Friday night plans were to watch "Burn the Floor" at The Palms in Crown Casino so Stef and I wanted a quick pre show dinner close by. Perfect opportunity to try out Gradi.
We were shown to our table quickly and service was pretty prompt. The food came out quickly although our waitress wanted to space out our food but we had to say no and that we wanted everything at the same time due to time constraints so she obliged. We decided to share:
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- Spaghettini al Granchio - Spaghettini with spanner crab meat, garlic, chilli zucchini, cherry tomatoes, white wine and lobster bisque
- Lattuga e avocado - Iceberg salad, avocado, aioli, grated salted ricotta
Pizza was great; fresh tangy tomatoes, nice pizza base - doughy and chewy but not heavily so and the peppery rocket was a great accompaniment.
The spaghettini was al dente, just as I like it and the crab meat was sweet and there was a hint of warm chilli. Not sure where the bisque came in - perhaps it was a few tablespoons that kept it all juicy but not sloppy.
Salad was fresh and green with a hint of creaminess from the avocado and aioli. At least the top layers were fresh. The bottom layers were steeped in oil; too much oil, unpleasantly oily which was a shame as it showed much promise.
I enjoyed the food. I felt it was a touch over priced but then we were in Crown Casino so there's always a bit of a premium. I think it's a good option if at Crown for other reasons and a feed is required which was our situation. It's not so amazingly good that I'd visit just to dine here. There is good pizza and pasta elsewhere that is better value.
https://www.crownmelbourne.com.au/