Galileo Buona Cucina – better than Nonna’s cooking!
August 28, 2017
We recently celebrated Maria, our office administrator’s, 10 years of service at Catalyst Finance and, being of Italian heritage, we thought we’d treat her to a lunch at Galileo in Shenton Park.
What a lovely, cosy little place to sit on a freezing cold, Friday winter’s afternoon and by the look of the menu, I could see this was going to be a right “stuffing”.
We asked the waiter to bring an assortment of entrees which included the sweetest, tiny marinated green olives, fish croquettes with garlic sauce, oven baked bruschetta with an amazing fresh Tuscan salad topping and of course, warm, crusty Italian bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Sounds like an entire meal in itself but what was to come just raised the bar.
I had carefully chosen my dish so as not to be rolling out of the restaurant later that afternoon and decided on the lighter (well, lighter than half a cow or a baby lamb) house made thick spaghetti with prawns, crunchy anchovies and parsley in a light white wine sauce. The spaghetti was out of this world, very thick, long square strands and it was the perfect hearty lunch for a cold and wet day.
If meat is your thing, the other dishes ordered at the table were pork belly with crispy crackling and white beans, a quail, stuffed with Venetian sausage and lentil salad or the slow baked lamb, cooked in the wood fired oven.
Every meal that hit the table looked mouth-watering and best of all, hearty!
Our big mistake was ordering sides (when in Rome…. Eat like the Romans!). The side roasted heirloom carrots (both purple and orange varieties) was, if not the most tasty of the sides, the prettiest but the winner on taste were the crunchy roasted potatoes, better than your Nonna ever cooked!
I’m sure that some of us had desserts, from memory a lovely panna cotta but by this stage I had hit food comatose and was barely able to open my eyes.
Galileo is traditional Sicilian cuisine and the chef prides himself on making almost everything on the premises including the pasta, bread, stocks, sauces and desserts.
Arriving right on midday the restaurant was pretty quiet for a Friday afternoon but was soon a bustling little room with diners who had set in for the afternoon.
The atmosphere was great and this restaurant is highly recommended for a long lunch or a classy dinner.
Visit Galileo’s Website