Don Giovanni - Italian Restaurant Manchester — Restaurant in Manchester

Don Giovanni - Fine Dining Italian food that is delicious and is heart-warming to eat

Thank you for the hospitality that I received when visiting your Manchester restaurant last Friday for a pre-theatre meal.

Food and Menu

The Menu is simple and is effective in its design. On one side you have all the drinks and on the other side you have all the Starters and Mains. All the Starters are on the left hand side of the page so you cannot go wrong. All dishes are clearly named with a good description underneath.

There are dishes to suit all diners from the Meat lover to Vegetarian.

In the Starters there is Garlic Bread in which you can choose Cheese, Tomato, or half of each. There is also Bruschetta, Calamari, Prawns, Fish and others to suit your taste buds.

In the Mains there is a great selection of Pizzas with different flavours and toppings to match different tastes. There is also a good variety of Pasta dishes from Spaghetti, Ravioli, Lasagne and more. There is also a Grill section for those that love their Meat.

There are also sides that are great as additions to your meal from Chips to Roast Potatoes.

If you have a sweet craving then in the Dessert section there is Chocolate Fondant with Vanilla Ice Cream. There is also Cheesecake and Eclairs too. For those that love cold Desserts then there is a selection of Ice Cream and Sorbet for you too.

For Starters the Garlic Bread was delicious and moist. Half of it was with Cheese and the other half was with Tomato. The one with Cheese was light, soft and cheesy. The one with Tomato added flavour. The Prawns were juicy and they melted in the mouth. The Calamari was tasty and the Mayonnaise dip added freshness to the dish. It was all cooked fresh.

For Mains the Pasta with Prawns and Courgettes was tasty and was comforting to eat. The Pasta was cooked perfectly and it was very thin. It was great to see a combination of both big and baby prawns as they were very juicy and added texture. The Courgettes was a great addition and I was pleasantly surprised that it worked well with the Prawns. There was also a touch of Pepper to add zing and it was not overpowering at all.

The Roast Potatoes were a great addition to the dish. They were beautifully presented like chunky chips and were cooked well. It was crispy on the outside and soft warm Potato on the inside. Heaven.

Drinks

There is also a great drinks menu with a good selection of soft drinks. There are also some non-alcoholic Mocktails with different flavours to quench your thirst. They also go well with your meal.

I had the Strawberry Dackerry to start. It was refreshing and sweet with Strawberry Puree. The Strawberry on the side of the glass was a nice touch too.

Service

The service was good. Our waiter was friendly, attentive and gave us the time to choose our dishes. There was a little wait between dishes but that was expected. All the dishes were cooked fresh and were presented beautifully.

Lighting and Access

The lighting at this restaurant was decent with a relaxed ambience that allowed me to enjoy my meal. In relation to access there is a small step in order to enter the restaurant. It is good that it is all on one level without having to use stairs or lifts.

Parking

Parking is available at NCP Oxford which is a short walk away from the restaurant. You are still required to pay even if you are a Blue Badge holder. Alternatively you can park somewhere else that is pay and display which is free for Blue Badge Holders.

Pricing

This is a fine dining restaurant and so the dishes are pricey however it is worth it once in a while especially when the food is delicious, comforting and is presented to a high standard.

If you love Italian food that is full of flavour and is scrumptious to eat then go to a Don Giovanni that is...

Before I wrote this I had a look at the other reviews and I’m not even shocked at the negative ones about the service. Came with my partner, my food was lovely, my partner’s was not, the most bland pasta dish I’ve ever tasted (I tried some as he was begging me too because of how bland it was) - paid £4 to add some chicken so you’d expect a decent amount, 2 pieces! Our drink spilt on the table a bit and the waiter was very sorry but did not offer a new drink or new cutlery (after it was all sticky), also didn't do the best job at cleaning it up as the drink was dropping still from the bottom on my partner's white shirt. The whole time we were there NO ONE asked if our meal was okay. Spaghetti in a penne dish?! (See photo attached) - pure laziness that there were a couple of pieces of spaghetti in the dish and the chef sent it out anyway, not unhygienic I know but extremely lazy. When the bill was to be paid, it was a birthday treat for my partner but I honestly felt too uncomfortable and in disbelief that I didn’t want to engage in any sort of manner with the staff so he went up and said he is not paying the service charge when he saw it on the bill; still no mention about the meal when he says he wanted it taken off - isn’t that what you’re supposed to ask anyway? No Parmesan offer and drinks empty, no more drinks offered. Why did we not complain about the service or my partners food when we were there? We felt so un-welcomed by the poor service we needed to get out of there. Personally service is a big part of a restaurant visit and I’ll tell you now the service at this restaurant is laughable. I did think about it and after sulking about how my partner’s birthday meal was a rubbish treat for him I decided to email about it and the response I got was very blunt and insensitive but I thought I’ll just wait, a few days later no response, so I called up, spoke to Raul - at first he seemed unconvinced that there would have been spaghetti in a penne dish, after the call I forwarded the photo to him:) he then told me “give it a couple of days whilst I forward this to the manager and we will email you” shouldn’t it have already been forwarded to the manager based off the email? It’s been about 6 days and as you can imagine, no email. Raul seemed nice in the end but the lies coming out of his mouth is a shame. I then called again day (11/01/21) and spoke to someone who was covering for Raul that day, I said I was very annoyed and don't appreciate having no reply from this situation. The staff member said "I can assure you madam someone will get back to you today, take my word for it" - you're absolutely right, I didn't get a call back! He took my number and everything, so if you see this because I didn't quite catch your name, you need to better with your lies:) If Don Giovanni wish to reply to this review - please don’t bother, they’re always very generic - “we’re very sorry, we will have someone look into this” blah blah, that’s the problem, you don’t. My inner Karen side only comes out when the review needs to be posted and...

Me and my wife have been dining at Don Giovanni’s for the last 20 years ! Earlier years more than now, and granted not been for the last 2… Fair enough… But on visiting today for Mothers Day to reminisce with our two elder boys, after our previous opinion of being one of, if not, the best Italian restaurant in Manchester this has sadly and massively dropped now.

What has gone wrong at Don Giovanni’s ???

Gone has the grandiose and sheer dominance that the previous establishment once was. The stunning chandelier, the decor, the bar area to grab a pre-meal drink ! The floating champagne flutes hanging in a silver tree stand on your table while you’re with your loved ones…. Now it’s… dull… what was once the bar area when you enter on your right is now some cordoned off space cloaked with drab curtains which portrays a sense of “Do not enter” for local custom…It feels like more white washed false walls have gone up carving up the once open plan restaurant to a split of 1st and 2nd class dining experience !! When we asked on entry if we were able to sit by the window they stated these were reserved, yet in all the time we were having our meal, 2 of the window booths were still not in use !!

Sadly the staff didn’t seem up to the previous high standards, while they were nice, one forgot to ask for our drinks before asking for our meals to which we corrected him on first, and another spilt red wine on the table when pouring a bottle… It all just lacked experience and professionalism and just seemed non Italian authentic…!

Finally, food was disappointing… The sharing garlic breads have got smaller, we ordered 2 between 4 of us. I ordered the calzone, to which you would normally expect as many a times before, a bulging folded pizza filled with flavours of pepperoni, ham, mushroom, tomato etc.. but instead presented with this very flat parched baked half moon dough. My eldest son ordered the meatballs in Tagliatelle which in parts were luke warm !! Meatballs were fine themselves but it looked to be the tagliatelle was slightly under cooked and not hot… We’d waited too long already to be served mains that we didn’t want them to correct my son’s meal but we made it clear this wasn’t acceptable and frustratingly after we asked for tap water at the table and not the ‘still’ bottled water they offered. I only noticed when I got home they charged us £6 for the bottled water anyway !!! £6 for a bottle of water ????? Not happy…! See attached receipt.

Given this last experience, especially on Mothers Day with no fuss made nor acknowledgement to the occasion, apart from a written message on the receipt (Is this a joke ?) it’s so sad to see another legendary Manchester establishment going, what we feel, is the wrong direction in its ambition to cater for the well paying patronage that used to grace its premises. We really hope they can turn this around but until then won’t be returning and will be taking our business...