Balboa Italian

4 Reviews on “Balboa Italian”

• M I S S Y C A T

  We arrived Queensland today, ended up with this Italian restaurant not far from the airport. The service is really good when we arrived, but when the crowd grows I feel is a bit slow. The pizza was good, the pumpkin scallops risotto was the best, pasta was not bad. We ordered the desserts but waited quite a bit, we love the desserts too.

  December 25, 2019, 1:53 am

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• RichEats

  Great cocktails, attentive service and a wonderful atmosphere. We’ll definitely be backThe star dishes for us were the arancini entree and veal main.

  November 20, 2019, 2:22 am

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• Pip Gardiner

  Whilst I would like to return for the terrific food and the atmosphere inside the restaurant, I was pretty disappointed by the service/booking experience and would need to be ensured a better booking experience. I specifically rang up in advance to enquire about seating arrangements, as the online booking system doesn’t specify many details about the variety of seating options. Initially, I was told on the phone that there were only bookings available at 5:30 and 8pm, even though the online booking system had more options such as 6pm. Thankfully they agreed they could “squeeze us in” at 6pm. Whilst being a little misleading, I was glad we were given that option. My main request for seating was that my partner and I be seated at a table opposite each other and NOT a bar/bench side-by-side, as it was a special occasion. The restaurant promised that they would book a balcony table (where we could sit across from each other) for 6pm. I confirmed my booking when I received the confirmation text that day. Unfortunately, upon arrival, we were told someone with the same last name as me called to cancel their booking so they cancelled my booking (even though I had confirmed at midday in reply to their text). I understand mistakes are made but I don’t have the most common last name, and the likelihood of there being a booking for Gardiner at 6pm for a balcony table is slim (especially since there were only 2-3 tables on the balcony). Regardless, they said they would find us seating but then proceeded to place us at a balcony bench side-by-side facing a billboard. I asked about the empty balcony tables or absolutely any other table in the restaurant, but they continued to only offer bench seating. Whilst the waitress who served our food and drinks was very polite, the gentleman in charge of seating us was unsympathetic and a little rude.  It did ruin the night and I was pretty upset about it since it was a special occasion and a rare dining-out experience for us. I had put in extra effort to ensure this seating situation didn’t happen and whilst the price matches the quality of the food, you’d hope the experience would match it too. It definitely detracted from the evening as I continuously swivelled around in my seat to at least face my partner a little. Otherwise, the pasta was lovely – we ordered the pappardelle al ragú and beef check gnocchi. The pappardelle was a little too al dente for my preference but was still deliciously fresh, and the sweet spiced goat meat was absolutely amazing. The gnocchi was soft, light and obviously handmade, and the beef cheek fell apart nicely. The food was very quick at being served. The Italian wine selection looks good and the wines we ordered were lovely but it was disappointing that less than half of the Italian wines by the glass were available so range was limited.

  February 4, 2019, 2:22 am

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• Cinth

  Food generally disappointing considering the reviews. More worrying was the waiter’s need to tell us that we had ordered the best two dishes on the menu, then check that all was ok mid bite – twice- and tell us again that the dishes were the best on offer. Please never be so condescending to tell your patrons what to think. (But on her advice if that’s the best in offer?) Actually felt like a tourist trap.

  January 5, 2019, 2:22 am

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