il centro

simply great. service is okay, but food is good. i recommend.

beautiful food! service is excellent and the views spectacular

nice arancini ~~ the salmon was good too but it was a little too much 🤣🤣 too full !! the bread was a little too hard but it was still yummy !

but overall it was good . the price is a little pricey but worth it to go once in a while for a fine dining . it’s a nice location too

i’m sad and disappointed that this restaurant has changed so much - was a ‘go to’ for special celebrations and catch ups. it used to have excellent, consistent food and top notch, professional service. there were quite a few issues with our meals (for a group of 6) on our last visit and the service was some of the rudest i’ve experienced, ever. in terms of meals, calamari was slightly undercooked and oily, the sand crab lasagne recipe has changed and the portions are smaller, out of three steaks ordered at the table, none of them were cooked correctly and one had to go back to the kitchen as it was significantly over cooked, the pepper sauce was almost inedible. the service was not good and the worst part of it involved my drink order. i was ignored as the waitress asked another two at the table what they’d like and offered to get a taste for them. when she returned, i asked for a description of two different whites - one i said i liked the sound of more and would it be possible to taste it before she poured. her response “well i’ve got to get to other tables so it will take a while”. unbelievable. i don’t think they’ll get my repeat business. such a shame it’s changed since the george’s sold it.

so much hype but we were disappointed by both the service and food. six of us went for lunch today and spent about $500. we had the arancini ($23 for 3), one duck pasta, three sand crab, and two pork belly. one drink each, two coffee, and five desserts rounded out our lunch.

the duck rated the best. one of the sand crabs came with extraneous hair. the pork belly was so overdone that we requested steak knives to cut the meat. two coffee were ordered and both came back wrong. how does on get an espresso when a latte is ordered?

the service was ok but nothing special and slow. the ambience was nice but overall the place was busy.

not likely to return. to to it off the waiter asked if we wanted to tip. that's uncouth.

very average food, that is overpriced. i had the crab lasagne and it was far too sweet and the flavours in the sauce were drowned out due to this. the desserts we had were lovely though.

the restaurant is quite large and you have the choice to sit inside or outside. when we arrived, it was about 8pm on a thursday night, so the restaurant was rather quiet. 

now, i had been to il centro a fair few times prior to this, however hadn’t ventured out past the sand crab lasagne. of course, we still ordered it, but we also ordered an array of other menu items so we could see what il centro was really about. in light of this, we ordered the entrée size of the sand crab lasagne, which actually ended up perfect as it is an extremely rich dish. obviously, this was amazing and it will always be one of my favourite dishes. we also ordered the lightly dusted calamari. il centro’s menu changes seasonally ever so slightly, so when we visited this dish was in fact a special - from my knowledge it is now a regular menu item? the calamari was good, nothing too special, but it was a nice dish to nibble on whilst we waited for our mains...

for the full review please check out: foodspaceaus.com/blog/dinner-il-centro

thank you!

i had high hopes but a rare night out but il centro did not live up to expectations.
the table wasn’t ready when we arrived, no worries. we were told to have a seat at the bar and order a drink, we did. not that there was table service. after about ten minutes we were seated and then our drinks followed a few minutes later. the seat for two was lovely, outside but still enclosed. the weird thing is that our table was against the glass wall, and on the other side of the wall was another table but with five. one person was at the head of the table, forced to stare at our mugs the whole dinner. it was a bit awkward and i felt sorry for all involved.
anyway, after perusing the menu and waiting for some time i flagged down someone so they would take our order, the female waitress looked at me like i was crazy and said someone would be around soon. someone came round quite quickly after that, advised the specials and tried to scurry away. not so fast! we put our order in: entree of sand crab lasagne (had to try it here!) and the bruschetta of the day. mains ordered were the veal scallopini and porchetta.
entree came out in good time. the bruschetta was as described but not as expected. b said it was surprising tasty, i thought it was a bit unappetising and couldn’t finish a single piece of it. the famous lasagne was also not to my liking. the sauce that i think was meant to be the hero of the dish, tasted like a caramel. the pasta sheets and crab were really nice but i could not get overly this sweet sauce on it.
then the mains. i didn’t really have high expectations after the entree.
veal was unexciting, pretty standard but less pretty than you could get at any italian joint. the porchetta was dry, one piece was visually dry, like when a piece of meat is left out in the fridge without a cover on it. it had gone dark and crusty on one side. side was the pear, walnut salad, which was fine but uninspired.
i don’t think we had the same server twice, no one was particularly friendly or warm. so service and food was lacklustre.
this dessert fiend skipped dessert because i couldn’t face more disappointment in one night.

il centro was ok. admittedly, i wasn't famished so didn't indulge in a three course meal, but what i did have didn't really impress.  i opted for the special of the night which was an ox tongue and mushroom risotto. i typically enjoy a dry risotto but will tolerate it wet. but on this occasion it was if they made it in a buttery rainforest. sadly, not brilliant, although the flavour was there.  separately, our waiter(ess) was  little abrupt which did not make me feel very welcomed. i would go back, however, hoping for more next time.

just under a 4 . excellent location and service. too long to take order and bring simple entrees. noosa prawns excellent as was the crab and avocado and the beetroot cured barra and sardines a standout. the duck was delightful. the sand crab lasagne, so long a consistent favourite fell short. sorry but well short. heavy pasta and a clear departure from andy and marcia’s signature dish. the soufflés well done. waitress was very professional. over $200 a head made me wonder.

solid 4.5
this place is amazing. i recently went to il centro for a working dinner. having worked all day none of us had thought to make a booking anywhere considering it was a tuesday night. luckily the great staff at il centro managed to squeeze us in to their fully booked restaurant.
we decided to choose many different dishes to share which was such a great idea. we managed to try a wide range of their delicious options. the crab lasagne is to die for and i couldn’t recommend this dish anymore. a solid 4.5 for this place. they just loose out on that extra 0.5 due to beer selection. not everyone is a fan of craft beers. what happened to good old mainstream aussie selections?

otherwise all in all a great night! 👌

the beef was scorching, i have never tasted a over-cooked beef like this.it taste strange. however, the waitor thought it was normal. after a arguement, they agreed to change it with a fish. the fish was better. and what i want to suggest is that 2 meals for a valentine's day is not enough. i hope you can offer more choices. thanks.

the waiter (female) was given a good tip for her consistent and friendly service, however as for the dishes i chose from oyster kilpatrick to veal scaloppine as a main.  the oysters were so tiny i considered they came out of a bottle and the sauce overtook the flavour of the oysters given they were so small. the main was bereft - i wanted to yell "where is the sauce!" the pasta was basic to taste.

i love the food there, very yum. however, their service was a bit debatable, normally bread for start is free, but they charge, and also they came to me said they can arrange some ice cream for my baby, i said thank you. i thought they were just being nice, but they charged that ice cream as well. they could just come and ask me if i d like to order desert, that would sound proper. because i didn’t want to order ice cream, and they didn’t ask me what flavour i want , so i thought it was just a gift. feels like i got trapped.

really really lovely restaurant!
my husband and i had the eye fillet with a side of broccoli and everything was beautifully seasoned and presented so well.
we finished with the chocolate mousse and tirimasu paired with desert wines suggested by the staff.

the only minor let down with these restaurants is the coffee, they never quite meet the standard as set by the previous courses, but such a small thing considering the quality of everything else.

we were so impressed, we will definitely be back when we visit brisbane again.