Venuti
791 Colombo St.
Christchurch
NZ
Tel: 377 2454
www: venuti.co.nz
email: venuti@xtra.co.nz
This place has a mixed review. It is currently located in the middle of the town - among the rubble and rebuild. Still - it is meant to be a family business and the owner / operator from Italy so we were looking forward to some "authentic" cuisine. The wine list is certainly impressive if expansive. I knew from the menu description that this would be a "pizza-bread" so not overly surprised by the shape. For all that - it did proof to be a bit of a nice surprise. The bread itself ( a long time coming with guests who arrived and seated after us
being served first?!) was still nice and warm and the middle really soft and a hint of crust outside. It truly was baked to perfection. A nice decent sprinkle of fresh herbs and a discernible flavor of garlic - without that oily feeling you so often get when having flat pizza-bread based garlic bread. The wicker-basket was an improvement from the usual wooden platter and I can honestly say the paper napkin showed no hints of oil being absorbed. However - yet again - with the rest of the menu being served on over-sized plates and with a decent hint of style and substance, so it was disappointing to see this bread - oops pizza-bread served within the basket. There is room for improvement in terms of presentation. Being pizza bread and moderately thick and fresh - it was more than enough for two people.
| Presentation | 2 out of 5 |
| Quantity | 2 out of 5 |
| Taste: | 4 out of 5 |
| Quality | 4.5 out of 5 |
| Overall score: | 12.5 (out of poss 20) |
