Review of 'Gio's'
We are always on the lookout for a good local restaurant. In our effort, or perhaps desperation, we have loosened up our definition of “local” to encompass anything within, say, an hour of where we live which then includes places like Liverpool and Manchester. Sometimes we hear of somewhere somewhat closer to home and this is when we found “Gio's”, an Italian restaurant in Crewe a short 10 minute drive from our home in Nantwich. It was billed as being the “Best Italian in Crewe” so we decided to give it a go. In Nantwich we have the quite good Romazzino so the bar had been set.
Gio's is located on Nantwich road, a short distance from the train station and across the street from our favourite Indian restaurant in Crewe, Passage to India with it's reasonable prices and good sized portions. Gio's is spread out over two floors. The small ground floor has a small bar area with seating in front at the windows while upstairs is only tables and the toilets. We were seated upstairs near a window and given the small, double sided A4 food menu to review (a small drinks menu stood on the side of the table as well with no huge surprises and a fairly limited non-alcoholic selection). It is quite simply decorated with bare wood floors and a few pictures hanging on the white walls. The wood tables do not have tableclothes and the wood chairs are not overly uncomfortable. Even with only a few people dining when we were there early on Saturday evening, it was quite noisy with all of the hard furnishings. I can imagine when they are full it would be very loud.
The menu has a few nibbles at the top (bread, olives…) then “Starters”, “Pizza”, (over) “Calzone”, “Al Forno”, “Pasta & Risotto” (only one risotto) then “Sides & Dips”. There are only a few options in each of the sections which is good to see - Concentrating on making a few things taste good rather than trying to do everything. We opted for the “Antipasti Platter” (£8.50; “Cured meats, cheese, marinated olives and homemade bread”) over the other starters which did not particularly grab us (bruschetta, deep-fried calamari, Caprese salad, meatballs and prawns with bread). To be fair, we just wanted something light and something that would show off the quality (or lack thereof) the ingredients.
The olives (with pits) were big, plump and not overly salty, obviously high quality, while the thinly cut cured meats (heavily favouring chorizo) were full of flavour and the oven-charred flatbread hot from the oven with a crunchy crust and fluffy interior not overly seasoned. The cheese was a small round of fresh mozzarella. A good start.
For my main, I opted for the “Risotto Picante” (£14.00; “Nduja, chorizo, red onion, garden peas with creme fraiche”) as I am a sucker for risotto and find it is also a good indication of whether the restaurant is any good. So many get it wrong in terms of either overcooking it to soup consistency or undercooking it to the point of chewing on raw rice. Seasoning as well can be problematic - It needs to be full of flavour and rich to eat. This was a good risotto. The rice was only slightly al dente with a rich, creamy sauce occasionally punctuated with pieces of nduja and chorizo. The pea sprouts on the top were a nice, fresh touch as well. The portion size was quite good, I can't imagine eating a larger bowl of it.
My companion had the “Chicken Nduja Bake” (£15.00; “Roast chicken with nduja, peppers, spinach and trofie pasta baked in creamy tomato sauce topped with creme fraiche”) which was a simple bowl of small, twisted pasta pieces in a tomato sauce. The dish was quite bland, one dimensional though with the flavour of nduja coming through quite strongly. The generous portion size had lots of chicken with the pasta slightly overcooked beyond al dente.
She had the “Mixed Dressed Salad” (£5) on the side which, for some reason, was not dressed at all (despite even asking the server as she delivered the dish to confirm it was). It was fresh but overpowered with raw onions.
We opted to skip on the desserts as we planned to visit elsewhere though we have told that the tiramisu is supposed to be very good, though reading it is “boozy” is a big turn off for us.
We were given (and paid) the wrong bill but it came to roughly £50 for the two of us (including non-alcoholic drinks) which is reasonable. Service was pleasant if not overly friendly and quite prompt, though leaving enough time to just relax and enjoy the experience. We were not overly “wowed” by the food but it was OK. In retrospect, the pizzas look quite nice and there are other things on the menu that look like they would be worth trying as well.
Rating: “Really good but I have some issues”
Review Date: 2025-05-24
Cuisine: Italian
Address: 23/25 Nantwich Rd, Crewe, Cheshire CW2 6AF ENGLAND
Public Transport: 
Crewe
Location: Cheshire (England) - Crewe
Map:
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Telephone: +44 (0) 1270 500276
URL: https://www.giovannisuk.com/