Gusto Da Gianni
Cuisine: Italian and Spanish

www.gustodagianni.com

Portside Wharf

Gusto Da Gianni sits along the Portside Wharf promenade and features a menu of pizza, pasta and tapas style food. Its the kind of place where it is a good idea to have at least one or two other people who are happy to share “a bit of everything” with you. That way you can order all the tapas that sound enticing (a lot of them) and not feel like you’ve missed out on something. Luckily for me I had just the  right dining companions!

Before I continue this post let me apologise for some of the mis-focused photographs. I recently acquired a new camera (thanks very much to Min Wye) because of a silly accident with my G9. This was the first food test of the camera but we were so excited when the food came out (and my companions so hungry) that I hurriedly snapped away so we could dig into the food. I think I need a bit more practice with the digital SLR before I venture out again.

Most of the tapas are $7 to $8 for the “tapa single” serves and either $17 or $21 for the bigger “racion shared” serves.

Zucchini Flower with Goats Cheese and Olives

Octopus Gallega Style, Potatoes and Sweet Paprika – Tender octopus sitting on a yummy potato slice.

Cipollata and Chorizo Sausage – Slices of sausage in a tomato and onion sauce.

Home Made Meat Balls served with Tomato and Peas – These were really nice meat balls cooked in a very tasty tomato sauce. I think we all but licked this plate clean.

Patatas Bravas served with aioli – Fried potato pieces with an aioli sauce, we are potato fiends, so of course we loved this one.

Marinated Sardines with Cabernet Sauvignon Vinagrette – Tom really liked these and I was happy to let him have most of it.

Fried Calamari and Zucchine – Very nicely cooked calamari and zucchini fries. We shared this one amongst four but I could have had one to myself … maybe.

Black Mussels cooked in a white wine chilli sauce – The white wine chilli sauce was not that spicy (to me, though that’s saying something). I remember someone commenting that something was a bit spicy for them but I’m not 100% sure if it was this dish. The mussels were plenty and fresh and somehow I was left with the task of eating most of them. I’m happy to say I did my duty.

Organic soft Polenta and mushrooms served with italian sausage – This was the least favourite dish of the night for anyone who tried it. The Italian sausage was nice but we felt it was the only part of the dish with flavour. The polenta was mushy and tasteless and while the mushrooms were okay, we felt that the whole dish was missing something.

Most pizzas are $21.50.

Pizze Bianche (Olive Oil Based), Campagnola – Caramelized Spanish Onion, Mozzarella, Lemon Thyme & Italian Sausage. Gusto’s pizzas are made on a thin light base, almost like a pita bread. There is a definite taste of olive oil as expected on the olive oil based pizzas and while it seems like the toppings are scant they are packed with flavour and you won’t find yourself disappointed.

Pizze Bianche (Olive Oil Based), Al 4 Formaggi – Dolce Latte, Stracchino, Buffalo Mozzarella and Caprino Cheese.

Tagliatelle All’Abruzzeese – Slow cooked white veal mince ragout and mushroom pasta.

On another occassion I have tried the potato pizza and also one with porcini mushrooms and they were a huge hit with our table.

I enjoy eating here, especially with a group who like to share dishes but there is the tendency to want to order almost everything off the tapas menu. Not that you’ll regret it, you just might have to sit there a bit longer to finish it all.