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| - Gran Gusto was a big let-down. I was ready to be wow-ed given some of the high praise I've read/heard about this place. And upon entering, my expectations rose even further as the first two things that greeted me were the sight of a large wood burning oven for the pizza, and the sound of people speaking in Italian. And so we eagerly sat down and ordered, and... were hugely disappointed. We got:
- Arancini (rice balls) appetizer: These were nowhere near the great arancinis I've had in the past. This had too much rice and I couldn't even taste a hint of cheese. So while the bread crumb coating was fine (just the right amount of thickness), the inside was unflavourful.
- Penne Alla Vodka: We got 2 pastas and between them, this was the one I preferred. Good cook on the noodles and the sauce had just enough of the vodka taste (though would have liked if it had been a bit stronger). There was supposed to be bacon on it but hardly tasted that as its flavour was drowned by the sauce.
- Gnocchi Piemontese: This was labelled as home made pasta on the menu so was expecting much more. The potato flavour of the gnocchi didn't come through, the tomato sauce was bland, and the ground beef was non-existent.
- Frittura Mista: A medley of fried seafood (calamari, shrimps, fillet of sole, cuttlefish) that was ok anf at least broke the monotony of the bland pastas.
- Chocolate Fudge Cake: Gran Gusto said their cakes are fresh but this was definitely not the case here. The fudge had frozen hard and this tasted like it had been in the fridge for days.
Even if I had never read any of the previous reviews and bought into the hype, it's sad to say that Gran Gusto would be average at best. Lots of better Italian restaurants elsewhere in the city.
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