Gio's Restaurant

Gio's - February 9, 2019

It's been a while. Sorry y'all, but life's been busy over the past few months, and the blog was unfortunately put on the back burner. We had such a great dinner the other night at Gio's that I had to come on here a write a new entry.

Nasil and I decided we'd celebrate Valentine's a bit early this year, and treated ourselves to a night out starting at Gio's restaurant, located in the Prince George Hotel in downtown Halifax. Gio's opened up it's fine dining establishment in 2006 and has been receiving great reviews ever since. This review in The Halifax Table, will be no different. 

Upon arrival, on a super cold night, we were greeted warmly by a friendly Maitre'D, who grabbed our coats right away and led us to our table. I'm not sure what was located in the restaurant space before Gio's, but a part of me believes it could have been a diner or typical hotel bar, due to the layout of the restaurant. The decor was simple, but modern, and also romantic, which was perfect for this evening. The wait staff at Gio's was also very friendly and quickly grabbed our drink orders as we sat down. The wine list is quite extensive at Gio's, however the by the glass wine menu was a bit underwhelming; mass produced wines marked up 10x.

After receiving our drinks, it was ordering time. Neither Nasil or I were super hungry, so we went straight for the entrees. The entree menu only has six or seven options on it, however they all looked fantastic, and picking our dishes was not easy. In the end Nasil choose the seared halibut, with risotto and little neck clams (she always gets seafood), while I went with the venison (the meat-eater always takes over my brain). Now, venison is something I do not usually order, which is precisely why I choose it on this evening. The seared venison also came with braised venison (mmm....more meat), potato pave, sunchoke and curry purée, carrots, greens, mustard celery mostardo, mushy peas, venison jus.

When the food arrived it looked beautiful. Very creatively plated and very delicious looking. After just our first bites, we knew we made great chooses. Nasil's halibut had a great-tasting sear on the outside, yet remained moist and perfectly cooked on the inside. Her risotto was also cooked to perfection, which is often not the case at many restaurants, and tasted like creamy goodness. My venison was also fantastic. Again, it had a great sear on the outside, and a beautiful medium rare cook on the inside. As far as the garnish goes (potato pave, sunchoke and curry purée, carrots, greens, mustard celery mostardo, mushy peas), to be honest I really couldn't tell exactly what was what on my plate, which actually made eating this dish fun. Nasil and I had to try to guess what each ingredient was, while enjoying each unique flavor. 

Overall, Gio's probably rates as one of our favorite restaurants we have been too over the past 6 months or so. The service was great, the restaurant had a great atmosphere to it, and most importantly the food was delicious. Gio's isn't the cheapest of options in downtown Halifax, but for special occasions, this place is a great option.

My Beautiful Wife