Address: 5 City Rd, CBD
Phone: (09) 373 2843
Bill is in heaven.
Da Vinci's has porter on the beer list. It's Tuatara, a brand he hasn't tried before, but that's no obstacle.
The reason we're here is in no way related to the fact that Dan Brown, he of The Da Vinci Code fame, has just released another book with a press run of squillions.
It's just chance, and the need for a good Italian meal.
We could, in fact, have come here any time in the last 30 or so years, because Da Vinci's has been around that long. I hesitate to say that the decor reflects this, but it really could do with a little freshening. The terracotta-washed walls, while having a warming effect, are a little chipped and scratched. But bright rugs and runners and New York-style photos (think Sinatra, Martin, Sammy Davis Jnr and the rest of the Ratpack) take the attention away from the walls.
But we're here for the food, really. Bill sips his beer, and I start in on a glass of Clayridge sauvignon blanc, and we make decent inroads on the pizza bread, a house speciality with garlic, oregano and olive oil, and a very good ciabatta with olive oil and an excellent basil pesto.
The choice of mains is extensive, but divvied up into sections — salads, pizza, pasta (it is Italian, after all), and carni. That's meat to you and me.
My sauvignon blanc is a bit sweet for my taste, so I change to chianti, and Bill tries another beer from the Tuatara stable, Helles, a lager which he enjoys more than the slightly sweet porter.
To go with it, he orders rigatoni with sausage, and that's exactly what he gets — a bowl of spicy Italian sausage and pasta with rosemary and olives.
He's delighted.
Sticking to the when-in-Rome theme, I order scaloppine with lemon. It is served with a wine and butter sauce, and thin slices of lemon layered on the meat, accompanied by wee roast potatoes and beans in a tomato sauce. It's tender and delicious, but I'm a sucker for lemon in (almost) anything.
The portions are judged perfectly, so that even a small appetite can cope with a starter and main and still have room to steal a mouthful of dessert. Which is all I get of Bill's pancake with Frangelico, which may be off the menu if the restaurant is busy because they are made to order. Which is as it should be.
A glass of Calvados and one of Vecchia Romagna, and we're done. Chef Brad Pease has done us proud, which explains why, reportedly, 90 per cent of the clientele at Da Vinci's have been there before.
So the next non-cooking night, when it's a case of, "what do we feel like tonight?" and the answer is Italian, give Da Vinci's a go. Unless you're one of the 90 per cent, in which case this is all old news.
Rating out of 10
Food: 8
Value: 8
Service: 7
Ambience: 7
Our meal: $149 for two entrees, two mains, one dessert, wine, beer and liqueurs.
Wine list: Plenty of local and imported by the bottle, and a good selection by the glass at about $10 a time, on a separate menu, which is a neat idea.
Verdict: Da Vinci's opened in 1980 and their almost 30 years experience shows. They know what their customers like and they provide it. And there's parking, a bonus in the city.
