Gianni's — Restaurant in Shoal Bay

I recently had the pleasure of dining at Gianni’s Italian restaurant in Shoal Bay. It truly stands out for its excellent ambience and breathtaking location. The atmosphere was welcoming and warm, with just the right level of background music that complemented the evening without overpowering the conversations. It remined me of being in a Parisienne restaurant – quiet conversations enabled by soft background music, not the overpowering noise most Australian restaurants have that is totally overpowering. It created a relaxed and enjoyable environment where you could appreciate the finer details of the dining experience.

The staff were equally impressive, with pleasant demeanours and efficient service that made the entire experience seamless from start to finish. The view over the bay to the mountain was nothing short of spectacular, adding an extra layer of charm to the evening.

As someone who has lived in Europe for most of the past 12 years, and visited Italy many times, and is planning another trip soon, I was particularly impressed with the authenticity and quality of the food. The pizza was exceptional, perfectly cooked with a balance of flavours that transported me back to the streets of Naples. The wine list was the best I’ve seen in a restaurant in Australia, featuring a wide selection of great Italian wines, which is a rare find.

For dessert, the tiramisu was extremely good, though I found the presentation a bit over the top, with more cream on the side than I’d typically expect. It seems this might cater to the local preference for more generous portions, but the quality of the tiramisu itself was undeniable.

Overall, this restaurant earns a well-deserved of my 5-star rating. If all my dining experiences in my upcoming holiday Sicily, Italy, are as good as this one, I know my upcoming visit will be even...

To the owner of Gianni's restaurant: Your service when we sat our body for the first time on your restaurant was ok. We order garlic bread for entree which is came fast and taste was delicious and fresh. But when comes to spagetti marinara and one large pizza that my partner order,we were very dissapointed. It took my food to come 45 minutes then the pizza even worse! It took 1 hour and 20 minutes! Wooooowww!!!! I need to give you an award for that. Maybe an oscar for pretending to ask the chef for what he did to it? Well certainly you forgot to make my partner pizza. So my partner ask to make it take away, we got 4 staffs asking if we received our food. We keep watching the drama that happen in the kitchen, when 1 of the staff ask for the pizza the chef got angry and banging the pizza box that is ready to take but he forgot to rang the bell then a young waitress took the pizza and banging it on the table "HERE!!" she said. we were surprised. Then comes on the payment costing $78 one of the staff took off $28 off of the pizza. I appreciate that. My partner was getting sick because he received his dinner at 9.20 pm after long journey from gold coast we were hoping nice good pizza. At our hotel he took a bite of the pizza it taste bland and horrid. Thank you for the amazing night we experience at your restaurant we will never come back.

Ps: my pasta was very small portion like a kids dinner. I took 4 spoon into my mouth and it finish. No prawns at all. They put anchovies and salty salmon. Spaghetti marinara sauce taste like water. Presentation is good but taste is BAD AND WATERY. Unprofessional....

Just had dinner at Giannis! Shared with my wife a small $20 pizza and $43 squid ink fettuccine "with prawns, scallops and clams" so the menu said!!!

Well the pizza was tastless, but the squid ink was something else!! With 3 prawns, 2 scallops, 4 yuegeries and a lashing of salmon (that was not published on the menu) all in a prawn bisque, well it was just terrible! The salmon that really didn't belong in the dish was so salty that it overpowered the taste of the small quantity of seafood in the dish. In fact the salty salmon over powered our pallettes totally to the point where the dish tasted like a plate full of salt!

It was so bad that I just had to complain! Now to put this into context we eat out at least 3 times a week and have done fore many years and I have not complained about a meal for many years! In fact I have never posted a review before tonight!

Having asked to see the Chef, instead I had the pleasure of dealing with the owner who had no idea how to receive a legitimate complaint or deal with it. Instead the owner proceeded to tell me how good the dish is and how much praise it receives from customers! She even rolled out that she had been in business for 23 years and that they are so good that they add expensive salmon to the dish as a bonus! What a joke that is! I even received a lecture in "Restaurant Complaint Etiquette" for my troubles! Can you beleave that!! I certainly can't!!

Warning Warning Warning. Simply an amazing experience! For all the...