Restaurant Review: Da Giovanni's
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Location: 136 Highfield Rd, Camberwell
Phone: (03) 9836 0714
Link: www.dagiovannis.com.au
Cuisine: Italian
Overall Impression: 5/10
J had to pick up some wine from Canterbury so we decided to have dinner close by. On the way back, we saw this Italian eatery and decided to give it a go. In their vast dining room, there was only one table that was taken. We felt slightly apprehensive about this but thought it might have been a Sunday night thing. Besides, it was too late to walk out… the maitre’d had seen us.
Giovanni's Originale 13" pizza
Tomato, cheese, fresh sausage, basil & olive oil
Marinara Gnocchi
Phone: (03) 9836 0714
Link: www.dagiovannis.com.au
Cuisine: Italian
Overall Impression: 5/10
J had to pick up some wine from Canterbury so we decided to have dinner close by. On the way back, we saw this Italian eatery and decided to give it a go. In their vast dining room, there was only one table that was taken. We felt slightly apprehensive about this but thought it might have been a Sunday night thing. Besides, it was too late to walk out… the maitre’d had seen us.
We decided to share a pizza and pasta.
Tomato, cheese, fresh sausage, basil & olive oil
The pizza was quite good. It had a good crust. It was traditionally thin and crisp without being too dry.
Marinara Gnocchi was an odd choice, I must admit. But when a restaurant gives you both the choice of pasta and the accompanying sauce, it is difficult not to resist the urge to do something a little silly with that power once in a while. It was clear that it was the wrong sauce for gnocchi but it was certainly kosher. The gnocchi itself was incredibly good. Those soft pillows of potato goodness were clearly home-made. I savoured every moreish silky bite. I was pleasantly surprised at this as I have had bad experiences with gnocchi at similar looking establishments. The marinara sauce on the other hand was incredibly disappointing. For some reason, the tomato sauce tasted very artificial. It was clear that the seafood was out of a frozen “marinara mix”.
Overall, it is an average Italian eatery that meets expectations. I would place it slightly above a Sofia’s/La Porchetta restaurant (just to give you an idea). I highly recommend the gnocchi sans the Marinara sauce (which was my own doing).
