Good evening my lovely readers! I recently went out for a celebratory meal with boyfriend which was lovely 🙂 We decided to go to Don Giovanni in Manchester as it was somewhere we kept walking past and were always intrigued by what was going on. It’s a very glamorous building and looks very posh inside with the decor. So as it was our anniversary we finally decided to go and try it so here is my review! I hope you enjoy 🙂
For starters I had Bruschetta Fungi (left) and my boyfriend had Bruschetta Pomodoro (right) – two very classic dishes. I went for the vegan option so that I could try out their vegan cheese. My first impressions of the cheese was that it was very ‘cheesy’ and also melted well on top of the dish which can be difficult with dairy-free alternatives. The mushrooms were flavoured nicely and weren’t overpowered with too many seasonings. The mushrooms served with the cheese and bruschetta felt like a very indulgent start to my meal.
The Bruschetta Pomodoro was very fresh and an ideal starter if you don’t like something too heavy to start your meal. The tomatoes were vey juicy and felt good quality. The dish was tied together and lifted by their basil oil/dressing which was really nice.
For main I had the gnocchi al pomodoro (left) and my boyfriend had the risotto funghi. I again had the vegan cheese with my meal and was not disappointed. The vegan cheese again melted very nicely into the sauce create a cheesy taste throughout the dish. The tomato sauce was very flavourful and rich which felt fresh and indulgent on my palette. My only criticism was that I would have maybe enjoyed a bit more variety as the dish did become very ‘samey’ after a while. Especially which the heaviness of the gnocchi, I would have maybe liked some vegetables in there to balance out the dish.
The risotto was very similar in terms of my opinion towards it. The mushrooms were flavoured well and the risotto base was deliciously comforting. The vegetarian parmesan on top added an extra depth to the dish. Again like the gnocchi the dish, it would have been further improved with the addition of some other ingredients especially as it was heavy and a very soft dish. The risotto would have been lovely served with some green vegetables such as peas or broccoli.
For dessert I had a the panna cotta (left) and my boyfriend had the crème brûlée (right). I was excited to see that their panna cotta was vegetarian as usually this dessert contains gelatine. The panna cotta was beautifully presented and was a lovely way to end my meal. The dessert was very creamy but felt light and balanced with the berry compote.
The creme brulee was deliciously smooth and creamy as well and the top was crunchy as you would expect from a creme brulee. It was served cold which is an interesting point of notice as this varies place to place. Due to the nature of the caramelised sugar on top which should be done before service sometimes the dish is slightly luke warm from the heat used to create that crunchy top. It was probably due to how busy they were though that it came cold when it arrived at our table so I’ll let them off.
Overall my food was very tasty and did feel like good quality Italian cooking. The building itself and the decor inside felt very glamorous and was pretty to be inside. Their decoration of putting limes and chillis on the table was certainly memorable and unique. My only criticism of being there was I felt I lost of sense of the intimacy and welcome hosting from the restaurant as we were serve by 5+ waiters and waitresses. I understand that it is common practice that waiters will help serving with most tables but if I was paying the prices of their al la carte menu rather than pre-theatre menu, I would have liked to see more familiar faces whilst being served to gain an overall better experience. However it was a busy Friday night so I can understand why this was the case.
This is very nice place to have a meal if you are celebrating a special occasion or want some good Italian food however I would recommend the lunch set menu or pre theatre set menu as in my opinion the al la carte menu can be a little pricey but that is just my opinion and you might completely disagree which is fine! ( I do like to save money wherever possible!)
I hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts on Don Giovanni and please let me know if you have also tried here and your thoughts in the comments below! Will catch you all soon!
Jade 🙂
J.A.D.E 