ΦΙΛΟΞΕΝΟΣ: GUSTOSO RESTAURANT - TOMB OF THE KINGS

Πέμπτη 5 Σεπτεμβρίου 2013

GUSTOSO RESTAURANT - TOMB OF THE KINGS - PAPHOS

Gustoso in Spanish means –Savoury, also 'to do something gladly or willingly' in Italian its- Tasteful, and in Serbo Croatian it means 'dense, or packed', and this recently opened restaurant on the tomb of the Kings Road certainly lives up to all four definitions.

From the road one cannot fail to spot this new addition to the 'tourist strip' and what's striking is the huge amount of effort that has gone into creating this very comfortable, user friendly eatery. It certainly stands out as a bit of white beacon of hope for those whose culinary tastes veer more towards brassiere style dining than being hunched up in a burger bar or being fed dubious comestibles from unknown 'frozen sources.

The owner previously cooked at Tsada golf club which also means we have a man behind the stove at Gustoso who knows only too well the need to hold fast to a decent level of food comfort zone, so, expect no fierce culinary fireworks exiting his kitchen, this isn't elegant or studied cooking but his secret weapon is in having a real instinct to feed his customers.

For this place serves platefuls of food so large they have their own gravitational pull, all at prices that makes one wonder how the hell they manage to balance the books, either that or the chap in charge of portion control was imbibing heavily from the grape of the Gods the night we visited. Parading from the kitchen a veritable Arctic expanse of huge chunks of white porcelain float past tables all expertly handled by diminutive waitresses whose heavy duty wrist action must, even after only a few weeks on the job, would surely qualify them as contenders for Wimbledon.

This is a place which has obviously set its sights on capturing not only evening diners, its also open for breakfast, also lunch which means the extensive menu is a bit of trip through ones all time family favourites, from a fluffy three egg omelette or full fat fry up for breakfast, burgers, sandwiches, salads, jacket potatoes Pasta's and soups for lunch, and with evening meals the challenge has to be- to go through the menu and see if there are any dishes listed one 'hasn't' ever tried previously. We started off with marinated garlic king prawns with steamed rice (7euros) also marinated salmon with avocado (7euros) both came on canoe sized crockery with a generous portion of well cooked prawns that could easily have passed for a pretty substantial main course.

To find a good 250gr fillet steak under 20euros is rare in Paphos but here one can relish a medium steak for only 18euros served with a choice from four different sauces and partnered with rice, jacket potato, and veggies, also a stuffed chicken breast with spinach and feta for only 9.90euros or a mammoth boat load of Jack Daniel glazed ribs for 9.50 euro's which required a waitress with the strongest backhand to carry what resembled an entire porcine rib cage to a neighbouring table. The most expensive dish on the menu is lobster thermidor ,(30euros) then there is good selection of salads including Caesar, fish, waldorf, plus a BBQ chicken, and probably every single pasta dish one could wish for all coming in at around 7.50 euro's per (very large) plate. As for the puddings the most popular seemed to be the chocolate heaven (4.80euros) our waitress told us that when people phone to book a table they also reserve one of these artery busting chocolate cakes drenched in warm chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream.

Gustoso will certainly suit the vast majority of tourists and residents it's trying hard, has a nice easy going atmosphere, treats its customers to proper linen napkins and tablecloths, the staff are friendly and efficient, wine prices aren't too inflated and its certainly offering big boys food as all around you there are diners leaving plates almost greaseless, and for those in the 'know' there's always the guarantee of being handed a substantial 'doggy bag' -yes its worth a visit and may you enjoy the experience with Great Gusto .