Renee, where to next?

It’s that time of the night when hunger sets in. Yes friends it’s time for us to get dinner.

In this week’s Let’s’s Get Dinner blog series we explore Noi Mediterraneo, an Italian restaurant located in the Hankou area in Wuhan. It’s also foreigner owned and managed.

When we arrived it was about 8:30 p.m. and the restaurant was packed. The manager told us we had maybe a 45 minute wait. The area we were in had an array of other restaurants that we could have opted to try but we waited. It was pouring rain outside and we had no umbrella. Rain in addition to the cold and wind didn’t entice us to go searching for another spot with availability.

We ended up waiting for only about 10 minutes then a table was cleared and we were able to sit.

Stepping into Noi you’re greeted by a brick pizza oven. And that to me just says Italian restaurant. The space was was small and also provided dining on a second floor. The ambiance in my opinion could do with some work and the space could be better utilized. But if you’re looking to have a quick dinner all the aesthetics won’t be a bother to you.

Let’s dig into the meal now. For starters we had the Spicy Seafood Soup and Bruschetta. The soup was a hit for me. It was not overly spicy and it was packed with seafood. The bruschetta on the other hand was a no. It looked cheap and lackluster. The flavor was not there and the toppings just looked sparse. It just looked like something we could have made at home ourselves.

Main course was a hard decision really. But I opted for the Italian Lasagna even though I was craving salmon that nights. I thought let’s order something Italian since we were at an Italian restaurant. Next on the menu was Bacon and Mushroom Creamy Penne Pasta.

The lasagna was delectable and creamy. A great balance of flavor and portion wise the serving was filling. I initially thought i would not be full but I sure was. To the point I couldn’t order dessert. On the other hand the creamy penne pasta was flat flavor wise. There was nothing there that stood out. Portion seemed a bit on the smaller side and overall it was a disappointment.

Noi really didn’t deliver a wow factor and that leads to an overall 7/10 rating for me. I’m not sure if I’d make the effort to return, but maybe I would, to try the pizza! LOL.

Until next time let’s see where hunger leads me to next!