Gill’s Diner wins a child friendly dinner thumbs up
I faced a challenge recently: find somewhere good for dinner with one of my oldest and dearest friends who was visiting Melbourne, her three year old son and her mother in the CBD near her hotel apartment in Bank Place. Knowing that Gill’s Diner opens at 6pm and would be quiet early, it seemed like a good possibility and it proved to be a fantastic choice.
The adults enjoyed delicious food and a bottle of the wonderful King valley Sam Miranda Symphonia Albariño. Our young companion pronounced the special Gill’s French fries to be good and found the churros most satisfactory.
I thought the squid ink risotto with calamari (above) was divine – perfectly cooked rice of intense flavour with tender calamari and exactly the right amount of salt. My friend chose the threesome of entrees – mussels with chick peas, a savoury ratatouille and a wonderful terrine of salmon, tomato, basil and bocconcini (below). BYO dinosaurs.
Desserts were essential. The icecream flavours were banana, raspberry and coconut and the churros proved irresistable to chubby little fingers!
By the time we left at 8pm the room was packed, and I was startled to see a man who was an exact double of Philip Glass (or is he in town?) and one of The Lucksmiths. Is Gill’s a particular musician hangout? I was impressed that it was full on a Tuesday night.
If you’re visiting Melbourne with small children, there’s no need to eat at bland hotel restaurants or order room service or takeaway. Gill’s Diner is a very child friendly city dinner venue with quality adult food. The staff were most helpful and accommodating, the fries were not on the menu but were quickly and cheerfully produced and, because we got there early, we received a table in a corner with room for dinosaurs and colouring books.
You might also like
|
|
|
|
Other posts you may find relevant and interesting
- Gill’s Diner, 9 May 2008
- degustazione lunch at Journal Canteen, Flinders Lane, 1 February 2010
- calamari salad at the Standard hotel, 8 April 2009
- calamari salad at the Rainbow hotel, 10 April 2009
- half price dinner at Griff’s wine pub, 19 June 2009