Gusto da Gianni

Multi-award-winning authentic Italian restaurant Gusto da Gianni showcases the freshest ingredients and finest produce and cooking techniques from across Italy, creating some extremely appetising dishes.

Named Best Restaurant in Hull and East Yorkshire twice in a row (2018 and 2019), Gusto da Gianni might be a little way out of Hull city centre – a half-hour walk or a shorter bus ride from the train station, and closer to off-the-wall live music venue The New Adelphi Club than Hull’s more mainstream cultural offering, such as the Ferens Art Gallery or Hull Minster – but it’s well worth the journey. All food is cooked to order and served in a dining room with simple tables and chairs, warm lighting and brick archways that add to the Mediterranean feel of the place.

There’s a full page of antipasti, which includes the chef’s recipe chicken live pâté, and tomato and basil soup with toasted Pugliese bread, alongside a choice of pizza, pasta and meat and fish mains. There is imported artisan fior di latte mozzarella while the pasta is from the hilltop town of Gragnano on Italy’s Amalfi coast. Recognised by the European Union for its quality, Gragnano pasta is air dried and extracted through bronze dies, creating a nuttier aroma, the perfect al dente bite and a rough texture that’s perfect for classic sauces, including smoked salmon and cream and Nonna’s traditional ragu, to adhere to it.

‘Carne’ and ‘pesce’ at Gusto da Gianni include chicken Milanese and medallions of British beef in a rich gorgonzola sauce, or whole gamberoni prawns grilled with fresh chilli, garlic and lemon. As you might expect, the wine list is robust, with an encouraging number of bottles on display above the corner service counter. There are specials chalked up on a blackboard and a range of desserts – everything you might need for a delightful, Italian-style night out.