PK's review of Giaconda Dining Room

Went here recently for lunch. It has a small, unimposing front. Once we walked inside, my first reaction was that it was quite buzzy and I am glad I had booked a table. We were greeted immediately by the friendly but efficiently busy waitress and asked to choose any of the three 2-seater tables that were left. Once seated, I glanced around the room to see an interesting mix of business types, lunching ladies and work friends who don't mind paying for a nice lunch. Not that it is expensive here, just a better standard than the usual chain type places. The room itself is quite small, but the tables aren't too close together. The decor is smart, with dark woods, nicely laid tables and cabinets of wine at the back.

A pleasant surprise was the carafe of sparkling water placed on the table, and a small plate of olives, as well as an extra dish for the pips, that were decent quality (it's a pet peeve of mine to be given tasteless olives).

The menu offers an interesting mix of dishes, and we were informed of daily specials also. One odd thing was there were three or so dishes that were in their own little group in between the starters and the mains. I presumed these were ‘medium’ size dishes that could be ordered either way.

As we had limited time, we just ordered one course. I had went for the duck confit with small roasted potatoes and watercress salad, my companion had the fish soup (which was Starter size, but a reasonably sized portion). The duck was delicious and tender, though the skin could have been a little crispier (caused no doubt by the slight sauce the potatoes were done in). A sizable portion, I thought it was good value. My friend thought her fish soup was delicious, though she did mention she prefers the croutons on the side so you can judge for yourself how long they sit in the soup and not let them go too soggy. It had a nice thick consistency and was bursting with fishy, saffrony flavour.

I convinced my friend to have a glass of wine, and she was pleasantly surprised that the amount wasn't too much (there's a first!). She commented it was nice to see a restaurant serve a sensible sized glass of wine with lunch. The wine list seemed quite good, though leaned heavily towards French wines. I was disappointed to not see more Australian wines on the list, considering the chef is from there (as am I). There a number of wines by the glass.

So overall I had a very pleasant lunch. I am looking forward to going back to try some of the other dishes…and maybe a dessert next time, some of which looked delicious. It is nice to find a well run place that has a nice buzzy atmosphere, is stylish, serves good food and isn't overpriced. Recommended.