Restaurant Review – Don Giovanni, Manchester

Italian food. It is something we seem to have an abundance of in Manchester at the moment with the San Carlo group and Solita running the show with their multiple sites as well as independents like Rosso and Avalanche, we really are spoilt for choice. I hadn’t been to Don Giovanni before the invite to review popped into my inbox. I have heard excellent things from friends who have been before though so I was excited to see what they could do.

Don Giovanni have been in Manchester for over 30 years. They pride themselves on being authentically Italian with a modern twist.

Inside the restaurant has had a makeover with a new marble bar, sleek lighting and sumptuous booths that line the front window. The overall effect is laid back yet formal which may explain why they won the ‘most romantic restaurant’at the 2015 Italian Awards.

We were sat in the window at the side of the restaurant giving us a good spot for people watching. I get that the pepper on the table is to add a little colour to things but I did think it a little odd, perhaps that’s me.

Onto the food and I chose the Calamari with my friend opting for the Mozzarella Fritta. The Calamari was soft and fresh with a lovely light coating that was more soft than the crunchy variety I have had in the past. It was a welcome change and the accompanying tartare dip had chunky pieces of pickle spotted throughout.

The Mozzarella Fritta had a great crunch and a great depth of flavour to the coating, thanks to the addition of sun dried tomato, with oozy cheese inside. Unfortunately the base had gone a little soggy and there was some liquid from the mozzarella left inside the coating which had caused said soggy bottoms.

I went truly Italian with my main of Lasagne. It is my go to dish at home when nothing else will urge for comfort food. Baking hot thanks to just coming out of the oven, this Lasagne is one of the best I have had in a Manchester restaurant. Layers of pasta generously sandwiched with bolognaise and bechamel sauce were topped with lashing of mozzarella making it oozy, stringy and moreish. I’m drooling just thinking about it.

Being the fussiest of eaters with an onion allergy my friend requested the Tagliatelle Scoglio without onions. Now in some places this would not be possible, as we all know onions are a staple for most Italian dishes. This was no issue for the chefs at Don Giovanni though as the dish is prepared from scratch when ordered. Because of this we did have a slight wait but boy, it was worth it. Massive and plump king prawns, fresh langoustines and a generous serving of light, thin tagliatelle are coated in a tomato and garlic sauce made with the freshest chopped tomatoes and a light heat from a glug of chilli. It was a beautiful dish and I’ll be torn on my next visit between this and my lovely Lasagne.

Stuffed but not willing to go down without a fight we chose desserts with my trying the Waffles and my friend the Profiteroles. True to form my friend is not a fan of cinnamon so we omitted this from the Waffles with no fuss. Served warm the dish was actually one waffle so I was a little disappointed having seen the plural on the menu. That said it was soft and chewy on the inside with a nice crunch to the outside that would have benefited from the cinnamon beautifully. The maple syrup drizzle gave a sweetness without being over the top and the ice cream was fairly standard in terms of vanilla ice creams.

The Profiteroles were served beautifully in a line rather than piled as they usually are. They were lightly drizzled with a rich chocolate sauce and a sprinkling of fruit to lighten the normally heavy dessert.

Throughout the meal service was pretty good although we had a bit of a wait when initially seated both for our booked table and for the wait staff to take our orders. The restaurant was, however, pretty busy for a Tuesday night and I didn’t mind the wait at all. In fact I was really pleased to see such an established restaurant still filling the place on a school night. Well done Don Giovanni, you have a new fan and I’ll be back just as soon as I can decide whether I’ll be choosing the Lasagne or the Tagliatelle Scoglio.