gusto at the grand

came here for dinner mid week. restaurant was busy and had good friendly vibe. could not fault the service which was friendly, informed and attentive. we started with olives and cold meats with a good glass of chianti.
these were excellent and was the chunks of parmesan that accompanied them.
the main wasduckragu with papardelle and the pasta was like silk, theducksoft and melt in the mouth gorgeous.

a small whiskey to finish off - a small criticism here - not a wide range of single malts in an international hotel but only a small gripe.

overall a very good meal and we will be back.

dined here with my partner tonight. love the decor & ambiance of this place it's very intimate & perfect for a date night. the staff are all lovely & from the minute you arrive you are made to feel welcome. our waitress took the time to explain the menu to us & we ordered plates too share. to start we had the garlic pizza which came served in a pizza box which was a cute touch. it was crispy, full of flavour & a perfect way to start a meal. for mains we shared half a fried chicken, steak &duckfat potatoes. all of these dishes were absolutely delicious & we thoroughly enjoyed them all. this place is extremely reasonably priced considering the quality of food served. i will definitely return to try some more of the delicious options on offer

the food was excellent, we started with the mussels, and moved on to lamb cutlets, snapper and the king prawns, theduckfat roasted potatoes were awesome. the food service was excellent and well timed. staff are very friendly and helpful. the restaurant has a nice atmosphere, and is not over the top. all in all, a good evening out.

the back story : i first encountered gusto when visiting skycity grand hotel. mesmerised by its grand decor, the chandeliers outside and the spacious open plan restaurant setting, i was tempted to try this. located in the old premises of dine by peter gordon, it has retained its classy decor and grand interior, and with the name sean connolly attached to the food - i made it my next place to visit for a dinner out.

setting: walking through the revolving doors of skycity grand, i am taken into a world of luxury with chandeliers from the ceiling, floral art on the walls then at the end, a bright sign proudly announcing gusto. i was tempted. past the white pillars with green ivy vine lay the spacious interior of gusto. we are promptly taken to a table along the wall with brown leather looking seats. our wait staff enthusiastically introduced the menu.

food: tapas style dishes litter the menu from the cheapest item on the menu - the house bread- to more substantial items of meatballs, eggplant and calamari. fresh handmade pasta dishes are the signature dishes here though other scrumptious sounding options of baby chicken , beef brisket and lamb cutlets are on offer. we end up ordering the calamari and pork and veal meatballs with a garlic pizetta on the side. the meatballs did not disappoint - juicy and flavoursome in a tomato sauce with cheese. the calamari was crispy though slightly on the salty side. the pizetta was presented in a cute little pizza box though the serving size was probably a bit small for price especially considering how much bread we got for the house bread - which was definitely value for money. all in all the entrees were great. next were the mains - baby chicken, king prawns, slow cooked beef brisket and theduckragu pappardelle. unfortunately these were less convincing. although the beef brisket was very tender - melting in the mouth - as was the baby chicken - both lacked the spark in flavour to bring it up a notch. there also seemed to be a preponderance of parsley in the dishes - either in the form of gremolata or as garnish - parsley was a noticeable part of all the dishes! the winning main this time was the pappardelle and judging from other reviews, it would have been safer to stick to the pasta dishes. the chicken was pink towards the bones; and whilst we were reassured it was perfectly safe - i didn't want to risk it. this was handled very well though and gusto wins points in that regard in handling feedback. the chicken was swiftly replaced by another dish of our choosing after checking with the chef. and although the mains were not as exceptional as the entrees - we did end up with a happy ending with delicious desserts. my pick here is definitely the nutella bomboli - warm crunchy sugar coated donuts filled with nutella oozing out from the centre. i couldn't help but have more - and for $10 it's a steal. definitely could come back just for the bomboli!

occasion : for a fine dining night out where atmosphere and service is high on the want list or for a group wanting the opportunity to share dishes. a bit of a mixed review on the food but there were definitely signature dishes that were done well. would have scored a 4 at least otherwise.

revisit potential : 8/10

awesome place. came here for dinner once and we were really impressed. the food tasted great and the portions were pretty decent. a little disappointed about the potatoes roasted induckfat, because i had heard great things about it, but overall loved the food. especially the poached peach dessert.

nice ambience (although i saw one table using their phone flashlights to read the menu 😅 so i guess it depends on where you sit). the staff were all very kind and friendly. definitely worth it for a fancy evening out.

had mother's day lunch - started off with meatballs which were tender and yummy followed byduckpappardelle...and braised cuttlefish. food very good. the open kitchen was way too noisy compared to others i have experienced. being in a table close to it didn't help.

celebrated my 20th birthday at gusto at the grand after checking out their appealing menu. the restaurant was very fancy and the interior was beautiful so it’s definitely a good place to celebrate special occasions. the service was excellent, our waiter was attentive, gave us great service and suggested to explain the menu which we declined as it was pretty straight forward.

as a starter, the 4 of us got an order of garlic and rosemary pizzetta ($9) and house made ricotta with honey and pine nuts ($15). i highly recommend you get these two starters as the sweet ricotta blended really well with the garlic flavour from the bread. the only downside is the way the pizzetta is served in a cardboard box. as a main, my dad and i got theduckand pea ragu pappardelle ($34). it was slightly salty according to him but i found it perfectly seasoned as the peas added some sweetness to combat the saltiness. the pasta was cooked to perfectly al dente and i enjoyed every bite of my meal. my mum got the crab risotto ($35) and i tried a bit of it. the crab flavour was definitely there and again, the rice was not overcooked but al dente. my brother got the clams spaghetti ($37) which i didn’t get to try but he said it was far too salty for him.

lastly, i was really happy to get a special gift from the restaurant as i indicated on the booking that it was my birthday. it was a sponge cake that was a bit sour and it was really delicious!

highly recommend gusto at the grand!

the food all in all was pretty bland, theduckpasta slightly too underdone and didn’t really taste of anything. even the pork was bland and slightly overcooked. the fried chicken was nothing to rave about. however large portions and sharing style are sure to keep you full, and service was great

look, i really did not wan't to have to do this. because i love gusto, 2 years ago. i had enjoyed what could have been one of the best pastas of my life, the clam spaghetti, it's an all time favourite. and the one i had here was 10/10 the best, before that i had the pea and parmersan bruscetta. i went here last night and ordered the clam spaghetti and it was a disaster, the clams themselves had seen better days, the pasta in and of itself was hardly acceptable, the sauce tastes like a cheap extra virgin you'd buy at the supermarket. the whole dish upset me greatly. theduckparpadelle was weird, why put peas in it? makes no sense. the meatball, well it was okay, but last time i had it, it was way better. the risotto was a bit clumpy, not loose enough, and the rice was a little bit done. however the only saving grace was the panacotta. the fried squid actually was good, i'd give it 8/10. would have been a 10 but there was a mountain of table salt on it. so all in all rather upset. next time me and my friends will be going to depot. sorry gusto that was just not up to our standards. if your going to cook trash like that. take the picture of antonio carluccio down. and hide it in the closet. you can;t have that picture there and serve that nonsense.

we came here for a birthday party and shared dishes. we ordered the pappardelleduck(yum), risotto (yum), fried potatoes (no flavour), fried chicken (no flavour), garlic bread, and assorted desserts chocolate pudding (yum), nutella bombino (yum), gelato.


customer service is excellent. the food is quite pricey and tasted good. portions were average. all the dishes ordered i would recommend, except the potatoes and fried chicken as it was rather bland. it is good they make everything fresh to eat, didn’t mind the 40min waiting time - we just chatted away. we arrived about 6:30 and by the time dinner and dessert was finished it was just over 9pm! overall loved the gusto the grand experience. ❤️

had the garlic rosemary pizzetta, charred broccoli clam spaghetti and pappardelle duck. tried many italian restaurants in akl but honestly gusto’s just average. but the ambience and service here were really good.

the clam tasted not fresh and the spaghetti was a bit over cooked. pappardelleduckwas okay tho.

i think this is my new favourite go to place for pasta! not only was the ambience great, the food was second to none. we ordered theduckparpadelle, parmesan and potato ravioli and the baked eggplant parmagiana. finished off with the tiramisu. omg mouth watering and could taste the freshness of the pasta. just disappointed i couldn’t stomach more otherwise i would have ordered couple more varieties of pasta.

my solid go-to for an italian fare - gusto at the grand is always a good time, no matter what size your party is. shared-dish style dining with a large menu caters to all preferences.
.
not my usual picks but decided to be adventurous:
• mushroom gnocchi - the most pillowy pasta wrapped buffalo ricotta ever, kinda to the point where it isn’t gnocchi anymore, but loved the flavours and different types of mushrooms on there - that sauce is to die for.
• crab spaghetti (off the menu), suggested by our waiter - pasta was perfectly cooked, all i wish for was more crab!
• venison carpaccio - my usual go to is their octopus carpaccio which is what dreams are made of, so this pales very far in comparison - you’ll want to make the most of that lemon on the side. meat was tender and melts on your tongue, which is a huge thumbs up given it’s venison, but needed a whole lot more flavour.
•duckfat potatoes - these gems of gold are a must have every time, there’s everything to love about them.
• chocolate pudding - someone please take me back and feed this to me, i could eat this over and over again. piping hot with a gooey liquid centre, together with the vanilla bean icecream and tartness of the raspberries on the side you’ve got a spoonful of perfection.
.
the standard here never drops, incredible service as always, delicious food, and chilled out vibe - there’s a reason this is always one of my top recommendations. although i will probably stick to my fav clam spaghetti and octopus carpaccio next time!
.
#gustoatthegrand #skycity #auckland #foodie #foodblog #foodreviewer #recommendations #goodeats #aucklandeats #foodtography #italianfood #venison #carpaccio #crab #pasta #duckfatpotatoes #ilovefood #followmytastebuds #followmetogoodfood

was staying in the hotel and find this restaurant very convenient and elegant to dine in. had lunch here and the staff member was definitely very friendly to assist with our orders. the octopus salad was delicious but everyone’s favourite would be the potatoes baked induckfat!!

working our way along federal st. we had to give this place a go. the ambience is nice, elegant and modern, very fitting of the/matching of the hotel. service is the usual skycity high standard.

to drink, we had the limoncello fever and a coconut kiss. to eat, we had the pizzetta, fried calamari, baked eggplant parmigiana, oxtail agnolotti,duckfat roast potatoes, king prawns saltimbocca, zuppa inglese, tiramisu and a cannoli.
it does sound like a lot but being a big eater everything was quite small and pricey to boot. i can appreciate the use of quality ingredients and techniques as everything was very delicious and came out in good time, one after another but yea didn't really see any value for money. so it's a real treat to come here and hence my score just short of perfect otherwise it's top notch.