Gilson South Yarra

📍GILSON, SOUTH YARRA I’ve been meaning to come back to Gilson for a while as I went a few years ago and really enjoyed it! We celebrated my friends birthday here with an amazing dinner with good food and good vibes 🤭 ANTIPASTI 🦪 Oysters $7 each 🫓 Wood-fired bread $14 🍆 Marinated Eggplant $9 🧀 Buratta $18 🥓 Truffle & Squid Ink Wagyu Salami $12 🐠 Kingfish, beetroot, cucumber $24 🍉 Tuna, Watermelon, Campari, goats curd $26 PASTA & MAINS & SIDES 🍝 Linguine Vongole $40 🥩 Rib-Eye Steak (500g) $125 🥗 Gilson Chopped Salad $26 🍟 French Fries $12 DESSERT 🍮 Pannacotta w/ peach 🍑 $16 🍫 Chocolate Mousse $16 Out of Antipasti dishes my favourite were the wood fried bread, salami and King fish, that was super fresh and tasty! Unfortunately, I felt the burrata was a bit pricey at $18 since it was just served on its own… also I personally thought the tuna dish had a bit a weird texture and flavour pairing, but my friends liked the dish! The Linguine Vongole 🍝 was surprisingly one of my fave dishes, it was such a simple pasta and the sauce consisted of just garlic, parsley and butter but probably the definition of “less is more”. The dish was very generous with the clams too. I requested the Rib-Eye Steak 🥩 to me cooked medium-rare but I feel like it was a bit more on the medium side so it was a bit over-cooked. Overall it was nice but nothing special, I’ve had better steaks at other restaurants. The Gilson Chopped Salad 🥗 was surprisingly really good too haha we don’t usually rave about salads but this salad has inspired us to eat and make more salads this year 😂 Dessert was okay but nothing special. The chocolate mousse was nice and rich and my favourite out of the two we ordered. The pannacotta was paired with a very sweet syrup which I felt too overpowering and had a floral taste too it which I didn’t like. Even though some things were a bit hit or miss, overall I still enjoyed most of the dishes we ordered, and I will definitely be back. The restaurant was so busy for a Tuesday night and all the outdoor seating is perfect for a summer night! @gilson_southyarra ⭐️ 8/10 💰 $420 ($105 pp)

Incredible venue, I highly recommend. Morgan from the events team was amazing to deal with and had fantastic communication. She made the day run seamlessly and assisted with our set up and pack up. The staff working with her on the day were also so polite and lovely. The food portions were extremely generous and I have had people contacting me since the event saying how delicious the food and drinks were. We selected a handful of cocktails which were all tasty and delicious. We had a couple of people attending a bit later after the food had been delivered and they were cooked an assortment of fresh items. It was these touches that showed how much care Morgan and her team had for our event. I would recommend to anyone thinking about this as a venue to book it, you won’t regret it. It’s very reasonably priced and the portions are so generous and tasty.

NEVER AGAIN – RIPPED OFF - Worst pizzas we have ever had. Hi Folks, How these two pizzas from Gilson’s managed to get from the kitchen into our take-away pizza boxes is a disgrace. I should say how these TWO pieces of very expensive charcoal ended up in our in our takeaway cartons. The cook must have had a good laugh as he threw them into our boxes. Shame on the cooks. I am sure you would not eat this burnt food. You only have to take a quick look to see how bad these pizzas are. Even the base of our pizzas, were burnt black. We fed them to the birds. Next time we will stick to Rococo’s. Wait until I tell them how we paid $80 for a couple of very small inedible burnt pizzas. Will we go back there, no way. Would I advise others to eat this second-rate rubbish, no way. The manager should hang his head in shame. Seems they have been in trouble ripping off their staff as we. Please see our receipt, photo and paper article.

Came for NYE celebrations, as had heard some good reviews about this place. Food was a bit of a letdown. Spaghetti aglio e olio looked like it had a lot of parsley but had no flavour coming through at all. Same with the garlic, which also tasted raw? Felt like I was just eating plain spaghetti smothered in oil. It also came out cold. Not even lukewarm. Only thing done well was the texture; it was cooked al dente. For the price and quality, I would say it was not worth it. Staff even forgot our table until I got up to ask for them. Other dishes seemed ok — pizza Margherita was a bit soggy though. Drinks were also just alright. Tiramisu (not pictured) also came out ages after we had ordered. Our bill was actually given first, which got us quite confused. Another person from our group had to go ask and double check if they forgot our dessert. Honestly, a disappointing experience overall.

Gilson’s. A South Yarra institution. Lives up to the hype. Simple. Delicious. Favourite of the night were the entrees. The mignonette was perfectly balanced with the creaminess of the oyster. The kingfish was delicate with its pairings. But honestly the star of the night was the flatbread and burrata. Divine. Cacio e Pepe was good; my friend got the aglio e olio (not pictured) which was also good. Great ambience, lovely and attentive servers. Not too loud (can have a conversation over dinner).

Would not recommend. Food was not the best, very very oily and was ill when we got home. It seems to be a place to meet for drinks/cocktails rather than food. Ps, avoid ordering gnocchi.

What a fabulous lunch. Friends & bubs united from Amsterdam, New York, San Francisco & Melbourne. Food was even better than the company and that’s saying something 💯💯 not just the food but also the service was a 10/10!! If I was living in Melbourne I’d be here weekly 👌🏻👌🏻

In my opinion, Gilson is more about the vibe than the food. It’s the perfect place to enjoy a drink and coffee after a day in the sun. I visited for a quick bite and had read that their flatbread was similar to Tottis, so I had to give it a try. The flatbread reminded me of two pizza bases fused together like a calzone, but it was really good nonetheless. The inside was fluffy, and it was more filling than I expected—definitely enough to share between two people. The ricotta and prosciutto were a bit less salty than I anticipated, but they paired nicely with the flatbread. I’ll have to try the burrata next time!