Casa Gio — Restaurant in Stavanger

This is a small dine-in Italian restaurant. I had the pleasure of having a 3 course meal here. The atmosphere was very nice, it felt a bit fancy. The staff were friendly and the place was clean.

I ordered the mussels, rissoto with king prawns, and pasta. Also had a tiramisu and green tea. Everything was good and tasty, but I will be a bit critical in my review since this is a more pricey and fancy place. Everything I had seemed very fresh and was also cooked to serve. However, I did not feel the flavours were well balanced, this has to do more with the seasoning rather than quality of ingredients. The dessert and tea were great.

The mussels were some of the best I have had in Stavanger, they were fresh, yet tasty because of the corn broth prepared. The broth was tasty, but not over powering to allow the mussels to shine. The main meals, rissoto and pasta were very good, but for me the sauces felt a bit too salty. I would say my threshold for salty food is a bit above average already. The prawns and pasta on their own tasted great. The rissoto and sauce for pasta were delicious as well, but it felt like they were over powering the star of the dishes. The salt and cheese flavours did not seem to be balanced with more earthy ingredients. Although herbs like coriander were used, I am not sure they added much aromatic value given the strong flavour of the sauces.

Anything thing I noticed is that is although the service was friendly, they did not give any menus, and describe the dishes verbally before ordering. However after the dish arrived, they do not describe it. This felt a bit strange relative to other fancy restaurants I have been to in Stavanger where they describe each element of the dish after you receive it. Here they did the reverse.

Overall it was a nice fancy Italian dinner experience comporable to other good restaurants...

Had been looking forward to visit Casa Gio, but I’m sad to admit that I was very disappointed. After a Wednesday afternoon visit, we left with the impression that this was overpriced, slow and bland.

Firstly, files in the kitchen. They shouldn’t be hanging around. Just take care of the big flies.

Secondly, the service was way too slow. Even though there was only one other table occupied, and two people were working the kitchen. But the waiter was welcoming!

Then there’s the aspect of value. 22€ for an appetizer bell pepper split in half backed with an ordinary mozzarella, heavily sprinkled with dried oregano, topped with fresh baked cherry tomatoes and some basil - just baffling. The cheese was somewhat chewy and the dish watery and dull. The dried spice dominating.

The duck ragu was okay but nothing special. A bit too heavy on the wine and cream for my taste. Duck a bit dry. The pasta was home made, but frozen. Found it disappointing, since it is a small restaurant specialising in pasta and they only offer three main dishes. Found it a bit weird that they presented it as “tagliatelle” when what we were served was “pappardelle”. Now I’m being picky, but it doesn’t add to any feeling of authenticity.

One of the servings had a sharp and pointy duck bone in it. Very spooky and potentially dangerous. The boss was seemingly a bit embarrassed, but apologised in an awkward way by saying - at least we didn’t have to call the ambulance this time. I get that she probably tried to lighten the mood and be funny, but mistakes like that should be taken more seriously. Especially when you pay 29€ for a bowl of pasta.

Don’t think we’ll be coming back...

We went to Casa Gio right after the opening and were impressed by the food quality. After a great review in the local newspaper Stavanger Aftenblad this place has become really popular. This means that it is hard to get a table so make sure to book in advance. We went there again on an early Thursday evening and ordered the mixed salami and cheese to start with. We got a bit of bread, 32 months aged Parmigiano Reggiano, taleggio and some great salami pieces. There was also one slice of parma ham...I would of course like to have seen more than that. As a main meal we had the saffron risotto (also known as risotto alla Milanese I guess) with ox tail. This was a wonderful dish and the risotto is one of the best risottos I have tasted....and I love my risotto. The ox tail was also very good but it is not always easy getting that meat of a tail without digging in with your hands. This place is still a great place for a delicious meal. Yes, they are getting popular so they have to be careful to not compromise on the food quality. It seems like they have understood that with more guest you need more staff so there were 4 people working the restaurant on the last visit. From what I have seen they do not have an extensive wine menu so if there is something that can be improved it is this wine list and maybe a reception area to wait while your table is getting ready. The food is not cheap but I think people are willing to pay for quality - the risotto and ox tail dish...