Date Night at Gusto Didsbury

At 36 weeks pregnant, the hubby and I realised we hadn’t had a date night in quite a while and we’d better make the most of some time together, before baby number 2 arrives. So we decided to head out locally, to a restaurant that’s one of our firm favourites and that has had a recent makeover and relaunch. Here’s my Gusto Didsbury review…

Gusto Didsbury Review

As you’ll likely know, I enjoy eating out – in fact, it’s one of my favourite pastimes. I particularly love heading somewhere local, with a good atmosphere and friendly staff and that’s exactly what we’ve experienced at Gusto Didsbury, each and every time we’ve been. I’ve visited on date nights like this one, with the hubby, lunch with friends, dinner with my visiting parents and even a solo-lunch recently as I embarked on my maternity leave. The restaurant is definitely an easy place to be, with an impressive and approachable menu that you can enjoy again and again.

What we ate…

As we rarely get out sans toddler, we wanted to make the most of our date night at Gusto Didsbury and therefore starved ourselves all afternoon, so we had plenty of room to enjoy 3-courses!  The hubby enjoyed a good Merlot and I, a non-alcoholic cocktail (which felt like a treat…though I did sniff his wine momentarily!).

To start…

Now, I will admit, we inhaled the starters! Hence no photo evidence (sorry!). But we enjoyed the Crispy Calamari with lemon mayonnaise (and crispy it was and not a tad greasy!) and the Homemade Red Pepper and Basil Arancini. We shared both dishes and they were superb. The arancini are a great size and the sauce was divine and the calamari was meaty, not chewy and perfectly crisp. A great start to our date night!

Time for the main show…

I can’t resist pasta when I go to Gusto Didsbury and I’ve tried a few of them on their menu, but I always seem to come back to the Garganelli Primavera which is creamy and light, with winter vegetables, pine kernals and Italian cheese. It’s perfection and I enjoyed mine with some sides (which we shared) of Italian Fried Courgettes aka Zucchini Fritti, Polenta Chips and Tenderstem Broccoli with Red Chilli and Pine Kernals. 

The only thing that would definitely tempt me away from pasta at Gusto Didsbury, is their steaks…alas, I like mine rare and juicy, which is not recommended during pregnancy. The hubby made up for it though and enjoyed a Fillet Steak, with Peppercorn Sauce and Truffled Fries with Gran Padano. He too indulged int he sides and we both agree the Polenta Fries are something to be tried if you haven’t before…they’re fantastic and a lot lighter than their potato counterparts. The broccoli shouldn’t be missed either!

To round it all off…

So we just about saved enough room for dessert and the selection at Gusto Didsbury is pretty good and tough to choose from. I nearly went for the Nutella Calzone, but instead we chose to share the Warm Chocolate and Hazelnut Brownie with Pistachio Ice Cream and Biscoff Sauce  which was just the right density, not to rich or claggy, just warm and oozey enough and a delight with the cold ice-cream. We also had the Bombolini (lightly sweetened dough balls with caramelised Biscoff dip and Chantilly cream)…these were outstanding – perfect little hot donuts with a moreish dip. They were both of our favourtites out of the two desserts and I polished them off happily!

Would we go back?

The answer is a resounding yes! We both devoured every morsel served on our plates happily and the surroundings were lovely. Gusto Didsbury is a beautiful looking restaurant inside, with a mixture of tables and booths and some larger spaces for parties/groups. There’s vines and pretty twinkling lights inside, which make you feel like you’re dining al-fresco. And since their recent refurb, they’ve added a covered terrace at the front, which has retractable roof and windows, so on the rare occasion we do get fine weather, you really can dine al-fresco! (I did recently, for lunch on my own and it was blissful sitting in the sun eating pasta!).

So there’s my Gusto Didsbury Review – in words, photos and even a little cheeky video. If you live in South Manchester or are visiting, definitely add this one to your hit-list!

If you like my foodie posts, check out my other reviews: Manchester House, 1761 and Tre Ciccio. I’ll be heading off to Manchester House again soon, as we’ve not been for a year or so, so keep your eyes peeled for that too!