Another evening at Casa Gio

If you have followed us for a while, you will know that Casa Gio in Pedersgata is one of our favorites. I sometimes refer to it as the hidden gem of Stavanger as they don’t make a lot of fuss on SoMe –they just stick to their concept of making good Italian food. We stopped by on a Saturday night with some friends and it turned out to be quite lively as there were two other larger groups there for dinner as well.

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  Casa Gio

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  Menu

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  Wine cellar

Things have not changed much – they still only have a couple of starters and 3-4 mains, and this is written on the blackboard as you walk in. We decided to have fregola pasta and mussels to start with and this appeared to be a larger portion as it was served. Fregola is a sort of pasta made into small pea sized balls, and it was served with a tomato sauce and the mussels, and this was a lovely dish to start with – and not as huge as it seemed initially. The mains are usually pasta and risotto based and this evening I had the risotto and Linguine alle vongole – pasta with clams, prawns and octopus! My risotto was actually “riso affumicato” which translated into smoked rice – and it had lovely scents of this! As it also came with some fresh porcini and some Prosciutto (cured ham) – the aromas (and taste) were just heavenly! This was a dish that I really enjoyed with my glass of Anselma Langhe Nebbiolo.

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  Seafood pasta

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  Fregola and mussels

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  Smoked risotto

Talking about wine: I am very happy to see that their internal courtyard has been converted to a small wine cellar and they are starting to build up a collection of some good Italian wines! Here you can find good producers such as Scarpa (they make a great Barbera), G.D. Vajra (which we had the pleasure of visiting in Piemonte), Marchesi Antinori wines , Brunello wines from Biondi Santi and even Sassicaia – the original super Tuscan wine from Tenuta San Guido.

This evening, we did not have time for dessert unfortunately. Thanks for a great dinner once again Casa Gio – we look forward to returning soon!

Pros:

- good Italian food!

- good Italian wines on the menu

Cons:

- The menu is often limited to a few pasta dishes and risotto