NO ROOM FOR IMPROVMENT!

There are a copule of blokes standing outside Cucina Vostra, peering in through the door and looking a little anzious. Their mate who is inside comes out and tells them there's no room. "Geez," says one of the forlorn trio. "Wht is it about this place? You can never get in."

It is an early weeknight in Armadale and while much of High Street is looking like thumbleweed territory, Cucina Vostra, simple, modest Italian bistro, is full. Full as in not one spare seat in the house.

As the blokes standing around outside might eventually realise, it is a good idea to make a booking if you want to eat here.

So what is secret to its succsess? The short answer is probably good plain cooking and a friendly unpretentious attitude, but there are plenty of half-empty joints across Melbourne that would fit that bill.

Vostra's X-factor seems to come from it ticking all the boxes - from comfortable room to good service and dependably familiar, well-priced food - that make homely Melbourne Italian restaurants perennially popular. There is nothing fancy about anything it does and that is why it works well.

The dinning room is plainly decorated with a few Italian coffee posters, a framed mirror and a blackboardspecials menu on the cream-colored walls. There is a paper and cloth on the tables, a wooden floor and wooden venetians in the front window. It is a comfortable, buzzy and familiar space.

The menu includes wood-fired pizza and a good range of pasta, risotto and meat dishes. Familiarity rules the day, the cooking is plain and honest and the ingredints tasty.

The wine list here is relatively brief, with a selection of mainly Australian wines mixing it with a number of reasonably priced Italians.

"Cusine Talk - with Michael Harden"