Bambina by Giovi — Restaurant in South Island

Wonderful little Italian restaurant new to Wanaka, though to my understanding, it's the latest of a chain owned by Giovi.

Good food, well portioned at a reasonable price; we had the arrabiata, the tagliatelle ragu and pizza special (a white base prosciutto pizza), followed by the house chocolate cake and tiramisu martini. Delightful dishes all; the arrabiata had a solid peppery kick to it, and pizza had a wonderfully aromatic and crunchy base that was super satisfying. The cake was incredibly moist, and the tiramisu martini was honestly chef's kiss. Light, refreshing and probably dangerous as hell because you could pound back like 10 of them and not feel it.

Decor is a nice blend of relaxed warm modern and rustic stylings with exposed brick and a working fireplace, dotted with olive green wall sconces and hanging lights, adorned by a Vesper and Ducatti out the front to really hammer in the the Italianness of it all. Rides a perfect balance of relaxed and warm without lapsing into faux homey-ness at the expense of professionalism; imagine "business casual" as an aesthetic.

A word to the wise - book ahead! We arrived ~6:40pm on a Saturday without a booking and had to wait till 7:30pm for a seat. We weren't famished and were happy to do a little exploring around town anyway, and the meal/experience was worth the wait, but your mileage may vary. Later arrivals in the restaurant also seemed to run afoul of limited stock, as certain menu options ran out later in the evening (I'd planned on getting the tiramisu over the tiramisu martini, though it worked out well anyway). Our server (I think Christina?) did a wonderful job making sure that we were catered for without being overbearing, and was great at managing substitutions as necessary. (I'm sure this is just a kink in the works that goes with starting a new restaurant as supply/demand trends get worked out). Shoutout also to the manager who made sure to credit her employees; always a delight to see.

10/10...

This is Wanaka’s newest authentic Italian restaurant in town & it’s a gem. Run by an Italian family and all their food made the traditional way - with love! The menu has an extensive list of home made pizza, pasta & gnocchi dishes - with lots of vegetarian options and everything made fresh, from scratch - including the variety of pastas - and absolutely delicious! Some lovely simple traditional antipasto plates & desserts too. We had a 3 course meal for 2 (including a glass of wine) for under $200 & felt sooo content by the time we left. The service was what you would expect from Italian hospitality, with very friendly & knowledgeable staff too. So happy to have this addition to our dining options and will be back on a regular to try everything on the menu! They also sell their homemade pasta & sauces for you to try your hand at home. Can’t rave enough about...

We dined here in a big family group. The place is well laid out and there is ample space. Decor is nice and simplistic. I ordered the beef ravioli with butter and sage sauce, the pasta was far too thick for my liking and would have liked it to be more silky. There was an absence of sauce. I would have liked more of it. Flavour profile was ok. I also tried the spaghetti and prawns in an olive oil sauce, this was probably the best that I tried. I liked the flavour profile and the spaghetti was cooked perfect and had the perfect bite. Although adding 4 small prawns for 12 dollars seemed a bit steep. More sauce would have elevated the dish as it was quite dry. The cabonara was a textbook flavour but again sauce and meat was lacking. I think there are a few things to iron out here as it's a new place. Small improvements will make this a...