Did you know that Gusto do brunch? Well, we didn’t, but we’re here to tell you that brunch at Gusto is a very, very good thing!
We associate Gusto in Cookridge with relaxed Italian evening dining in a beautiful setting (and a slightly less relaxed affair when we met up with the rest of our NCT group in Gusto with seven six-month old babies for lunch!). Gusto actually open up bright and early for those who want to indulge in a spot of brunch, as we did at 9am on a Sunday morning.
We were about to enjoy long, busy days, me at the spa burning off the calories by being pampered, and Kyle at the railway museum with our little girl in York. So, we needed something to set us up well for the day.
I opted for the eggs benedict, a classic dish which is always one of my favourite breakfast options. The parma ham comes uncooked and gently laid across the top of two soft English muffins, and the poached eggs were perfectly cooked, oozing their yolk across the plate when I cut into them. If I were to be fussy, I’d say there could have been a bit more sauce to accompany the dish, but in all fairness the waiter did helpfully say that I could ask for me if I wanted.
Kyle went for smashed avocado with chilli on toast – another classic brunch option. The avocado came smashed and sliced, with tender slices of chilli rather than just chilli flakes. The dish as a result had an admirable kick to it, and it was really good that there was no skimping on the amount of avocado. Too often with smashed avocado you get a mere smear of it on the toast, but no such complaint here!
As for our little one, she opted for the kids’ fry-up. We chose sausage (which, we were pleased to observe, was a high-quality pork sausage with herbs running through it), beans, scrambled egg, and mushroom. She wolfed it down, along with the accompanying slice of toast. Their kids’ menu isn’t a patronising affair; I could happily have eaten her meal had I been slightly less hungry!
The coffees we sampled were also spot on – the texture and temperature of the flat whites were as they should be.
Gusto is a lovely place to spend a couple of hours in the morning; the outside doors were left open when we visited, allowing the sun to flood in (I actually put on suncream, believe it or not!) and our little girl happily toddled around the enclosed decking area while waiting for her meal. The word deserves to be spread about brunch at Gusto; don’t think of this just as a nice evening option in north Leeds!