fantastic neighbourhood Italian Australian restaurants that have always been a huge part of what makes Melbourne such an amazing place to live and eat. It is instantly recognisable, instantly comforting.

I'm super excited for the new businesses owner Joey Kellock is opening this year on High Street – if he can do this well with lasagne, I can't wait to see what he does with a neighbourhood bar and a sandwich shop.

I ... just don't know how to rate 1800 Lasagne. It is not what a hatted restaurant traditionally is. But if we were to take it on the merits of "how well are they doing what they set out to achieve?", they nail the brief completely.

I suppose we have moved in a direction where we take all of these things into account: the quality, the heart of a place, what it means for a neighbourhood. Fanciness is no longer the only defining factor. I love fanciness! But I love other things, too, and I think it's appropriately reflected in the way we reward and rate things these days. Even Michelin now gives out stars to street-food vendors – I reckon there's room for a hatted lasagne restaurant, right?

Maybe we just take this email and use it as the review. Pull back the curtain on the process. Give people a window into our thinking, on how the hats are evolving to include truly casual restaurants that are nonetheless excellent.

Because I'll tell you what: I'd drive clear across town for this lasagne, this place, these friendly people. There is simply nothing about it not to love.

Vibe Old-school neighbourhood Italian joint

Go-to dish The, um, lasagne

Drinks Fantastic classic cocktails, smart Italian-focused wine list

Cost About $85 for two, plus drinks