New Menu at Gusto: Old Didsbury Favourite Still Delivers

Things in Didsbury continue to look up. After a few years of empty shop fronts, bland chains and dodgy boozers, we now have Hispi (for which I have developed a shameful, costly weakness), a couple of new tapas places, the lovely Casa Italia, SoLIta, a couple of great chippies, loads of independent coffee shops and a brilliant Nepalese place. And yet despite this array of shiny loveliness and temptation, I still find myself as often as not in good old Gusto Didsbury, a stalwart of the high street for many years now thanks to its reliably great pizzas, interesting cocktails and lovely leather booths, into which one may sink thankfully whilst lobbing excellent fries in the direction of one's mouth and slurping a decent red.

Of course, Gusto can do grown-up too, as proved by the new menu which we tried last week. As usual, most of the old favourites have survived the cut; in fact, most of the starters remain the same (no bad thing, in my opinion). Still, only wise to toy with a little focaccia - a plump, garlicky square studded with rosemary and salt and presented with olive oil and aged balsamic - whilst choosing, not least because my date for the evening is the Annoyingly Dairy Free Friend, who requests the allergy book (cue heart sinking) and spends several hours working out what he can have. I can (and would like to) have all of it, so I choose the oven roast pork ribs served with tomato barbeque sauce and coleslaw - not strictly a new dish, but one I've not had before, and which turns out to be a triumphantly meaty affair smothered in a sauce that strikes just the right balance between sweet and tangy, and perched on an excellent thin-cut coleslaw. Most of the dishes have some form of dairy in, but in the end the Annoyingly Dairy Free Friend is delighted with his half portion of tagliatelle with prawns and garlic - really good pasta with a decent amount of fat prawns in sweet chilli tomato sauce with fresh lime and rocket. This is the kind of dish that Gusto do well - good ingredients cooked simply and served up in generous quantities (as proved by the fact the the ADFF was outside having a fag when his dinner arrived and I hadn't even made a dent in it by the time he got back).

Mains are excellent. I have the new duck dish - a pan roasted breast with buttered winter vegetables, aged balsamic and honey - and it is just lovely. The duck is perfectly cooked - briskly seared on the outside and pink and juicy within (they will do it well done if you want, but look visibly relieved when I ask for it pink), and resting on a bed of interesting vegetables (although there is a hefty hit of chilli here that isn't advertised on the menu - not a problem for me, but others may wish to be wary). Despite this plate of meaty joy, I end up with total, utter dinner envy, as the ADFF has the whole salt baked sea bass and it is SPECTACULAR. The theatre of such a dish is always fun, involving as it does an intrepid member of staff setting up a table alongside yours and burrowing wildly into the salty casing in order to free the fish that lies within; this is expertly done by John, whose service is faultless all night. Indeed, after such drama the dish itself looks a little underwhelming, but its looks belie its stunning flavour - soft, gently flaking fish, infused with lemon and herbs from within and a good sturdy blast of saltiness from without. The ADFF practically sucks the bones clean; not a phrase I ever expected to use in polite company. The fish is not cheap at £18.95, particularly as it comes solo and requires the ordering of extra side dishes, but it is perfection, and to be honest I always order fries and some Italian fried courgettes whatever I'm having - a meal at Gusto is simply unthinkable without either or both of these splendid items.

Desserts are the only misfire. The ADFF can only have the lemon sorbet, which fortunately he loves, but my basil and mint panna cotta - one of the new dishes - needs a bit of a rethink in my opinion. The panna cotta itself is fine, if unremarkable, but any subtlety of flavour is completely drowned out by a sea of heavily spiced plum compote. The flavours are reminiscent of mulled wine, but not in a good way - the spices hit the back of your throat and dominate what should be the star of the dish; there is also far too much of it. This is the only flaw of the evening though - service is knowledgeable and friendly, there is live music at an unobtrusive volume, and a very good Chianti from a wine list full of tempting Italian numbers at fairly reasonable prices. Gusto continues to be a cut above most, and I'm crossing every digit I have that their traditional 50%-off-food will be on in January, when I plan to dine on whole salt baked sea bass every single night.

- Gusto Didsbury is at 756 Wilmslow Road, Didsbury M20 2DW. We were invited to review the new menu and were not asked to pay for our food or drink, but I'm a regular here to the point of embarrassing levels of recognition from the staff.

New Spring Menu at Gusto Didsbury: Salmon, Lamb and a LOT of Avocado

Bearing in mind that some parts of the country have had snow this morning, it's perhaps a little difficult to believe that Spring has sprung in Britain. Still, sprung it has, and I know this for two reasons. Firstly, I am now awakened by actual daylight at 6am every morning, and secondly, the new Spring menu has launched at Gusto.

Gusto Didsbury is one of my favourite haunts. It's part of a chain but doesn't feel like it; it has a great atmosphere and lovely cosy leather booths where no-one can see if you get arrabiata down your top; the staff are lovely; it's possible to dine well there for not much money; there's a very decent, mostly Italian wine list; and it's ten minutes' walk from my house (a walk that I am always glad of afterwards, although technically more of a roll than a walk on the return journey). I also like that they change their menu every Spring and Autumn - it means regular visitors like me get to try new stuff, and also reflects their interest in seasonal eating (although to commit to this fully would require more frequent changes than twice-yearly, of course).

The new menu has some interesting-sounding new dishes; so many, in fact, that we are forced to eat olives and some rosemary focaccia bread whilst we are choosing. I want it all, although truth be told the options are more limited for my dairy-free, pescatarian plus-one (although his moment in the sun will come later, with the dessert menu). In the end I go for the asparagus spears with dolcelatte mayonnaise and roasted red peppers - a simple dish, well-executed. The dolcelatte mayonnaise is a thing of great joy and the asparagus spears are fresh and fat (although for £6.25 I think three of them is on the low side). My friend has the cold smoked salmon with spiced avocado, red pepper purée and capers and although it looks absolutely stunning, in practice it is a bit of a misfire - the star of the dish should be the salmon (which is, indeed, lovely) but it finds itself a bit overwhelmed by the other elements. The spiced avocado turns out to be a purée which would work well on its own as a dip or on toast, but here makes the dish a little wet, and the capers add too much salt to a dish that is already well-seasoned. It wouldn't take much tweaking to make this a great dish - more texture to the avocado and one or two less complicating elements perhaps.

For main, I have the roast lamb rump with truffled cheese piccolo ravioli and tomato sauce. I enjoy this very much - two generous slabs of perfectly pink and tender lamb surrounded by a whole army of exquisitely tiny ravioli that are probably my favourite component of the whole meal. I have misordered on the sides, as I have gone for my usuals of fries, Italian fried courgettes and, on the waitress' recommendation, the new polenta chips (these are to share by the way - not even I'm that greedy). Each of these, individually, is perfection, but the lamb dish would have benefited from a green vegetable and the salty sides end up making the overall dish a little over-seasoned. The picky friend is more of a problem though - there are some wonderful-sounding fish dishes on the menu but they contain reams of butter, so he ends up going for the pan fried salmon fillet with tomato and avocado salsa and spiced crumb, fully aware that he is essentially ordering salmon and avocado followed by salmon and avocado. Still, he is a little surprised when the "avocado salsa" turns out not to be a fresh, perky chopped salad but instead is more of the purée from his starter dish. This is a shame, as again we are close to the perfect dish here: it's a lovely piece of beautifully-cooked salmon and the crumb adds both flavour and texture, but as before, the purée is too wet and too salty - the advertised salsa would have worked far better.

Still, as someone with a dairy intolerance, he has become used to not even glancing at the dessert menu, much as he would like to. The manager has, however, already told him of the almond milk panna cotta with honeycomb, flaked almonds and lemon curd - he has been looking forward to it all evening and it doesn't disappoint; in fact, it exceeds expectations. I don't actually get to try any of it as it disappears down the hatch too quickly, but the idea makes sense to me - the natural sweetness that makes almond milk undesirable (in my opinion) in tea is surely perfect for this kind of dessert. To keep him company I have one of my all-time favourite things, the bombolini - homemade mini doughnuts with orange chantilly and chocolate sauce. Gusto is one of the few places I ever have a dessert, and they are as good (and calorifically unjustified) as ever.

A trip to Gusto Didsbury is always a pleasure, and this was no exception, despite a couple of issues with the meal. Avocado and salt are two of my very favourite things and I never thought I'd find myself writing negatively about them; still, we'll order more wisely next time we go. Gusto are clearly mindful of catering for people with allergies, and the arrival of the almond milk panna cotta suggests that more dairy-free dishes might appear on the menu alongside the excellent range of gluten-free options they currently offer. Or, next time I could just go with someone less picky...

- Gusto Didsbury is at 756 Wilmslow Rd, Didsbury M20 2DW. They have also recently started offering brunch at the weekends and it is very good, as witnessed by the photos below from a recent visit.

Gusto Didsbury: New Spring/Summer Menu Highlights

There are plenty of reasons to celebrate the coming of Spring. The long, light evenings; the cherry blossom bobbing merrily on the trees; the relaxing sounds of leather on willow along with the promise of Pimm's in the garden; the new series of Game of Thrones. And, of course, the new Gusto menu arrives, with its sexy new dishes and updates to old favourites on what is already a pretty difficult menu to decide what to have from. Still, we can but try, so last week I found a Gusto virgin and took him along to the Didsbury branch to have a look.

This is always a cheery place to visit - it's always busy and bustling and has a great atmosphere and lovely staff (who do, to be fair, recognise me a little too easily these days). I've eaten most of the things off the menu before, so I went for one of the new starters - Deep Fried Salt Cod Ravioli - whilst my friend stared in wonderment at the massive menu for so long that we had to have a cocktail while he chose. In the end he decided on Home Cured Salmon Tartare with Quail Egg, Creme Fraiche and Red Gazpacho, and it turned out to be quite the prettiest dish of the night, with a delicate but punchy flavour that entirely lived up to its head-turning good looks. My ravioli were sturdier than I had imagined - it's a clever idea to use pizza dough but it had lost a little of its softness during the deep frying process. Still, the salt cod filling was excellent in taste and in quantity, and the feisty tomato and caper dressing made this a most enjoyable dish.

On to the mains, and the only real issue of the night. I am a long-term admirer of the Gusto Roast Lamb Rump, which is always served perfectly pink and with just the right amount of crispy fat to give the whole thing both texture and flavour. This incarnation was no exception, and I was also very taken with the new summery accompaniment of buttered soy beans, asparagus and trofiette pasta (also available as a side) - a very good dish indeed. The Gusto virgin wanted steak, and when his 6oz chargrilled fillet steak with garlic butter, roasted vine tomatoes and fries arrived, it certainly looked the part. Alas, his first foray found that the steak was well-done rather than the requested medium. This was dealt with immediately and impeccably - the offending steak was whisked away and replaced as soon as one could reasonably expect with a perfect medium version, and the manager came over to apologise as well. It's an unfortunate thing to happen, especially if there's only two of you, as you essentially each end up eating your mains solo in a kind of food relay - but I'm also a big believer in judging restaurants by how they deal with mistakes and our waiter Nick couldn't really have been more helpful than he was during the entire course of our meal.

We decided to share the new Chocolate Fondue dessert - this is billed as being for two, and - unusually for a sharing dessert - there was actually more than enough for us both. The fondue was the right thickness and not too sweet, and came with little jug of Frangelico to stir in - a great idea for adding both some extra flavour and that certain something that only a good hit of booze can give. Speaking of drinks, Gusto is normally very good for cocktails, and this was certainly the case with the two we had - my friend described his Hazelnut and Fig Martini (fresh fig, lemon juice and hazelnut syrup shaken with Fratello and Martell VS) as "almost chewy, in a really good way", and my Bourbon Old Fashioned was right on the mark as usual. I usually have something Italian from the wine list but we felt the meatiness of our mains required something a little heftier, and the Don David Malbec from Argentina (£27) was perfect - I will definitely order this one again. My only criticism of the Chocolate Fondue dessert is that we'd both have liked more fruit - a lot of the dipping items provided (such as the chocolate brownies) were actually quite rich enough on their own without then dipping them into chocolate sauce as well. This may well be the first and last time I have ever called for more fruit in a pudding, but a few more strawberries wouldn't have gone amiss.

So, not a flawless evening on this occasion, but it's much to Gusto's credit that actually, our overall dining experience was still excellent - as evidenced by the fact that the Gusto virgin is already planning which pizza he wants on his next visit...

- Gusto Didsbury is at 756 Wilmslow Road, Didsbury M20 2DW; tel 0161 445 8209. We were invited in as guests of the restaurant and did not pay for our food or drink on this occasion, but I am a regular here and am happy to hand my dosh over to them at least every few weeks.

New Menu at SoLIta - Cheeseburger Spring Rolls Spawn a Dangerous New Obsession

So, another blog, another post in which I eat too much at SoLIta - you've heard it all before. This time though, I'm at the Didsbury branch, which Franco and co. thoughtfully opened just a hop skip and a jump away from my house earlier this year (Franco jokes I was listed in his business plan when outlining the viability of the Didsbury site - or at least, I hope he's joking). And this time, I've brought along a vegetarian.

We're here to try out the new menu, having respectively spent most of the week eyeing up photos on Twitter of the Cheeseburger Spring Rolls (me) and the Halloumi Burger (my fragrant date, who had never been to SoLIta before due to its rather meaty reputation). SoLIta Didsbury is based in what was Cibo on School Lane - a building scarcely recognisable from its previous sorrowful occupancy. Now it's all Stanley Chow artwork and neon signs, with a buzzy atmosphere that Cibo could only dream of and a fleet of young, chipper staff ready to ply you with the good stuff; in fact, it's very like the Northern Quarter outpost, only a/ better and b/ nearer home.

Obviously, for starters I have the Cheeseburger Spring Rolls. When you've essentially spent the day drooling over a photograph of something in a Homer-esque way, there's always a very real worry that reality will be a let down; not so here thankfully. These spring rolls are as ridiculous and as amazing as they sound - with burger steak wrapped in proper yellow plastic cheese wrapped in pastry and then deep fried, they are essentially the very greedy person's version of an enigma wrapped inside an enigma. Meanwhile, my veggie date has one of my most favourite SoLIta starters, the Lucky 7 - so called because of its layers of guacamole, re-fried beans, sour cream, salsa, cheese, lettuce, olives. She loves it so much she snarfs the lot - lucky only for some, it appears.

For main, I have The Schnitz - a previous special that proved so popular it's muscled its way onto the new menu (and deservedly so - chicken breast schnitzel topped with home smoked shredded bbq chicken and apple slaw and then served with fries is fairly hard to say no to). I'm a sucker for any form of fried chicken anyway, and it makes a nice change from the ubiquitous pulled pork to find it topped with shredded chicken rather than pig. It's the apple slaw that really makes the dish though, adding a freshness and crunch that works well against the sweetness of the bbq sauce. The Veggie has the Hallou Me? Burger - charcoal grilled halloumi, Portobello mushrooms, red pepper and house sauce; she enjoys it, but feels it would benefit from a lightly toasted bun. To be fair though, she has to order it without the mushroom as she is allergic (yes, I know, a veggie allergic to mushrooms - it's a wonder she manages to eat out at all), and thinks that the dish would be fairly perfect had she had this element. On the side we have some cornmeal fried jalepenos and some deep fried pickles - the latter are particularly magnificent, and are fought over to such an extent that we have to actually cut the last one in half.

We are full by now, but share a dessert in the form of the Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge Brownie served with Oreo ice cream. They know we want to share and helpfully cut the brownie in half before it arrives - either they are exceptionally thoughtful here or (perhaps the more likely) they simply witnessed the unseemly pickle tussle and wish to avoid further public disturbances. The brownie has an excellent texture, managing to be both light AND sticky - our only comment is that we could both handle a bigger hit of peanut butter (but then again, we are both the kind of people who eat it directly from the jar when we think no-one is watching). I do still mourn the deep-fried coke, but feel that I can bravely make do with this until Franco sees sense (/caves to pressure) and brings it back.

Any drawbacks? Well, I honestly think the portions are on the big side, but as the vast majority of the population have better self control than I do, they would probably just stop eating when they were full. Someone also commented via social media that they thought SoLIta prices a little expensive, but I'm not sure this is fair criticism - everything at SoLIta is big enough to share, and the burger prices have actually come down a pound or two thanks to the restaurant passing on discounts from suppliers. And yes, we didn't pay on this occasion, but I estimate that I have been to SoLIta NQ maybe twenty times as a paying customer and to SoLIta Didsbury already about five, so I am more than happy to part with my cash here. And even The Veggie says she wants to go again - high praise indeed, although I doubt very much I'll ever convert her to the delights of the cheeseburger spring roll...

- SoLIta Didsbury is on School Lane, M20 6RD; tel. 0161 434 4884.

Gusto Didsbury: New Menu, Same Old Greed

If you were anywhere near any kind of media channel a couple of weeks ago, you can hardly fail to have heard talk about Tim Bacon and his Living Ventures chain. All of this was sparked by Restaurant Wars, a BBC2 series about Manchester's pursuit of a Michelin star featuring Aiden Byrne's Manchester House, the big shiny behemoth that is effectively the flagship of the Bacon Empire. Whether this particular restaurant is your cup of tea or not, plenty of viewers seemed to think it was all a bit over the top - not least because Northerners were presented as some kind of sub-species who wouldn't know fine dining if it picked up a plate of cabbage and ribs and whacked them over the head with it.

The thing with Living Ventures though is that if you don't like one restaurant in the chain, there's a pretty good chance you'll like one of the others. The one that I eat at all the time is Gusto, partly because there's one in Didsbury, and partly because it's unpretentious and friendly and good value for money - plus, they do the best pizzas around. In fact, the pizzas are so good I rarely get round to trying anything else, so when we were invited in last week to sample the new menu it seemed a good chance to have a go at something else. Whilst most of the old favourites have survived the cut, the menu has had a pretty substantial overhaul: many of the starters are new, and have a lovely summery feel about them - the crushed pea, mint and chilli bruschetta that we dabble with as a pre-starter is a good example of the mood of the new menu.

For our starters proper, my dining companion has the sardine fillet wrapped in Prosciutto ham with spiced tomato compote and rocket and lemon while I have a half portion of saffron risotto with white crab salad. Mine is perfection, although even I would struggle to get through a main course size portion - the risotto is rich and creamy whilst retaining that essential bite, and the crab in the salad surprisingly generous in quantity (and because crab and salad are both healthy items, I feel perfectly justified in having additional Parmesan grated over the top of a risotto that is clearly already 50% dairy). Meanwhile, the sardine has a beautiful flavour and is well-complemented by the compote - the only issue is the amount of bones in the fish. Sardines are bony little fellows, and if you wrap them in Prosciutto then you essentially have to de-assemble the dish in order to get them out - which seems a shame when it all looks so pretty on arrival.

For mains, I have the roast lamb rump cooked pink and served on a courgette, aubergine and tomato galette with a salsa verde dressing. It's hard to find fault with this really - two generous slabs of lamb, charred and caramelised on the outside and pink and tender on the inside, served on a bed of soft, sweet vegetables sticky with lamb juice. I order some of Gusto's always-excellent fries on the side, and congratulate myself on making the perfect choice. Humiliatingly though, my friend has gone for something even better - the seared tuna steak, marinated in balsamic and soy and served with a fennel and orange salad and green gazpacho is a rare combination of quality and quantity, with the fatty richness of the tuna superlatively paired with the fresh, zingy salad. In fact, we both agree that the salad is the highlight of the whole meal, and it's not often you hear me say something like that. The green gazpacho is similarly refreshing, although we feel the flavour of the soy marinade needs to be a little stronger to make itself known against the punchiness of the salad. This is not a cheap option at £18.95 (particularly if you are greedy and add a side order of fries) but is worth every penny.

My dessert is the only thing we order that isn't one of the new dishes: I just can't see past my usual plate of Bombolini – home made mini doughnuts, dredged in sugar and served with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. I love these, and as usual they are amazing; yet, unbelievably, across the table I have been trumped again. The new Gusto Bellini is surely the dessert of the summer: peach and Prosecco jelly with a Prosecco foam, served with a biscotti on the side and absolutely perfect in its light simplicity. It tops off what has been an excellent meal - I've yet to have a substandard one at Gusto, but I think there has been a certain upping-of-game here, not in a showy, Manchester House sort of way, but in a quiet, value-for-money, we're-confident-in-our-chefs sort of way. The service is also excellent throughout, particularly from waitress Fiona, who patiently talks us through the new dishes when we can't decide what we want.

And even better - a ten minute walk and I'm home. If you're one of the people knocking all things Bacon, I suggest you try eating at a few different places in the Empire before you make your mind up - and Gusto Didsbury would be an excellent place to start.

- Gusto Didsbury is at 756 Wilmslow Rd, Didsbury M20 2DW; tel. 0161 445 8209. We were invited to try the new menu, so whilst we paid for our drinks we were not asked to pay for our food.