A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

On New Year’s Eve, we were looking for a place that would seat 11 of us – and make everyone happy – kids of different ages, adults with different palates etc. So we decided on Gianni’s, which can be hit or miss sometimes. The restaurant is located across the street from the Radisson hotel – so that’s a bonus – convenience. The restaurant is large, so it is able to accommodate large parties. We start off with the Insalata Caprese con mozzarella di buffala ($10.45), ripe tomatoes and fresh mozzarella cheese with oregano & extra virgin olive oil from the hills of Italy. The tomatoes were a bit under ripe, but the dish was good over all.

For my main meal I had the rigatoni ai quattro formaggio ($20.35) Parmesan, Pecorino, Provolone and mozzarella cheese…a cheese lovers dreams with a touch of fresh tomato sauce. I really enjoyed this dish, the sauce was light and yet still flavorful…which may have something to do with the mountain of shredded cheese on top (delish!!).

We also ordered the calamari fritti ($12.65), crisp fried calamari served with fresh spicy tomato sauce. The batter was light, which we really liked.

Cannoli ($8.25) Homemade Italian pastry filled with a candied fruits & fresh ricotta. Ok, so $8 for a cannoli this size was a little bit obscene. It was literally two bites worth. Good, but not $8 good.

Tiramisu ($8.25) Homemade, with lady fingers, fresh whipped cream and Italian mascarpone cream cheese. This dessert was good, but I think the chocolate sauce was a bit too much for this dessert, I would have preferred it plain.

The service was good, I think all in all we had about 3 servers/food runners working our table. As the night went on, they became a bit scare, but overall a good meal that accommodated everyone’s tastes.

Gianni’s

Palm Beach 51, Noord, Aruba

http://www.giannisgroup.com/#!giannis/ctyl

Tags: aruba, casual dining, financial district, italian, outdoor seating, restaurant