Gusto — Restaurant in Tverskoy District

Very bad experience ! Correct food. Friendly waitress ... Free toast, free digestive ... Too good for real!! When paying the bill, we leave tips of 300 rubles ... This is where things get spoiled: the waitress comes back with the 300 rubles and tells us that tips are not enough! That it's the weekend and for this reason it 's necessary to leave more .. I answer to her that it's not normal to require tips. She insists saying that if we are happy with the meal we must leave 1000 rubles. I answer her that normal tips are between 5% and 10% and surely not that amount! She still insists, more cheeky. I tell her that it's dishonest to insist like this, that tips are suggested and not compulsory and that, in theses bad conditions we 'll leave a negative opinion on Tripadvisor or GOogle because we have never seen such an attitude .... she still claims , that we are a group of 5 etc. We end up dropping 200 more rubles: 500 rubles in total! Still unhappy, she leaves upset and we leave the restaurant as well. In short, are the employees of this restaurant so badly paid to be so aggressive? Do their bosses press them to the point of being forced of racketeering ?! A SHAME! No other restaurant in Moscow demanded tips from us during our stay! Never seen that, neither in Russia nor elsewhere!

Плохой опыт! Правильная еда. Дружелюбная официантка ... Бесплатные тосты, бесплатные дижестивы ... Было слышком хорошей ! При оплате счета мы оставляем чаевыx в размере 300 рублей ... Здесь все портится: официантка возвращается с 300 рублями и говорит, что этого чаевых недостаточно! То, что по выходным нужно больше оставлять ... Я отвечаю ей, что это ненормально требовать чаевыx. Она настаивает на том, что, если мы довольны едой, мы должны оставить 1000 руб. Я отвечаю ей, что обычныx чаевыx от 5% до 10% и, конечно, не та сумма. Она все еще настаивает, более нахальнaЯ. Я говорю ей, что нечестно так настаивать на том, что совет предлагается, а не является обязательным, и что мы оставим отрицательное мнение на TripAdvisor и Google, потому что мы никогда не видели такого отношения .... она все еще утверждает, что мы группа из 5 и т. д. В итоге мы бросаем еще 200 рублей! Все еще несчастная, она расстраивается, и мы тоже покидаем ресторан. Короче говоря, так ли плохо платят работники этого ресторана, чтобы быть такими агрессивными? Неужели их начальство подталкивает их к тому, что их заставляют выманивать клиентов ?! Стыд! Ни один другой ресторан в Москве не потребовал чаевых от нас во время нашего пребывания! Никогда такого не видел, ни в России, ни...

We were told in the very beginning and before taking a table that we could pay with credit cards. However, while paying we realized that the system was failing (they already knew this but didn't tell us during the dinner). We were asked to solve their problem by paying with cash, but given that nobody in my group had cash, we were held until a solution was given.

If the payment system fails I normally give my personal details and pay the next day, but given that they did not agree to write down my personal details and allow me to make a money transfer, to avoid leaving the restaurant without paying I proposed to them that I'd walk back to my hotel (~15 min), and get an already settled amount of EUR to pay the bill. They accepted, and then I walked back (the rest of the guests stayed in the restaurant).

While I was away picking up the money, another problem situation occurred: A waitress made a mistake and told the rest of the guests who stayed at the restaurant that the amount we were supposed to pay in EUR had increased by 20 euros. That increase was based on a conversion error, but because it was pointed out after we settled an amount and I was already away to pick up the money, I considered this extremely inappropriate and opportunistic. In the end, they realized their mistake so I just gave the settled amount and left, with a very apologetic face from the staff.

The manager in charge of the waiters who attended us was very impersonal and hysteric. We saw her walking around, talking on her mobile phone, and whinging several times, but never talked directly to us to explain her position or apologize for the known system failure. That was very unprofessional.

In summary, and with this payment issue mentioned (1) the food is okay (Italian food for tourists), (2) the prices are high but ok for the street (wine is particularly expensive), and (3) the waiters and manager who handled our payment issue were...

Ambience 4 food 4.5 cost 5. Music was not too loud, could carry a continue a conversation without being fully overheard. Lighting was well placed, but I prefer a bit brighter. I ordered the Tuscan fillet with wild mushroom ravioli with an Alfredo mushroom emulsion, arugula salad, focaccia, sencha tea, and tiramisu to finish. The fillet was cooked to a medium and we'll prepared, with a juicy pink throughout the edging was done in such a way that the juice and flavor were locked in the fillet. It paired well with the emulsion. The wild mushroom ravioli were soft and warm while the mushrooms maintained some of the texture spring. A good balance of not being overcooked out tough and undercooked. The emulsion itself was a creamy Alfredo that had a fluffy cream texture and pieces of chopped wild mushroom that held their firmness. The arugula was fresh and crisp as was the tomato. And the focaccia had a balancing amount of herbs pasted with olive oil then lightly baked with Parmesan cheese. An absolute delight. The sencha water was not scolding so the tea game out perfect and not burnt. It is a good pallet cleanser for this light meal. To end with the tiramisu was a balance. The lady fingers soaked up a fair amount of the coffee and liquor without being drenched like a wet dish rag. There was a hint of firmness at the base of the desert which I like as I press the fingers with my tongue to the roof of my mouth. The marsacpone creamy and light. If there's one thing Gusto excels in is creaminess. All of this for less than a steak in Seattle is perfect! I'll come back in my...