Garibaldi, Purvis Street

Last time I was here, I mentioned desserts was a good start. So now I'm finally here for dinner. I think I was almost expecting to be wow-ed (as in totally blown away) by the food here after things that everyone had been saying about the place to me. But caught myself at the end asking how good could it get? Well, on hindsight I thought it was pretty good. This place is definitely worth a visit both for the food and for dates you want to take out to a nice place.

Garibaldi Italian Restaurant and Bar is located at 36 Purvis St. Purvis Street runs perpendicular along North Bridge Road just across from the current National Library near City Hall. The entrance of the restaurant is fronted by wooden framed glass sliding doors and an innocuous looking gentleman at the front who is the parking valet. The doorway leads directly into a little bar which also serves as a waiting area for people that are yet to be seated. Reservations are probably a must. Bar opens up on the left to the main dining area, and to the front, a private dining room.

This dinner  was not exactly the regular options for the most people. Meaning, the items weren't chosen off the menu. So it all started with this really nice toasted cheese foccacia with olive oil and followed by the best egg I've ever had. Seriously. And the most expensive too. I kid you not.


I do not know what was the name of this starter. Soft boiled eggs with white truffle shavings. I think there might have been some cheese inside too. "Best" is a term I usually reserve for something without the shadow of a doubt and that takes a lot of conviction to use. Lol. The could have been the best bloody egg I've ever had. Seriously, it must have been fungi magic involved here. And I'm at a loss as to how to describe the taste. You'll have to eat this to know how it tasted like and I was told by Roberto that after eating this, I will remember the flavour until the truffle season next year to come back for them again.

If I didn't recall wrongly, the general sequence for a traditional Italian dinner starts with pasta before the meats. Tonight they arrived together. A spaghetti pomodoro and a pan fried quail with mushrooms and foie gras.


The spaghetti was nicely done. That meant something as I don't usually like them in tomato based sauces. The quail on the other hand was a bit of a disappointment. Disappointment here meant it tasted like chicken chop. Lol. I'm positive that it's better prepared than a regular chicken chop and having foie gras with balsamic vinegar ups the ante. Still it reminds me of a well done chicken chop. The foie gras was a tad over cooked, but I'm not complaining since the other things on the plate were just chicken and button mushrooms.

I love that egg.