Day 7 – Ristorante Pizzeria Girasole
Sophiastraat 14, 4811 EK Breda
First Impressions – We were greeted at the door, coats taken, and sat down nicely. The waitress said
she would "put the coats down her alley which only she has access to", (a walk-in
cupboard by the front door). A bustling Sunday evening saw most of the tables in
use, although not many people had ordered so I couldn't do my usual recon. I
will say now that my phone was in my coat and had to use my co-eater's phone to
take photos. It was also quite dark so some images are grainy.
Interior – Girasole has a typical Italian feel about it. White walls covered in ornaments, paintings, and lanterns. It is a very warm room and instantly relaxing. There is a bar area at the back of the restaurant and was packed full of bottles of wine. It is quite exposed as it is on a dark street corner, you can see everything going on from the outside, but once you are in it is easily forgotten.
Interior – Girasole has a typical Italian feel about it. White walls covered in ornaments, paintings, and lanterns. It is a very warm room and instantly relaxing. There is a bar area at the back of the restaurant and was packed full of bottles of wine. It is quite exposed as it is on a dark street corner, you can see everything going on from the outside, but once you are in it is easily forgotten.
Service – I cant help thinking that if a
certain incident didn't happen then this section would be different. We ordered
a carafe of house wine / it arrived and we poured a glass each / I took my
co-eater's mobile to take the interior picture / I didn't realise the flash was on / the room was lit up by the flash / everybody turned around to look who was taking pictures / I tried to move
the phone down and lock it quickly / the glass of wine in front of me got in the
way / the glass of wine lost it's balance and toppled over away from me
/ valpolicella surged out of the glass, all over the clean white table cloth,
and missed my co-eater by inches.
It was after this accident that the male waiter took an instant dislike to us. Ignoring our table, blatantly. I wasn't bothered as the waitress continued to serve us and was very pleasant. The bloke just walked up and down, brown nosing the big tables and generally coming across as a petulant brat. I don't want this to be viewed as bad service though, it was just him. Everything else was good, the chef came out and mingled with the customers - I spoke with him at the end of the night and he seemed genuinely happy to receive complimentary feedback about his cooking. I walked over to the bar/kitchen area especially, as I couldn't bring myself to lower my social standards enough to converse with the waiter, who also had an extremely camp walk.
It was after this accident that the male waiter took an instant dislike to us. Ignoring our table, blatantly. I wasn't bothered as the waitress continued to serve us and was very pleasant. The bloke just walked up and down, brown nosing the big tables and generally coming across as a petulant brat. I don't want this to be viewed as bad service though, it was just him. Everything else was good, the chef came out and mingled with the customers - I spoke with him at the end of the night and he seemed genuinely happy to receive complimentary feedback about his cooking. I walked over to the bar/kitchen area especially, as I couldn't bring myself to lower my social standards enough to converse with the waiter, who also had an extremely camp walk.
Food – €4,50 + €5,50 + €9,50 (starters for two) €10 (main dish) – The starters we ordered were to share. Bruschetta
al Pomodoro
/ Crostini alla Olive
/ Insalata di
Mare. Bruschetta al Pomodoro speaks
for itself really, didn't blow me away but was pleasantly edible.
The crostinia was bruschetta again but this
time had an olive paste on it. It was like two parts black olives to one part
green, put in a food processer with some basil and olive oil, and mixed up. It
has a pesto feel about it but is better - I haven't seen this anywhere else and
it's really good.
Insalata di Mare was a plate of octopus
/ calamari / clams / mussels / vinaigrette dressing.
Outstanding. Don't know what to put really, the octopus was the star of the
show! You could eat a bin full of that and run a marathon. Proper super
food from the sea. I would ALWAYS order this in here.
Lasagne = BOOM! I
worked in Breda when I was younger and used to come here quite often as it was
near to where I was staying. The recipe has not changed one bit. Made with fresh
egg pasta and had about 8-10 sheets of it. Amazing. Everyone prefers different
things when it comes to lasagne, I really like a lot of fresh pasta in mine so
it ticked all the boxes. Not so long ago I ate a 'Lasagne' which was two sheets
of pasta, some mince without seasoning, in a metal take-away tray, with a load of béchamel sauce on top - this could not have
been further along the lasagne scale of excellence unless it sang a little song
at you before you ate it. The bolognese sauce just backed
everything up too. Amazing value for €10!
Final Thought – I really enjoyed the evening. I was slightly apprehensive about coming here for an Italian, I didn't want to be sat there thinking about Al Dente's menu. I was not disappointed though - it is a different style, and with what I ordered, a lot more homely. That lasagne on a Sunday night is exactly what you want.
If I was here for any length of time I would visit regularly.
Final Thought – I really enjoyed the evening. I was slightly apprehensive about coming here for an Italian, I didn't want to be sat there thinking about Al Dente's menu. I was not disappointed though - it is a different style, and with what I ordered, a lot more homely. That lasagne on a Sunday night is exactly what you want.
If I was here for any length of time I would visit regularly.
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