Buon Gusto Recon

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Buon Gusto is within 3 blocks of where I live and I have to admit I had never been. This restaurant moved from Long Beach and started out on the opposite corner of where it is now  as a very small place with a big takeout business, Outgrew that location very quickly and when another building became available moved there. There is always people waiting to get in and weekends are really crowded.

Paul, Margie and I decided to check the place out to see if it would fit into one of Margie's monthly wine activities. Buon Gusto charges no corkage for wine bottles brought in. Which is a huge plus for the wine group.

Inside the acoustics leave a lot to be desired. All hard surfaces and loud. They do have an outdoor area but that would be only feasible in warm months.

I stared out with a grilled artichoke with aioli. Good. Nothing anything different that numerous other Italian restaurants. Paul & Margie both had salads which were huge. They were a meal in themselves. They both liked their salads.

For Dinner I choose the Veal Oso Bucco, Margie had the Pasta Carbonaro and Paul had the Veal Marsala. The  "bowls" that they were served in were very large. The servings were large. Large enough to split between two people.  A small dish of chocolate gelato finished the meal.

Looking around the place we noticed that all the meals except pizza was served in the large "bowls". Margie asked the waiter if everyone took home the "doggie bag" and he said yes, no one finished their meal there. Prices were reasonable. My oso bucco was $16.95. or $2 more you can get the house salad to go with it.  The food was good, the service was good so this is a definite place to be put on the list. The place is not upscale but the portions and quality of the food make up for it.

I brought a 2007 Sinor-LaValle, Anniversay Cuvee, Pinot. The other two wines were a 2011 Martin Codax Albarino and a 2007 D'Bruno Sangiovese. (the sangio grapes used to be sourced from the Stolpman vineyards but not sure if they still are).