There’s a reason why most takeaway joints offer the same kinds of foods. Chinese, Indian, Pizzas, Kebabs ans Burgers are all easily transportable, and fare exceptionally well with being lugged around in some bloke’s car at 11 in the evening.
But what about other cuisines? Dishes such as a roast dinner, stews or pasta? Well, the city’s oldest independent Italian restaurant – Don Giovanni – have launched a new delivery service on Deliveroo and so we ordered ourselves a long list of goodies just to see how well it holds up.
Is it possible to re-create the traditional Italian restaurant experience at home and the food not suffer? Lets see…
It must be said – Don Giovanni’s menu is massive. Any visit to the restaurant will invariably involve the first 25 minutes just pouring though what they have on offer and trying to make a decision on what to eat without spending £500 just because you couldn’t make your mind up.
Their online delivery menu certainly follows this trend too, with a long list of classic Italian dishes, alongside some of Don Giovanni’s own specialities – many of which have garnered a rather special place in people’s hearts over the last 35 years.
You can order their famous Spaghetti Carbonara which is always a winner, as well as their Lobster Spaghetti (Aragosta), King Prawns and a long list of antipasti.Oh and they even offer a range of wines to get delivered to your door as well. Result!
It took us ages to decide what to have but in the end we came up with the following…
To start we opted for their Polpette (£7.95); homemade meatballs in tomato sauce, Calamari (£6.95); hand-cut battered squid ring, Mozzarella Fritta (£5.95); deep-fried breaded buffalo mozzarella and finally the Palline Di Pane (£3.75); homemade dough balls.
I think it’s safe to say that each one was a little bit naughty – especially the deep-fried mozzarella, which came still piping hot and was even crispy on the outside. The dough balls were like little pillows of carby-goodness, and were delightfully fluffy inside.
The Calamari was perfectly seasoned and even came with a healthy slab of lemon to drizzle on top and the meatballs – even though I’d have liked a few more in the pot – was almost as if I’d just spooned them onto my plate straight out of mamma’s pan in the kitchen.
After a little mini-tapas antipasti starter experience, it was on to our mains.
We (of course) ordered the always outstanding Ravioli Aragosta (£19.95); ravioli lobster in a lobster bisque, and the indulgent Scaloppine Al Fungi (£14.95); veal escalopes with mushrooms and white wine cream.
Surprisingly both managed to weather the delivery and transportation really well, arriving piping hot and exactly how you’d expect if it was served up in the restaurant, minus the cutlery and fine china of course.
Similarly the Canneloni (£9.45) was excellent, and the Italia Pizza (£11.45) was as well presented and delicious as you’d expect.
I’m not usually much of a fan of Cannelloni, mostly because I think ricotta cheese is too bland to be classified as a cheese, but Don Giovanni add roasted Mediterranean vegetables in there and it makes them 100x better all round.
So the question about how well pasta holds up during a delivery is – surprisingly well. The food all arrived piping hot, crispy when it should be crispy and each dish came with the required sauces, cheeses or oils to add a finishing touch to them that aims to re-create the restaurant experience at home.
Obviously, it’s not entirely there – but it’s close enough. Pop that Gino Ginelli song on in he background, squint a little and you’ll be sitting in your favourite Italian restaurant in no time.
