Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Gusto - Review

Intro
Gusto Ristorante e Bar Americano - Highly Recommended
60 Greenwich Ave, New York NY 10011
Btwn 6th & 7th Ave
Phone: (212) 924-8000

Went out for "date night" with the wife and decided to check out Gusto after seeing the place on TV. Great decision as the pastas were so on point with loads of fun Roman dishes. Overall, I give the restaurant an 86/100.

Our Menu
Carciofi Alla Giudea *
fried artichokes
Carciofi alla guidea was one of my favorite dishes in Rome and these were a good representation. Crispy exterior and creamy interior. Pretty damn tasty, albeit slightly expensive.

Raviolo Al Uova **
fatti in casa raviolo filled with bufala ricotta & egg in sage butter
I've had loads of pasta in my day, but I don't recall ever having ravioli stuffed with a raw egg. This dish just rocked with the egg yolk creating it's own creamy sauce. Pasta texture was nice and silky too though I always prefer a tad more chew to my pasta.

Pappardelle Al Ragu' Di Bue **
fatti in casa fresh pappardelle with oxtail ragu
Great ragu flavor with the rich shredded oxtail meat. Pasta texture was silky albeit I'd like some more chew again. Uber delicious stuff.

Gamberoni Fra Diablo ***
seared jumbo four head on prawns in fradiablo style
Definitely a WTF dish here and totally reminded me of the gambas from Barcelona. Great shrimp flavor - uber sweet and really delicious. Combine that with the intense tomato sauce with decent heat. The shrimp heads were delicious as well. It was so good I got another order of bread to mop of the rest of the sauce - the plate was sparkling white while we were done.

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way
























Overall Restaurant Experience (86/100)
  • Food (8.7/10) – Another Italian joint in the city and another great experience. It's all about big flavors here and totally my strike zone.
  • Service (8.5/10) – Waiter / waitresses were very attentive and the food came out very quickly. The GM checked on us once or twice too - kinda refreshing since that never happens in the City.
  • Atmosphere (7.0/10) – Darkly lit with some clubby lights. Music was hella loud and the place seemed a bit odd with a long bar in the middle of the joint. Usually that would be OK, but it was crazy crowded with people that were just hanging out and no intention to eat. Place was pretty mixed, but seemed to mainly consist of people in their 40's and 50's. Got there at 9:30 for dinner and it was pretty busy but we were seated within 15 minutes.
  • Price (8.0) – $80 for the both of us which didn't seem so bad considering I had 2 glasses of wine. Definitely happy to pay for the quality of food we had. Pastas were under $20 which seemed like a great deal for the quality.
Closing Comments
Food was great and definitely have to go back although I don't necessarily love the space. Would love to try the rest of the pastas and try some more apps.

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