Gino’s
Address: Hill Street Parking area
Tel Number: (046) 622 7208
Hours: Monday to Sunday from 11h00 till late. Deliveries start at 15h00
Corkage: R15
I arrived at Gino’s with high expectations. You see, I’ve been craving the “real Italian Food” that the advertising suggests, for weeks now. All I want is a ripe tomato sauce, poured over well- cooked pasta with fresh basil and a dash of parmesan. I’m easy to please like that.
First impressions were ruined by the stand- offish waiter. Clearly not inspired by the prospect of serving a bunch of young people, he didn’t even bother to be professional. No one likes being treated like a poor student – he had the cheek to insist that we take the larger sized pizza for “just R2 more, come ON guys.” He also forgot to mention the free bread (it’s in the corner, by the pizza oven. Cut your own slice, but stray from the margarine.) On a different occasion, the waitress hardly seemed to care about us- we only had her attention at the seating, ordering, and bringing of the food. The spaces in between were annoyingly long.
The variety of Pizza’s available is mind boggling although the list of pastas is quite strange. Woe, they only have 2 tomato based pastas- the napoli and the arrabiata. The former was bland, overcooked and far too sweet. They don’t even bother to caramelise the onions. The latter can be likened to eating raw green chilli sauce. I don’t mind spice- but without flavour it’s a crying shame. Yes, tears formed in my eyes (for future reference, red wine does not help.) The honey and mustard pasta dish seemed an interesting option to a friend, but the sweetness was so overpowering that she couldn’t finish her food, let alone consider dessert.
Overwhelming sweetness seemed to be the general theme. The chicken, chutney and mushroom pizza is the kind of thing a kid might enjoy, to put it kindly. The tastiest pizza was the spinach and feta. Avocado, onion and bacon seemed like such a lovely option- until we realised that they cooked the poor avocado along with the rest of the pizza. Hot avocado. Just seeing it written down spells sacrilege.
The next time I visit Gino’s; it will be at the delivery department. No need to sit through the painstaking process of unprofessional service, bizarre decor and endless waiting when you can get a hot, crusty pizza pronto. Sundays are a great value- get a family sized pizza for R99.90 and a 2l cooldrink for free.
Gino’s has a long held reputation as a family favourite, a local classic. Sadly, the only Italian spirit I felt was due to the good half bottle of Leopards Leap red wine that I consumed. They’re resting on their quasi- roman laurels and people are bound to notice.
