Assaggini Wine Bar & Restaurant
Tucked into Albert Street a few steps off Mornington's Main Street, this small Italian room trades in what its name promises — assaggini, or little tastings — built around handmade pasta and Mornington Peninsula wine. What sets it apart for plant-based diners is a full, separate vegan menu given the same attention as the rest: pumpkin and pea arancini with vegan aioli, a mushroom and spinach risotto finished with vegan mozzarella, pasta that doesn't read as an afterthought. The setting is intimate and low-lit, the sort of place for a long midweek lunch or an unhurried dinner, with BYO nights and Sunday roasts folded into the week. It opens Wednesday through Sunday for lunch and dinner, and the local wine list runs deep. For a peninsula better known for cellar-door long lunches, it is a genuine plant-based option that isn't relegated to the footnotes.
