Popular Italian restaurant Gusto has revealed its spring 2022 menu - and diners are in for a dough-themed treat. Thanks to the addition of a new chocolate covered dessert, it means foodies can now enjoy Gusto’s signature dough for all three courses.
I was invited down to the Lloyd Street venue, just off Deansgate, to try out the new menu, and there was only one way to do it: a trio of dough. But would it be carbohydrate heaven or hell?
Located inside Manchester’s Grade II listed wedding venue, Elliott House, Gusto is certainly a place to celebrate special occasions. With a subtle art deco theme and a square centrepiece wrap-around bar, it oozes business-class vibes - confirmed by the number of suit-wearing diners come 1pm.
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But that’s not to say that Gusto is snobby, far from it in fact. While smart or smart casual is most in keeping with the theme of the upmarket bar, one diner was spotted in a Marcus Rashford football top - so I don’t think Gusto appears to have an official dress code.
Service was speedy but unrushed, I was given plenty of time to peruse the drinks menu, ordering a Tutti Fruity mocktail containing peach, strawberry, raspberry, apple, and passionfruit for £5.50, with my starter order being taken shortly after.
I hadn’t expected my drink to be a slushy-style frozen drink, as this wasn’t mentioned on the menu like with the frozen virgin strawberry daiquiri, frozen mango margarita or frozen pina colada. It was less an issue and more a surprise, but very much welcome considering the warmer weather outside.
There are a total of eight non-alcoholic cocktails to choose from, which is rather a lot in comparison to the token choices many bars have. It’s perfect for those looking for something more exciting than a cola or lemonade, or those driving, pregnant or otherwise choosing not to drink alcohol for other reasons.
The a la carte list boasts plenty of Italian staples with a range of new dishes made with seasonal ingredients. As well as nibbles and starters, diners can choose from a range of meat, seafood, salad, pizza, pasta and risotto options.
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To start my dough-heavy diet, I went for a starter of Gusto dough petals, which come in garlic, tomato or pulled pork varieties. Made with slow-cooked pork and fennel, caramelised onions and Fior Di Latte mozzarella, this £5.95 plate was a no brainer, served with garlic butter for ultimate indulgence.
The portion size is four dough petals around four inches in length - a foot of dough petals in total, give or take. The chefs have truly mastered the cooking time for this dough, ensuring it’s crisp but not hard, soft but not chewy.
And when it comes to flavour, the combination was stunning and I’ve been telling everyone I don’t like onions for 24 years, which appears to be one of the longest-running lies I’ve ever told because they were gorgeous, offering a sweetness to the savoury starter.
Browsing through the mains there was plenty of choice for those with dietary restrictions or just fussy, with new entries including pan-seared king scallops and a supergrain salad which offers a surprisingly high 627 calories. I’m still undecided on whether calories on menus is a good idea, or a bad one.
My main was more than double that of the salad though, weighing in at 1,454 calories. I’d gone for the carnivoro pizza, sticking with my dough theme. Gusto’s signature dough is inspired by trips to Naples, and uses 24-hour proved sourdough which is made fresh every day with Caputo Blue flour and 10 per cent mother dough from the original sourdough starter.
The £14.95 main is cheaper than small Domino’s Meateor pizza and the quality is second to none. I’ll never look at Domino’s prices the same again when I know I can get far better at Gusto for less. In fact, a large Domino’s is more expensive than this Gusto order and my train fair to Manchester city centre.
The large pizza features ‘D.O.P San Marzano tomato’ with a three-meat ragù, spicy Italian sausage, slow-cooked pork, pepperoni salsiccia, prosciutto ham, Fior Di Latte mozzarella, and caramelised onion - in other words, it’s a big 12 inch disc of deliciousness.
There was heat from the spicy sausage, sweetness from those little caramelised onion pieces, and softness in the springy cheese. The base of a pizza is the make or break, and I couldn’t believe how light this was. It was so light, it was like eating a cloud topped with meat - a lot of meat. I made my way through three quarters of the pizza and had to stop myself polishing it off knowing I still had another course of dough to go. I was tempted to ask for a to-go box, though.
There was only one thing that had been on my mind since the moment I’d stepped onto the station platform that morning - dessert. Gusto have reinvented their famous dough petals, filling them not with pulled pork, but with Biscoff spread, topping a tear-and-share style board with chocolate, berries and Italian gelato.
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Gusto jokes: “Originally it was made to share but we won’t judge you if you don’t… we certainly didn’t.” And neither did I.
The Biscoff and chocolate dough petals dessert comes in at £12.95, so if you are eating alone, it’s going to be nearly the same price as your main. And if you want to talk calories, it’s 586 per portion, so 1,172 in total. This brought my total carb-filled calorie consumption to around 3,585, so close, but not quite exceeding Dianne’s dining experience at The Ivy.
I thought that by this point I’d have been sick to death of dough but I could have sat there all day while they brought out plate after plate of dough. Even one of the servers joked they were tempted to pull up the empty chair opposite me to give me a hand with dessert.
It was quite the treat to see how versatile this dough could be, and begs the question, what else can you stuff dough with?
I was given a spoon and a fork to eat my dessert with, which was certainly a challenge and meant using my spoon as a knife or risk getting chocolate all over my hands. But the hot and sticky dough petals were well paired with the cool vanilla gelato to offer a dessert that really is almost too good to share.
I was stunned that I wasn’t sick of the sight of dough by the end of my dining experience, though you probably could have rolled me out of the restaurant with the amount of carbs I’d eaten. I don’t recommend eating 3,585 calories in one sitting every day, but if you asked me to go back to Gusto and do it all again tomorrow, I would.
