"We fancied a trip out of town for a change, and after looking at the Hi Life listings, Gusto seemed like a good option, so we made a quick call to book a table 1.5 hours in advance, and then off down to Didsbury we headed.
The restaurant was vibrant, casual and lively without being too noisy, and had a very homely feeling, with lots of dark wood and semi dimmed lights. I love wood fired pizza ovens, and the large stack of ormamental/functional logs, stored in the wall next to the oven is a great feature of the kitchen, aswell as the pass and food preparation areas being on display. More nice touches, and overall, a very good looking place.
From the off, service was very friendly and casual , and we were seated promptly.
Our starters were Frito Misto, which was tasty, although a little greasy, and seemed to have been cooked in oil that wasn't quite hot enough, so as a result, wasn't overly pleasant towards the end. Our other starter of Italian Sausage and Mushrooms unfortunately was sent back due to an almost total lack of sausage. The manager was superb, explaining that this is in fact the way which it is intended to be served, so gladly replaced this with a serving of Mussels in Cream & White wine sauce. These were OK, but I suspect rushed due to them being a reordered starter, as the garlic and onion in the sauce base had a raw bite to them, which consequentely gave the sauce a slightly unfinished flavour. The mussels themselves were well cooked, fresh and very tender.
Our mains were Pizza Mattina and Tiger Prawn Spaghetti. The pizza base was light and flavoursome, well topped with ham, mushroom, sausage and a cracked egg, which is very traditional and a nice, unusual touch. A little more cheese would have been nice, but the tomato base was tangy, flavoursome and fresh, so overall a very nice pizza indeed. My other half's prawn spaghetti was well cooked, with nice pasta, lovely prawns, albeit with a slightly manufactured flavour to the tomato/cream sauce. No real compaints though, and nice sized portions for both.
We finished with desserts of Nutella & Mascapone Calzone & Lemon Tart. The tart filling was light and zesty, with a nice sweet pasty, which was a tad soft in terms of finish. The calzone was nice also, and was huge in size, very rich, and could easily have been a desert to share.
Upon requesting the bill, the sent back starter was still on the bill, but this was quickly rectified. 2 x 3 course meals with a bottle of sparkling water came to a shade over £26 with our Hi Life card, and would have been a little under £50 without. A tad pricy for what is still a chain restaurant but, with the discount, superb value indeed.
Overall, a decent, fun place to enjoy a casual Italian based meal, in nice surroundings. 3 out of 5." - Chris Handley, Salford ~ TRUSTED REVIEWER (1/12/08 - visited on a Sunday evening)
