Gary Baldy

I've been meaning to come back to Garibaldi for some time because it's been a while since we've eaten here. This would make our first visit since they time they closed up for renovations, re-opened and inched up prices noticeably higher from the time before. Still, one could find pastas at a price that could reasonably be considered non exorbitant or overpriced. I did have some good impressions of them from before.

 

Lunch started with prosciutto & gnocco. It was described on the menu as a Romagna fried dough. Might have been street food from its place of origins and possibly something one could get real cheap since the price of it was pretty much about the parma ham that came along. The taste of the freshly fried dough was akin to a sugarless fried doughnut or from another perspective of it, hum chim pang. The fun part about eating it was that one could just stuff the thinly sliced Parma ham into them before eating. It was otherwise pretty much as it looked.

One of the reasons for wanting to come back again was also, the selection of risotto that the restaurant has these days on the menu. One of those that got me curious was the risotto alla carbonara which was basically, a carbonara styled risotto which I've never tried before.

The risotto was on the whole rather predictable in taste. Was both eggy and cheesy at the same time with defined beads of rice that was cooked in the cream reduction. I thought this was comforting as a dish for a bit before it become little boring. Why? Portions were rather generous for something that was so rich in texture and there wasn't much dimensions. The crispy parma ham on the top was....meh.

What was unexpectedly good was their cannelloni stuffed with minced wagyu beef that came in a cheese sauce and leek confit. Strange as it might sound, what won me over was the beef which reminded me of that braised boar stracci from Oso. It was a brand of savoury delicious. There was a bonus in the cheese sauce which contained Gorgonzola - an icing equivalent if this was cake. Unfortunately, the sauce came in really miserable portions. Leeks were pretty good if ordinary.

You might have already noticed, this lunch was filled with rolls. With stuffings. Even for dessert. Did not have much expectations for their cannolo siciliano. Not that I think they're not good but they did turn out much nicer than the "no expectations" that I've had for it. We enjoyed the creamy ricotta fillings that were encrusted with a generous amounts of pistachio at the ends. The bar of chocolate that the pastry rested on was even filled with more of the pistachio stuff. Unexpected pleasant surprise there.