Ciao Bambino!

Gambrino - Great Western Rd, Glasgow

A nostalgic dinner with a best friend took me to Gambrino recently.  I say nostalgic because it’s round the corner from the old flat we shared and brings back memories of cheeky late night suppers and boozy lunches that we couldn’t afford at the time. 

Gambrino is a cheerful place with romantic stained wood and flickering candles and on the night we visited it was almost full which is nice to see.   The menu is a decent size with a good range of starters and packed with plenty of pizza and pasta dishes dotted with a few other Italian menu staples.

To start we decided to share the bresaola and rocket salad with parmesan shavings and a garlic flat bread.   The bresaola was nicely presented and tasty but for £7.45 I thought the portion was pretty mean, bresaola is not as expensive as say Parma ham or a beef carpaccio so I would have expected a more generous helping.   The flat bread was wonderful, well cooked with a perfect amount of both garlic and seasoning.

Starters demolished and on to the main course, my friend went for an old favourite of fettuccine al cartoccio, a baked pasta dish where the pasta has been stirred through with Bolognese sauce, mushrooms and mozzarella, amongst other things.  I think it’s a great dish, really delicious although be warned it is also seriously filling!  I opted for a chicken Milanese and I confess that I was disappointed.  The chicken wasn’t flattened out properly which I find off putting and it had been burnt on one side, the accompanying spaghetti was nice but didn’t make up for the poor chicken. 

They have a brilliant selection of predominantly Italian wines with a reasonable number offered by the glass.   Service was good and I like the fact that some of the staff are Italian which lends some extra charm to the experience. 

It’s maybe not a restaurant worth crossing the city for but if you’re in the area then I would recommend a visit, a bit of la dolce vita never hurt anyone!