Excellent Evening Meals at Café Gusto. Small Place. Big Heart.

Excellent Evening Meals at Café Gusto

Small Place. Big Heart.

 Last Friday evening, I was down town about the six o'clock mark and in the mood for a lightish bite, didn't need a full dinner. Where would I go? Lots of choice I suppose but I was coming down Washington Street and realised that Café Gusto is open late on Friday and Saturday evening. Just the job, I thought. And so it proved.

We were one of the first in for the evening but the friendly place was full as we left. It is a small enough space but they produce some terrific food here. Credit too to co-owner Marianne, not just for the consistently high standards, but for her interaction with visitors. On Friday, for example, she was helping a trio of French tourists with tips about Heritage Day.

We shared a small bowl of marinated Sicilian Olives as we waited for our main dishes. We could also have enjoyed their Cicchetti (Italian style tapas), Almonds (Roasted, salt and paprika) or a Tortilla Espanol.

They also have an “international” line-up of Mezze plates to share (or not!) And lots of regular hot dishes. If you haven't been before, do try the Italian Meatballs. With the autumn coming in, you'll also be tempted by a couple of warming stews.

And there are always a few specials on offer and we did chose ours from the board. There was an excellent choice last Friday including Hanger Steak with chorizo, Prawns a la Plancha, Harissa Chicken Skewers, Tuna Steak and Pomegranate.

My pick was the Lamb Cutlet with hummus and Gorgonzola. This ten euro dish (most of the dishes are less than that) also came with salad and a crispy flatbread. A tasty combination of flavours and textures and very enjoyable indeed.

And the other dish, Aubergine and Manchego Bruschetta (7.50), also drew the plaudits.  And we washed it all down with a piccolo (9.50) of a rich Merlot/Corvina by Gran Passione from the Veneto region of Italy.

So that was us all fed and happy. No dessert but I might have had changed my mind about that had I spotted the Portuguese custard tart earlier rather than seeing it on the website while writing this.

Café Gusto

phone +353 21 4254 446

twitter@cafegusto facebook /cafegusto

email

info@cafegusto.com

⏲

Mon, Tues, Wed & Thurs. 7:45am—5:00pm Fri & Sat. 7.45am—10:00pm Closed on Sunday

📖

Please note we do not take table reservations – our customers are seated on a first-come, first-served basis