Au Gusto Wine & Dine — Restaurant in Bruges

Discovered Au Gusto Wine & Dine restaurant by chance. The restaurant is owned by two Italians from Milan, very kind. We booked a table (highly recommend doing this when visiting during the weekend) and were seated outside in the sun (lovely). They have a beautiful terrace along the canal of Bruges, which really gives that additional ambiance vibe.

The first course came right on time, and was delicious. We had mozzarella di bufala and vitello tonnato. The time between the first and second course was extremely long, 30minutes. Our table wasn’t cleared and when the second course came the waiter first had to clear the table. I had the Mezze Maniche alla Puttanesca which was nice, the pasta was cooked Al Dente how its supposed to be. However, the dish was made with green olives even though the original recipe is with black olives. Also, there were too many olives in the plate, and the olives weren’t cut, just big chunks. My company had the Tagliata di Filetto (sliced beef) with some mashed potatoes and a small salad. The quality of the meat was divine, also how it was prepared. However, the food was lukewarm and we had to send it back to get it heated.

Would I return? Absolutely. I believe that every restaurant can have some challenging / super busy evenings at times. And even though these things should not have to happen (waiting long for food and receiving lukewarm food), sometimes they do. The kindness of the staff, the location, ambiance and most importantly the food...

What a lovely experience. We went after making a reservation. We arrived and were the only ones there due to Corona at 7 PM, so we were able to choose our own preferred table.

I had a filled pasta with beef, which tasted really really good. Only advice I would give here, a little bit more pasta, as the ratio of meat compared to pasta was not optimal. It was super much meat, but not suuper much pasta. But still, great dish. My girlfriend had the salmon, also a very great dish. Afterwards we had a very nice desert. Also, we had some glasses of rosé, which I would definitely advise, their rosé is really great and very tasteful. Ended up with a limoncello on the house.

Prices are not cheap, but also not overly expensive. The dishes we had were definitely worth its money.

Due to the fact we were the only ones in the restaurant during the whole evening, we had a great chat with the owner. She's a really nice talkative and friendly person. So safe to say: service was very nice and friendly.

I would advise everyone to visit this restaurant which is located in a very unique location in Bruges. Please support your locals and avoid big known 'restaurants' such as McDonald's. This one definitely deserves some support. A very big 5 stars. Next time I'm in Bruges, I will be...

Edit: One year later I was given a respons to my review. I decided to deduct one more star given their rude response.

Was here for new years eve. We had ordered the new years set menu. When we arrived they asked if we wanted anything to drink. We thought the food might come later so we ordered a spritz and an americano. But the food arrived right afterwards so we had the appetizer with the drinks. It was not a good match. Then we ordered a bottle of prosecco. Very smooth and dry, just the way we like it. The appetizer was okey, not much taste. Then the lobster with tagliatelle was served. The lobster was not very flavourful, but the tagliatelle had a nice taste to it. The calamari tasted much better, but had some bland side dishes. The lemon sorbet was the highlight of the dinner. Nice texture and very tasty. We had to go all the way to the back of the restaurants kitchen to hang our coats which was a bit of a nuisance. Not...