Georgio's Contemporary Dining

Sometimes the fiance and I get into an eating out funk. We go to the familiar and favourite places, and great restaurants sadly go unnoticed. There seems to be two schools of thought with eating out. The first one is that you go to the same places and get the same meal because you know it will be good. It's tried, tested, and true. The other way of thinking is that you may be missing out on something, so you always want to try new menu items and new places to eat. This can be a risk, because sometimes the only thing you find is a disaster. I tend to be the latter, and the fiance the former. However, we were both interested in trying out Georgio's for some pasta!

Georgio's Contremporary Dining can be found on 1520 3 Ave S in Lethbridge, Alberta. Parking can be found beside the restaurant, and more spaces clear up around dinner time when neighbouring businesses close for the evening. The inside has a bit of a Tuscan feel to it, and is clean and presentable. There seems to be a private dining area upstairs, but they had a party going on and I was unable to view it. It's a formal restaurant, not one for jeans and t-shirts, but you don't have to be overly fancy at the same time. Just dress up nice folks!

We had looked at Urban Spoon Reviews to scout out the restaurant before heading off, and the reviews were all fairly positive. The calamari especially seemed to be a standout, and being a favourite of ours, it was going to happen! We were seated promptly and our waiter was on the ball with our drink order. While I had a beer with dinner, the fiance ordered a caesar. It was... nothing special, and very close to below average. It had all the right ingredients... but something seemed to be off about it, I'm not quite sure what it was. Sometimes that just happens and you can't do anything about it.

We ordered an appetizer of the calamari and I got a small bowl of the seafood bisque. The calamari comes in a unique stalk shape, instead of the common rings or small squid shapes. They were pretty good! Best in Lethbridge is a strong claim, and I'm not sure they deserve that title, but I loved the uniqueness and the flavour. My seafood bisque was probably the best part. It had tons of flavour, wasn't too chunky or a weak broth, and really, it just hit the spot.




For dinner I had ordered the seafood lasagna, and the fiance had the Linguine Angelina with artichokes and capers. Disappointment. For such a fancy restaurant, I definitely expected a little bit more presentation to go into mine. It was burnt to the bowl and seemed oddly misshaped. The flavour was also disappointing. Made with a dill and white wine sauce, I didn't get either flavour, but instead a strong salty, creamy mix that reminded me more of a bad Alfredo sauce. The dish was all noodle, with a single skinny layer of imitation crab and a few (probably around 4-5) small pieces of shrimp. The flavour was completely lacking and definitely wasn't what I had expected.

The fiance's promised artichoke hearts and capers were nonexistent in her dish, and like mine, lacked flavour. The vegetables that did make it into her bowl didn't seem to suit the dish. They seemed to be whatever was simply lying around the kitchen.  Both dishes actually seemed to have the same unappetizing sauce that did nothing for the tastebuds. The fiance stated that her shrimp was overcooked and the chicken (much like my crab) seemed to be from a package instead of fresh.  Disappointment.

We were tempted by dessert, but remained full from the appetizers and the half eaten main courses. They did have some good selections that I wouldn't mind trying at some point, but I'm still disappointed about the dinner. The price at the end was fair and about what I had expected for the night out, but would have been better suited for better tasting meals.

So conclusion... appetizers were delicious, the main course was not. They also have some wine specials during the week, so if you want a nice break, an appetizer and a bottle of wine would be pleasant here. I was actually really surprised based on all the positive reviews that the restaurant had received. Perhaps I went on an off-night. I'd be willing to give it a second chance (I strongly believe in second chances) but I'll definitely be going in with lowered expectations.

Staff and Service - C+
Food and Flavours - C-
Atmosphere - B