I have always loved discovering new, quiet places to engage in a little happy conversation, with that most wonderful, most romantic social lubricant, wine. There are a lot of these places, still undiscovered, and only waiting for them to be experienced.
One such restaurant for me is Galileo Enoteca Deli. I heard about Galileo from friends who have been to its Shaw Boulevard branch, and have indulged in its sinfully Italian offerings. This version, in Eastwood City, is snugly situated amongst other restaurants in the older section of the development, that it’s almost unnoticeable.
Walking up a flight of stairs, the inviting interiors of Galileo are quietly romantic and mysterious, with its brick walls, arches (my absolute favorite part of any house or resto), heavy drapery, distinct wood furniture, and rows and rows of all sorts of spirits and pasta products.
We settled on a table by the window. Wonderful view of Eastwood’s busy bustle.
As I was so hungry, I ordered their set meal variety, that comes with a choice of pasta, a plate of cured meats and cheeses, a glass of wine, and their dessert for the day.
My friends opted for salad and pasta.
Our waiter then gave us a traditional serving of freshly baked bread that we asked seconds and thirds of. The bread was pretty, and felt heavy, bouncy, and full with each bite–and even better with the olive oil-balsamic vinegar magic formula, and the spiced tomato salsa.
We felt, after just the bread, that they served seriously good stuff. And so we waited, and anticipated happiness to be coming our way very soon.
The salmon pasta (mine), an aglio olio (my buddy Jett’s), the seafood salad (my energetic sister-friend Redgyn’s) and the cold cuts (also mine) came next. They asked me to choose between red and white wine; I picked white.
We had them spread in the middle of the table, so we could have a little of everything.
The verdict? They were all generally good. My salmon pasta was expectedly creamy and rich, and the aglio olio was equally wonderful. The seafood salad? Succulent, scrumptious, seriously seafood-y. Now here’s the sad part. I couldn’t quite figure out why they somehow opted to saute the salmon before mixing it with the cream; I felt salmon always tasted better when it’s either the raw (with its mellow taste) or the smoked version (with its distinctly pungent, salty, woody savor). Saute-ing it, and the way they did it, made the whole thing feel a bit flat. Too bad. The cold cuts/cheeses/olives somehow saved it.
I ended my meal with a heavenly serving of pistachio gelato. Now this one drew ahhs from the group. It was really delicious!
If you wish for a little privacy, and a little cinematic drama, the next time you go out with family and friends (or a sweetheart), Galileo is a great option. Its quiet, almost church-like ambience lends the place a bit of an imposing, decadent, medieval feel. I didn’t know if the staff forgot to switch on their piped-in music player, but I appreciated the dead, cold silence that night. Conversations are sexier when whispered, n’est ce pas? (Forgive my French.)
Priced moderately.
Shadows, Showers & Sun 