Pizzeria Giovanni Ristorente Italiano     祖凡尼意大利餐廳  

Looked kinda promising from the outside, but terribly disappointed with what went on inside.

First off, service was atrocious! I cannot count the number of times my friend and I tried without avail, to get the attention of the waiters in the restaurant. Finally when the old chap arrived, his attitude was surly and very impatient. We even ended up going directly to the counter to pay our bill because we couldn't get the attention of the waiters at the end of our meal. By this time, the restaurant was nearly empty so it wasn't that they were too busy.

With food, the French Onion soup was pathetic! Tasted like it had come right out from a can. The mussel appetizer we ordered was smacked down while we were already halfway through our entrees. It was ordinary and looked and tasted like it was topped with processed cheese and bacon bits. My friend had the ox-tail stew and I had a duck dish, don't even remember what it's called now, but it's one of the dinner specials. The portions were ok, but the food leave a lot to be desired.

We were both pretty convinced that would be the first and very last time we would eat there. Maybe we should have ordered pizzas instead, can't imagine them messing those up too badly.

The food is real good : good taste and good appearance. Maybe the food is too good, the service there is being neglected. The manner of the young waitress and the old waiter is horrible. I think most of the customers will be stopped from re-visiting the restaurant again by their bad serivce.

Very bad service either by waitress or waiter. Food is good. If the food is not good, I believe I won't go anymore. All the waiter has very rude and impolite service to clients.

Had lunch set today. my friend had boiled german pork leg and sausage and i had italian lamb chop. never had boiled pork leg before. not fat. ok tasty. the lamb is also quite good. the price is very cheap. only $33 + 10% including soup and coffee.

4 people go here for lunch today. after reading comments here, therefore haven't ordered set lunch.

tried much of the dishes from the chef recommendation page, quite good

1) bread basket
- though it's free, still warm, quality is good. the ball shape bread is outer crunchy while inside is soft.

2) parma ham w/melon
-a traditional italian appetizer. the porton of the ham is generous, very large piece. it looks fresh with shine/bright appearance. taste though not with strong meat aroma, not salty, not bad

3) hawaii style ham and grill chicken with fresh fruit salad
- ham and chicken is so so but the salad base is tasty

4) seafood pizza
- size not very big, but since it's hot while serving, therfore the cheese on the top is very soft. bread base is not the thin crunchy type but soft. overall quite good

5) fried scallop with black truffle spaghetti
- fried spaghetti with butter/ olive oil. taste is good. all of us are satisfied

6) pork spare ribs
- small portion, pork is marinated with good taste. but if can be served with some sauce eg bbq, rich would be much rich

7)shrimp fried rice wrapped by lotus leave
- quite ordinary

8) zabayone (sth like that)
- texture is smooth. forget to stir well before sharing. therefore my portion (bottom part) is little alcoholic flavor

9) 3 flavor ice cream
- order this because tiramisu is sold out. knew that this ice cream is house made. it's a rectangular shape ice cream, not thick with 3 flavor - mint chocolate, strawberry and vanila. of course can't compare it with XTC/ haggan daz, but not bad

in fact, service is not as bad as what the other comments put. though not with smiling face, quick response and self initiated to pour us water and prepare "public" cutlery. patience and prompt feedback to my questions (ask what type the ice cream is and is the harma ham raw/ done)

ordered tenderloin with foie gras (goose liver), club pizza, and oyster. the total, including 10% service charge is something around $330.

let's start from the first dish shall we? the bread is good. very warm. the second dish is the oyster, which is terrible. the oysters are small, and taste bad (like fish smell), lots of sands inside it. the third dish is my tenderloin with foie gras. the foie gras is fairly good, good taste, juicy, just like ice-cream. yummy!! the tenderloin on the other hand is not so exciting. the forth dish is the club pizza. the pizza looks bad - the toppings are not covering the pizza properly. i guess the chef is not in a good mood :-) u have onion, ham, cheese, but they are not spread evenly, so some slice has onion, some has ham, and some has both. haha. finally comes the drink, we ordered coffee. the coffee is over cooked. -_-'

service is..... hahaha. the waiters, and waitresses are very cool. i don't recall any smiles, or thank you.

if u don't like eating foie gras, go somewhere else.

When we were little, Mom used to take us to this favorite restaurant of hers; I had nothing but fond memory of this cozy little place. The old and rusty door, the dark lighting, the kegs, the grapes hanging from the ceiling, the crispy dinner buns with warm and chewy center, the exotic menu..
Many years had gone by before my mother and my siblings had a chance to revisit this charming little place, this past Feb, our family who had spent the past 16 years in Canada traveled back to Hong Kong due to a family emergency. We made reservation and took mom there, and upon reaching their entrance, I knew nothing had changed. I remember the atmosphere well. Once we entered, as if time had been frozen for the past two decades, I couldn’t even being to describe the feeling. The waiter who was somewhat rude, and tilts his head continually, still tilts his head, and of course, still rude. I don’t actually remember what we had ordered exactly, I think we ordered a set lunch, a mango lobster salad, and a rack of lamb, everything was awesome, the soups still as flavorful as ever, and the bums still crispy and warm..
Knowing that we might not ever have a chance to gather there again as a family, we were overcome by emotions. Before we left, the owner came over and we told him how much we appreciate his restaurant, he told us that we are by no mean unique in having this emotional tie to his little place, most of this customers returns years after years..
Hong Kong is a relatively foreign place to me; there wasn’t much I could remember about my early childhood years. But, I remember this restaurant well, if you ask me I think this is the origin of my life-long passion for Italian cuisine,

I got a very bad experience in this restaurant and I will not been there again.
It is an Italy restaurant and it is quite costly. So the relatively service should be provided. However, when I entry into this restaurant. A waitress bring me a small table, at that moment, I and my fd are both carrying a very heavy and big bags. Since there was still not full. So I request her to give me the other bigger table. But she refused with poor attitude.
When we settle down a while, we feel the air-condition is very cold, so we request them to lower this. They said that they cannot control that..The boss said that when the other table is free, he will let me change to the other table, which is not located near the out-hale of the air-conditioner.
When we can change the table. The waitress (who assign the table to us b4) haven't change the table linen. When we request her to change. She said that this is new, the linen still has many oil spots. Even it is new one, I think such linen should not let the customer use.
When we leave, we really unsatisfy their serivce, and their food is not very fresh and delicious. The most funny thing is, they can be still awarded by Hong Kong Travelling Agency as the one of the best restaurant. I think that if this one really introduce to the visitor, our HK image must be affected.