il centro

service was good, food was nice, theircrablasagne was nice, dessert was good. child friendly, has high chair, and chef was very nice he made a dish that's not on the menu to suit my fussy son.

fushion food. sandcrablasange and angel hair pasta is a must...look out for their specials as well for variety

we had such a lovely dinner here last saturday night. the sandcrablasagne was everything promised and more. i felt a little disappointed in two things though. the waitress seemed put out with small requests. for example when i requested bread she snapped how many? and seemingly slammed them down in front of me on her return. they were so busy though so perhaps she didn't mean to come across this way. she did come across rather curt and unfriendly throughout the dinner though continuously pursing her lips. also towards the end of the night i could smell bleach being used in the kitchen to clean. i asked our waitress if this was common practice when diners are still eating. she said that she would check what was going on and went to the kitchen. when she opened the kitchen doors, i could see two people with gloves on scrubbing what i assume were pots. the waitress returned and said nobody was using bleach which was pretty silly to say because they were and if she honestly could not smell it then she believed who ever in the kitchen had just lied to her. we were right in front of the kitchen bench and it was either used on the floor directly behind the counter or somewhere nearby. i am pregnant so the smell became almost unbearable and i had to walk outside. the shame here is that the hard work that went into the food service was ruined for me. after our table spent close to a thousand dollars (for party of five) it was a shame that such highs were mixed with such lows.

dined here twice having sandcrablasagna ( yum ) and the duck. both times had excellent service & experience.

great food, good service, great view. the sandcrablasagne is a winner, although i must advise you to order the entree size portion for your main course because it is very rich!

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 sandcrablasagne 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.

very average food, that is overpriced. i had thecrablasagne 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 sandcrablasagne. 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 sandcrablasagne, 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 sandcrablasagne (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 andcrabwere 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.

just under a 4 . excellent location and service. too long to take order and bring simple entrees. noosa prawns excellent as was thecraband avocado and the beetroot cured barra and sardines a standout. the duck was delightful. the sandcrablasagne, 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. thecrablasagne 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! 👌

sandcraband avocado salad starter and sandcrablasagne. the two menu options that never disappoint, except portion sizes sometimes range a bit. great views near the front of the restaurant. many a good celebration here.

ordered:
1. lamb pasta - a bit too salty for me
2.crablasagna - way too rich for me, it is better to order it as a shared dish among 4 people
3. soufflé - average to good

will i go back: yes but more for the atmosphere and location, this restaurant faces the pretty brisbane city river view

excellent service! first time i hadcrablasagne and i love it, creamy sauce, soft texture of layer pasta, delicious plate. also had their desert of the day vanilla bean cremé bruleé, scrumptious dinner

this restaurant certainly has great atmosphere and the view of the riverside is quite spectacular. service is good too with friendly and efficient staffs. however despite that we were quite let down by the food. the duck course was tasty and well balanced but the rest of ourcrabmeals were rich and lack diversity in flavour and one of them was probably overly salty. perhaps we did not pick the right menu choice, but for what we got that night, 2.5 stars based on the price to quality ratio.