Food Review: Gusto, 14-18 Bothwell Street, Glasgow, G2 6QY

The new Gusto Restaurant and Bar is now open on Bothwell Street after a £1.3m refurbishment.

With its Gatsby-era feel, think parquet flooring, glistening silverware as well as stunning lighting fixtures, Gusto is sure to be the next fashionable place to meet for cocktails. You’ll think this even more when you see the rectangular bar in the centre of the room, which is laden with spirits and wines – you can almost imagine the door being locked and speakeasy-style parties happening here.

Service was quick, with the drinks menu explained and menus given (only afterwards did we notice outside that there is a set-menu for lunch – this menu wasn’t offered or mentioned).  Water was ordered as well as a white peach cooler and a melon cooler at £4 each whilst we delved into the menu. Which you can find here.

Refreshing non-alcoholic drinks and will be ideal when sitting outside in the summer.

The menu has a wide range of influences with standards like pizza, pasta, risotto, steak as well as salad, and then onto burgers (of course), Hoisin Duck Pizza(!) and even deep fried cod ravioli(!!) – there’s something for everyone here.

Deep Fried Salt Cod Ravioli £5.95

Looked great and they were similar to empanadas, however the salt cod taste was lost at sea so the filling could’ve been any random white mush.

Home cured salmon tartare and quails egg with creme fraiche and red gazpacho. £6.95

The crispy shallots gave some extra life to the lightly smoked salmon.  The seasoning and ingredients didn’t overwhelm the salmon.  This was fresh and flavoursome so we both really enjoyed this dish.

Peking Pizza, roasted crispy duck on a hoisin base with spring onion and coriander. £10.95

Thin-ish base with very little wet hoisin so the base kept its structure, so actually the base wasn’t too strong.  A decent enough pizza though the duck could’ve been crispier for our taste and the pizza hotter but it’s the first time we’ve come across this particular pizza topping so we’ll commend them for that!

Smoked Salmon and Dill Rigatoni, tossed with cream, peas and spinach finished with fresh lemon. £11.95

Perfectly cooked pasta with salmon that just crumbled apart.  Didn’t notice the fresh lemon or get much dill taste throughout the dish.  The peas were delicious.  Temperature of the dish dropped fairly quickly.  Would order it again though.

It was all over far too soon without a single cocktail ordered, but before leaving there was of course a toilet check – walk past the 70’s looking lights and down the staircase you feel you are going the wrong way and entering the kitchen but go left and the toilets are there.  As expected in a sparkly new place shiny, impressive and importantly clean toilets.

Overall, for two starters, two mains and two non alcoholic drinks our bill came to £29 which included 40% off which we got as we’d booked online and signed up to their mailing list (the 40% off ends 22nd April) so it’s not cheap for lunch, though perhaps the lunch menu will be offered next time.

Special shout out to Holly who was friendly and had that right amount of chat, inquisitiveness and help.

Good for a date place, girls night out or working lunch.

TL;DR

+ impressive Art Deco style décor
+ good food with some unusual menu choices
+ Holly!

– no lunch menu offered, A la carte only
– mains cooled down quickly
– no disabled access

make a booking click here.

Gusto, 14-18 Bothwell Street, Glasgow, G2 6QY, Tel: 0141 227 6270, www.gustorestaurants.uk.com