ad

A very Melbourne Italian experience

A very Melbourne Italian experience

This may sound odd, what with the area being home to a mass of restaurants, Eureka Tower and a little joint called the Casino – but I often find Southbank quite easy to overlook.

A place for tourists maybe, or stag nights after midnight. But Melbourne locals? Too obvious. We tend to like smaller spaces – little gems tucked away that no-one’s heard of but everyone’s talking about … But a recent visit left me refreshingly surprised.

Making my way past a string of top-notch restaurants (Rockpool, The Atlantic, Bistro Guillaume, Spice Temple, Maze …) I found myself at Giuseppe Arnaldo & Sons – perhaps because it sounded like a little trattoria, not the 150-seat dining establishment it actually is.

It makes the best of its location (on the river, but under a major road overpass), using the darkness to create a bit of that Melbourne atmosphere some of the more sparkling restaurants lack.

Inside, walls adorned with diner observations scrawled on red and green cards, a bread station and the odd slab of meat dangling from a hook combine to generate a warm, rustic glow.

Staff dressed in butchers’ jackets look a little like mad scientists, but the novelty is nice.

The menu is stacked with good, honest Italian fare, with a touch of the exciting.

I was tempted by the pigs trotter filled with the house made cotechino, celery, marjaram and spinach ($26), but it didn’t seem quite right to be so adventurous on a Tuesday.

It was a little difficult to know how to begin. Perhaps the menu’s only fault is, while it contains a good list of salumi, formaggi, antipasti and crudo (before moving onto pastas and main meals), it doesn’t contain a tasting plate.

You could make one up yourself, but with each salumi costing between $12 and $16, the cheeses at around $20 each and the antipasti dishes between $18 and $27 – that’s too hard (and expensive!).

We decided to try something from the house-made salumi list and a couple of antipasti.

The waiter recommended a special which had the ossocollo (a cut of salumi from the neck) served with pickled zucchini flowers.

The vinegary flowers contrasted fabulously in both texture and flavour against the firm, fatty (in a good way) meat.

The stand-out dish however, was the steamed spanner crab on a bed of Venetian-style polenta, fresh sorrel, chilli, garlic and lemon ($27).

Picked from its shell, the moist, flaky crab resting within the soft, buttery polenta practically melted in the mouth.

The garlic and chilli gave it a kick, each mouthful packing enough of a punch that I eventually forgot I was paying almost 30 bucks for a wee little saucer of food. Worth every cent.

The arancini ($18) was not just your average rice and cheese ball. Silverbeet and spinach provided a lovely bit of colour while also keeping the four cheeses within from becoming too rich.

Probably a good time to mention the wine. Some great Italian drops available, but my favourite thing was the relatively standard but extremely solid food wines available by the half carafe – at very reasonable prices. Gotta love the half carafe.

Desserts were incredible, a 12-year-old whisky in the gelato affogato ($17) just speaking up over the espresso.

The torta di Americano, or blueberry and apple pie ($19), sounded almost too fancy – what with its “rose flavoured sauce”!

But thankfully, the brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla custard dominated.

The cool service didn’t quite match the warmth of the meticulously-constructed environment – but I loved it. I want to go back – to Giuseppe’s AND Southbank. The area has clearly matured.

Location: Address is Crown Casino, 8 Whiteman St, but entry is from Southgate Promenade, towards Spencer St.

Join our Facebook Group
ad