Sunday 6 July 2014

Papa Gino's - old school Italian restaurant, Lygon St, Carlton

On Friday, E and I took Sylvia out for a movie and dinner.  It felt like an old fashioned kind of night.  The movie - Ernest and Celestine - was hand drawn and was wonderfully sweet and innocent compared to the fast-moving, knowing, in-your-face movies that often assault kids' senses.  Dinner was at a pizza and pasta restaurant in Lygon Street called Papa Gino's.  It has been there since long before my student days and still draws in the crowds and delivers great pizza.

There is something comforting for me about going to Papa Gino's.  I always went to Papa Gino's or neighbouring Il Gamberos for cheap pizza but Il Gamberos burnt down a few years back.  (It doesn't seem as cheap now at $11.50 for a small pizza or $9.50 for a margherita.  I guess it is better value to buy a big pizza for $20 if everyone can agree on one.)

I have been to Papa Gino's many times with housemates, with work colleagues, with family.  I don't think the menu has changed in the 2 decades I have been going there, except that they now have gluten free pizza bases.  I love to sit at the front, when ordering a takeaway pizza, and watch the guy making pizza.  I included the blurred photo of the portrait on the wall in the photo collage above because I have stared at it many times. (All the photos are from my phone and not the best quality.)

The interior doesn't seem to change either.  The dark brick walls with lots of curved archways and travel posters on the walls are very old school.  (1970s?)  They pack the tables in closely and most of them are filled.  The place bustled with chatter and laughter on a Friday night.  (The empty table in the above photo did not stay vacant for long.)

I always order the vegetarian pizza - tomato sauce, capsicum mushrooms, cheese and olives.  When I first started coming here it was quite a revelation to have a pizza that wasn't covered in melty cheese.  The cheese has a bit part here rather than being the star of the show.  If it hadn't been so long since I last visited I might have remembered that I like to have pineapple as an extra.  The base was quite thin and crisp without any of the sogginess that sometimes occurs when vegies are piled on a pizza.

I am not sure I have ever had pasta here but there are a few basic vegetarian options - tomato sauce, creamy mushroom sauce, and garlic and olive oil.  The other vegetarian options seem to be a green salad and chips.

I have thought that pizza might be a good option for Sylvia.  The tomato sauce in the magherita was slightly spicy but even so I had thought she might eat it.  But she is getting fussier with her pizza and no longer so happy to have any tomato and cheese topping.  She scraped off her topping and ate one quarter.  She was more interested in drinking apple juice, playing with loom bands and singing Let It Go.  Not that anyone noticed.  It was so noisy that no one would hear you scream in Papa Gino's!

After we had finished our meal, had Sylvia's leftover pizza packaged up to take home and paid the bill, we visited the Original Lolly Shop.  It amused me to see their chocolate pizzas.  This is a lolly shop so their chocolate pizza was a large disk of chocolate covered in 100s and 1000s and lots of lollies.  Cute idea.

As it was the end of the first week of the school holidays, I thought I would share a few photos of some of our activities.  Lots of parks, playdates and puddles as well as doing a swimming intensive for 5 days.  We have been taking it easy this weekend in readiness for another busy week ahead.

Papa Gino's
221 Lygon Street, Carlton
Tel: 03 9347 5758
www.papaginos.com.au

Papa Gino's on Urbanspoon

16 comments:

  1. This old fashioned evening out would suit me very well indeed. It all sounds lovely, and institutions that don't change but stay popular are a rarity these days. I love the low cheese vegetarian pizza and the sound of the crispy non-soggy base. Your school holiday outings and activities also sound busy but fun - hopefully your relaxing weekend will recharge you for the second week!

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    1. Thanks Kari - I still think the cheese helps to hold it together but am sure it would work well without cheese because so much good veg. I sort of crashed over the weekend but it has been nice not to rush out to swimming every morning this week

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  2. I haven't been to Papa Gino's in years, I love that they don't change the decor :P

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    1. Thanks Veganopoulous - I hadn't been there for ages but it felt just the same

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  3. It' good to visit old faithfuls - it is nice to know what you will get. Looks like Sylvia is having fun on holidays!

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    1. Thanks Cakelaw - there is something comforting about old faithfuls that don't change

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  4. My partner used to go to this tiny pizzeria in Cambridge (MA) a long time ago, it was cheap pizza with a nice pizza crust, but good - the menu and interiors remain the same. That’s amazing that Papa Gino’s offers gluten-free pizza bases - did they taste good and are they also vegan-friendly, too? Yay for pizza leftovers, they are always heavenly delicious! I’m so happy you guys had lots of fun!

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    1. Thanks Rika - I didn't taste the gf bases - am not sure about vegan friendly but I know they were always happy to add extra toppings so I am sure they would leave them off too - that is the good thing about a place that makes a meal up as you watch. I remember vegetarian friends trying half and half with meat eating friends and finding bits of meat straying over their side so that didn't work so well.

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  5. Sounds like the perfect wind down evening, Johanna. Sylvia is getting so big:) It appears she is developing her own style not only in Pizza but in her choice of clothes too. Too cute:)

    Thank you so much for sharing, Johanna. Enjoy your week:)

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    1. Thanks Louise - oh yes Sylvia knows what she wants to wear - though I often have to insist on tights or leggings in this weather as she has the wonderful ability of children not to feel the cold :-)

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  6. It sounds like a great restaurant to take kids to. Well kids that like pizza of course but at least kids can be rowdy without disturbing anyone :)

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    1. Thanks Lorraine - it is a great restaurant - I noticed kids in highchairs - though you wouldn't want to try and get a stroller too far into the restaurant. I was amused but a little boy in a highchair near us with a huge bowl of spaghetti and meatballs in front of him but it turned out they were all sharing and it wasn't just for him.

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  7. Sounds like a fun family outing! And now you've got me craving pizza lol.

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    1. Thanks Joanne - yes lots of fun - and I could do with some of that pizza now too

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  8. I love these sorts of places with their arched brick walls and their defiance against moving with the times. I love how it is almost the way it was back in your student days. The pizza looks incredible and how lovely you are now taking your daughter there for a family night out xx

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    1. Thanks Charlie - I would love to know if they have had suggestions that they modernise or is are the old style brick archways seen as part of their 'brand' or if they have never even thought about it. It is nice to be able to take Sylvia somewhere I loved as a student - and quite amazing too!

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