Giuseppe Arnaldo & Sons - South Bank Melbourne

Not often I have a chance to dine then jump the notebook and post a review. Staying at the Crown Promenade gave my wife and my good self a chance to try somewhere and something new. Giuseppe Arnaldo & Sons is quite different. When you first enter you get the impression it is all very dark and mysterious. In fact finding a spot to park the butt where there is enough light to read the menu is almost a challenge.

Some one has taken early Italian restaurant style eating and brought it to Melbourne. The bar and floor staff are clad in white lab coats and the maitre'de in a morning (funeral) coat. The interior is yellow stained marble (Giallo Siena), geometric patterned ceramic tiles, extremely tall stools and dark timber. There is a lot to like about this chunk of Italy which has been transported to Australi. Wine pours from taps in a marble wall into a huge marble trough. Carafe and half carafes are poured this way. Mine was a Crittendon's light red (Ross0 - chilled).

Your knife and folk are held at your table in a dispenser with dipping oil. A good helping of sliced bread, dipped in the oil at you table gets the juices flowing. The oil was good but not great. I chose the pork sausage in pasta, Mezzi Rigatoni, with a chili source and my lady wife the Arancini. My wife said her meal was fine but for me I found the pork sausage over cooked and hard. The pasta was firm and the source just spicy enough. Good source. My meal was pleasant without being stunning. The pork "bits" just had no taste or texture to them. Sad really.

This place would seat huge crowds, it is a massive establishment which stretches on forever and offers a few different seating arrangements. Great place for a celebration, birthday or anniversary. Service is good, staff are young and friendly the bar well stocked with every beer, wine or spirit you could imagine. Price is "South Bank" but you are getting something different. I'm sure the next time I "chow-down" in this slice of early Italian "cucinain" my dish will be "molto bello"! If you do nothing else, while in South Bank Melbourne, look in the door. It is well worth it.