Bring the gang: This pizza spot opposite the sea is a big, friendly party

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Through years of trial and error, I’ve come to the conclusion that, 98 per cent of the time, arancini are not worth ordering. Hot and crunchy as their breadcrumb jackets may be, the filling is usually just that: filler.

But I forgot my own rule during a recent long weekend on the Mornington Peninsula – and I’m glad I did. At Nora’s Pizza House in Rye, arancini are vessels for an eggplant ragu that radiates slow-cooked savouriness through the surrounding cheesy blanket. It was one of the few times when I wanted another.

A much-abused classic that’s treated right puts the mind at ease when scanning a menu stacked with other crowd favourites: bolognese, pizza capricciosa, prawn linguine. They’re dishes many families want to eat while they’re on holiday by the sea, but also resilient enough to weather the winter downturn in a town like Rye.

Nora’s opened in October 2024, bringing some pep to a strip of cafes, ice-cream shops and fish and chippers that mostly lie dormant after early evening, no matter the season. Between them, Nora’s owners variously have hands in Armadale’s Neighbourhood Pizza, St Paul’s General Store in Sorrento, and coffee roastery Vacation.

But back to the night of the arancini awakening. In summer, the Tuscan-toned Nora’s crackles with life opposite Rye’s foreshore. Grandparents and kids savour the last of school holidays, hungry teenagers sit on picnic tables out front and demolish pizzas from tall stands, couples split a pasta and margherita.

Red sauce pizzas dominate the dozen or so choices, but among the three on a garlic-and-cheese base, prawn feels like a must-order this close to the beach. The pizza’s base was a little too wet on this occasion (I had to call knife and fork off the bench), but its flavour channelled the best parts of garlic bread, and every coil of prawn was perfect and tender.

In contrast, a salami and two-cheese pizza was undergirded by a crisp, cracker-like base. Called “Ode to Roberta’s”, honouring the trailblazing Brooklyn pizzeria, it’s a patchwork of salty sopressa, San Marzano tomato, syrupy honey, and melted fior di latte. Sweet stracciatella cheese from Melbourne maker That’s Amore is scattered like cotton wool across the top just before serving.

Nora’s dough recipe is the same one used at Neighbourhood, with a long 48-hour rise, and Neapolitan-style finish: thin and floppy. But there’s no wood-fired oven involved. When you’re making 400 pizzas a night in peak season, the consistency of a conveyor oven is hard to beat, says co-owner Kael Sahely.

Winning locals over with something as universally loved as pizza is smart. On a Sunday evening in summer, people were coming to collect literal towers of pizza boxes, ferrying them home to big gatherings.

Australia’s other favourite carb, pasta, makes up a third of the menu. A generous bowl of vodka rigatoni was saucy, with properly al dente pasta that would make any Italian smile. The line-up feels more about popularity than any devotion to Italy’s regional cooking, another smart move in a beachy holiday hotspot.

Fistfuls of fresh herbs and salad leaves, such as the ultra-peppery rocket tumbled beside semolina-crumbed calamari, are a welcome gesture amid all the dough-driven dishes.

The corner restaurant – crisply painted in white, sage and terracotta – holds a mish-mash of timber furniture, including a chunky round table like one your parents might have donated to your first sharehouse. It all keeps the dial set to relaxed.

And you really can sit back here. Floor staff – all exceptionally young – are switched on, helpful and thoughtful. Have a question about a dish? They’ll find out right away for you, in case it changes your order.

Before your spritz is even finished, they’ll ask if you want another. It’s a simple thing, but when it happens, and there’s a gentle breeze, and a pretty summer sky, and easy-to-enjoy food, who wants complicated?

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.