Giuseppe, Arnaldo & Sons

AJ and I have been staying in Melbourne for a few days, but since we've now lived in Tassie for a few years we feel the urge to hang out with any of our fellow Tasmanians and be 'good hosts'.

So, one of our best friends Samwise was working around in Southbank and we decided to revisit an old favourite - Crown Casino. What more could you want? Boutiques? Cafes? Restaurants? Black-jack?

After what seemed an eternity walking around looking at each and every restaurant menu, finally we saw something we could all agree on - Italian. 

Giuseppe, Arnaldo & Sons or 'GAS' is a traditional Italian restaurant with a range of beef, chicken, seafood, offal, cured meats; it's all there. The waitstaff tour the restaurant floor in long butcher-style coats, the red and green Italian inspired colour palette is accompanied with dark lighting. On either side of your table is your cutlery, condiments and even a bottle of Olive oil.

We had already had a few snacks and drinks at some of the other Crown bars so hit the ground running with mains. AJ ordered the 'Bologna' Style Pappardele, Samwise ordered 'Vengole' spaghetti and I had the Squid Ink Risotto.

I didn't try the Vengole, but it looked quite appetising and Samwise was quite satisfied. 

My squid-ink risotto came with a portion of diced calamari, a subtle parsley/lemon/garlic flavouring throughout. The calamari was cooked perfectly, the risotto superb - thoroughly enjoyed it. 

AJ's pappardele was another story. A mixture of veal and beef mince made up the sauce. But there was a disappointing lack of flavour and the rather clumsily minced veal had hard fatty pieces that weren't rendered down. While the pasta itself was well cooked this did not save the dish.

Moving on to our next and final course - we looked forward to dessert. Samwise and I had the Cannoli. AJ had the Chocolate pot.

The chocolate pot was rich, mousse-like and absolutely decadent. I couldn't have more than a few small tastes without feeling close to chocolate overdose. 

The cannoli were delicate, crisp and sweet. The fillings; mocha zabaglione, a traditional vanilla bean custard and a sweetened ricotta with pistachio. Both desserts were enjoyable but I think mine (for a change) was the better choice.

Overall, we were content but not impressed. The prices at GAS were reasonable but disproportionate to the quality of food that reached the table. 

We would re-visit but probably for something more interesting like the 'Suckling Pig' which unfortunately was unavailable.