Address: 161 Symonds Street
Phone: (09) 302 2061
Website: ginas.co.nz
Cuisine: Italian
Rating: 4/10
Oh dear. The alarm bells started ringing as soon as we entered the tucked-away new premises of Gina's Italian Kitchen on a balmy evening late last week.
The popular trattoria-style restaurant is something of an Auckland institution, existing in one location or another since the 1970s. It moved a few doors down the street to its current, much larger, incarnation a couple of months ago from a snug but prominent corner location, which was where we had last dined a few years prior.
Memories of that night had faded but we recalled a chaotic and raucous atmosphere, good-looking, flirtatious waiters and, best of all, a fun night out.
Tellingly, perhaps, we remembered little about the food - but a night out at Gina's was always more about the experience anyway.
There is, of course, still a place for the sort of clichéd Italian schtick that the place has built its reputation on. After all, you'd be sorely disappointed if a traditional-style restaurant owned and run by Italian people completely ignored the culture and customs of the Old Country. And it seems the punters still lap it up - the place was packed to the gunnels with people enjoying pre-Christmas get-togethers.
But for some reason this time around the cries of "Ciao bella" that greeted us as we walked in seemed slightly disingenuous, with the charm laid on so thick you could almost scrape it off with a knife.
And while the restaurant's new digs may be much more spacious, unfortunately we felt Gina's has lost some of its personality with its relocation down the street.
The red and white chequered tablecloths are still there - as are the attractive waiters - but the aforementioned atmosphere is somewhat muted in their new, cavernous surrounds. The exposed brick walls, open kitchen and outdoor area are all nicely done, but the place seems to have lost a little of its "Italianness".
However, we pushed our initial misgivings to one side and knuckled down to the serious business of eating, which got off to a reasonable start.
My friend's generous serving of calamari fritti - deep-fried calamari with garlic mayo - was nicely cooked and well seasoned, while my two pieces of bruschetta topped with tomato, basil, garlic and extra virgin olive oil were fine, but not really bursting with the kinds of flavour you'd expect from fresh basil paired with juicy ripe tomatoes.
To go with our main courses (secondi) we ordered the Alleluia pizza topped with chicken, basil pesto and toasted pinenuts, which, again was fine but slightly lacking in flavour.
In hindsight we should have stuck with the pasta and pizza menu but instead we went all-out.
My fish of the day - tarakihi, one of my favourites - had been cooked in baking paper with capers, sun-dried tomatoes and basil. I do something similar at home with tinfoil. I think mine is better. It arrived on the plate still wrapped in its slightly browned paper - which would have been fine if some thought had gone in to the presentation. The fish itself had zero flavour and was uninspiring.
My friend ordered the pollo mare e terra - pan-fried chicken breast with prawns and a sauce of cream, garlic and white wine with a dash of truffle oil. The (three) prawns were rubbery and either not fresh or perhaps just overcooked, the slab of chicken was standard, and its thin, oily sauce was spiked furiously with garlic and little else.
The accompanying side dishes consisted of a piece of cold, toasted sourdough bread (with no butter), a small handful of limp salad leaves (with no dressing) and a few chunks of potato and kumara which were supposed to have been roasted, but which actually seemed parboiled. Disappointing and unappetising.
And at $30 and $29 respectively, we felt both mains were a tad overpriced.
But when all is lost, there is always dessert, and surely an Italian restaurant can't possibly mess up a tiramisu.We did get a little distracted by the eight or so topless waiters thumping pots, pans and kitchen surfaces before descending on a group of girls with a cake while belting out a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday, but not distracted enough to register the savoiardi fingers layered with mascarpone cream, fresh espresso coffee and Marsala wine were soaked right through. I like my tiramisu a little firmer and not so cloyingly sweet, but that could be just personal preference.
So, sorry Gina's, at a time when one wants to be full of good cheer, it is a pity your move to a bigger location has not led to a better experience. To employ one final cliché: it's not size that matters, it's what you do with it that counts.
From the menu: Calamari fritti ($16); bruschetta ($8); fish of the day ($30); pollo mare e terra ($29); Alleluia pizza ($22); tiramisu ($13)
Drinks: Fully licensed
