Gusto da Gianni

Gusto da Gianni
Hamilton, Portside
Ph: 07 3868 2011
Mains: $20-30
Verdict: Delicious home-cooked Italian
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The Delicious magazine does dinners at reputable restaurants around Australia every month. Some friends organised for us to go to the one happening in Brisbane (which usually misses out). At first I was not going to go because of the price tag - $85, but at the last moment decided to go to fill the seats that were booked.

It was so worth it! The fact is that $85 for a 4 course meal with matching wines at a quality restaurant is actually a great deal. The menu was also full of things that I would eat (not always the case on set menus).

Menu
wine on arrival: Castello di Gabbiano Rose 2007

Starter
Antipasti of fried calamari & zucchini with mixed seafood salad
Castello di Gabbiano Pinot Grigio 2007

Entree
Handmade pasta with slow cooked veal ragu and mushrooms
Castello di Gabbiano Chianti 2007

Main
Braised beef with green peas, fresh tomato and polenta
Castello di Gabbiano Bellezza 2007

Dessert
Pineapple tart
Pellegrino Limoncello di Sicilia

I have not felt so stuffed by the end of a meal in the longest time! Unfortunately (or luckily) the starter dish was small as I would have been happy with just the calamari. The stand out dish was the braised beef, it was so tender. The only fault we could find is that it was served with a polenta mash. This, on top of the other dishes meant there was much of a difference in textures in the meal. Maybe grilling the polenta would have been a better match.

The wine also had stand outs: the pinot and the Bellezza were all the things that I love about whites and reds respectively. Being from South Australia means that I must be a wine snob that cannot drink anything that does not come from the Barossa or McLaren Vale. But i must go against my upbringing and say that I will be on the lookout for keeping a couple of bottles of these in my wine store.