Ristorante Da Gigi — Restaurant in Milan

Honestly? This place is a bit of a let-down.

It promises to have a great ambience and great food - but it doesn’t really deliver.

The food, when it does come, is okay - but not perfect. The pizza I had was mediocre and very heavy to eat, unlike other pizzas I’ve had in Milano and Italy.

It also arrived a solid five minutes before the pasta dish of my partner, and because I’m a gent and waited for her to get her food it was cold by the time I ate.

You might say “ah, but that’s your fault for waiting!” Ordinarily you’d be correct. However, it was lukewarm at best when it arrived at the table (I know this because I did sneak a little bit whilst waiting - under orders from my partner to start without her).

The ambience was not helped by cramming in so many tables in a small space, which meant it was not comfortable private dining for two and more a table of four with strangers. Moreover, when it came for them to leave there was a game of Tetris to be played so they could get past us.

There was also a party of very loud children in the back room creating one hell of a noise that carried throughout the restaurant. Whilst the noise level is out of their control, the restaurant could have done more to alert the parents to the uncomfortable nature of the noise (many other tables were feeling uncomfortable with the racket being created).

The serving staff were somewhat inattentive. They delivered drinks with a separate glass of ice (a new one on me I must add, but fair enough) and a random pouch of stale bread.

We couldn’t really get out of there quick enough. Which is a real shame because we really wanted to try it.

So much promise, but so little...

This was our last meal in Italy. We were burned out from all the walking and stressing about where to go. So we just went here because it was close to the hotel. It's pretty good! It's a fairly casual place- come as you are. But it has some character- some nice decorations, waiters are dressed nicely. We each got a small bottle of wine - they sell these little half-bottle bottles which was nice. The chianti was not so great. She had a white which was good. Burrata appetizer was good. I had the Cotoletta alla Milanese. This is supposed to be some specialty in the area. Fried breaded veal. It was very, very bland. It did have some nice crisp potato bits on top but wow, you'll need salt to eat this veal. We also had the lasagna Bolognese which was messy looking but quite good. Certainly more flavorful than my dish.

Not my...

Before we came in to this restaurant we had been walking for a long time (walked the wrong way, started looking for a restaurant at 6PM, which we learnt is too early in Milan).

The service was incredibly prompt and friendly. We ordered the Burratino, tomatoes and burrata, which was very fresh and lovely but a little small for my personal liking. I had an Aperol Spritz which was exactly what was needed after walking in the warm sun.

For mains we had the Ossobucco with Risotto and the Gnocchi with Pesto Maleducato. These were top tier foods. Personally, the Ossobucco sauce and the Risotto I could have kept eating as the combo of Risotto with saffron (I think) and the sauce was delightful.

Love little locale, they say there is a Secret Garden we didn't try to find it as we were enjoying...