Gostoso Restaurante

We visited in December and returned for two visits this trip. Jose and Maria are the best and treat us royally. We visited with our adult children and their kids 3 1/2 and 1 year old. All had a wonderful time and it was very kid-friendly. We will return.....

We had dinner for three at this new and exciting restaurant. We were initially greated by Jose the owner and he made sure we were happy during our entire meal. The service staff was excellent and attentive. To give an example we had some that wanted water with ice and those who wanted water without ice. The waiter prepared two separate pitchers and was sure to use the correct water each time. We highly recommend the sushi appetiser. *It is delicious beyond belief" We had the grouper prepared creole style, the aruban goat dinner and the aruban chicken dinner. Everything was delicious. /'This should be a must for everyone visiting Aruba. It is located a bit off the main area in Oranjestad. We had no trouble finding it with our car. I am sure it is a short taxi ride. The owner is a lovely man who deserves to have a great success with this restaurant!!! Although the prices are modest: the service , food , ambiance and staff attention rivals the finest restaurants you could visit.

We had a great meal at Gostoso's last week. The calamari appetizer in the Creole sauce was amazing. The prices are also very reasonable for excellent food.

Went here our last night. The owner definitely is very passionate about his food selections. Everybody gets the full descriptions of what it is, how it's made, etc. I like that!! Had their special sushi roll (nothing raw � very unique) and the sausages (chorizo and Mozilla) as apps. Both very good!! I had the tenderloin medallions with the little pear onions soaked in wine � if you've been there, you know what I mean. Deb had the grouper (excellent), Both JD & C had the snapper special � one with a Creole sauce and the other with garlic butter. Had some tres leche cake and tiramisu for desert. I like this place because the food and service are very good � and it is off the beaten path. Small place with a great feeling!!

We ate at Gostoso on night 7 of our honeymoon in Aruba.

We'd been mostly eating at the beach/water front "top 5" restaurants to this point in our trip, and except for a few bright points, felt rather let down by the food we'd had.

We walked from the Renaissance, but would probably drive if we had to do it over.

We were warmly greeted at the door, and altho there was a big table (of ~14) that temporarily had the owner's attention, he came by quickly and explained the specials, and made helpful recommendations.

For appetizers, we had the conch, and the beef carpaccio. Both were very good.

For dinner, we had Sea Bass (with the Creamy caper sauce) and . Both were excellent.

As noted in my other reviews, we were rarely impressed with the food at the more widely known beach/waterfront restaurants. Gostoso is a place we'd happily return to if/when we visit Aruba again.

The Creole "Sushi Roll" was very different - fried plantain instead of rice tasted excellent.
Chilean sea bass too was nicely presented and awesome. The service was alittle slow but there was a large group of 25+. The group were also a bi noisy thus reducing the environmental score. Both service and environment would probabloy score 9s on other occasions.

Great food. Reasonable prices. the nicest people. The chef/owner describes every item on the menu. Don't miss the 'Aruban Sushi' and stuffed avocado appetizers. The Fish Madeira style is unique and tasty. And the Tiramisu was super. A great change from all the expensive, mediocre places in Aruba.

After reading reviews on RestaurantsAruba,com, we just had to try this restaurant and we are glad we did. Jose, the owner, greeted us, seated us and proceeded to explain everything on the menu. It is such a nice little "local" restaurant and the food was delicious and the prices were very reasonable. The service was also great.

We had dinner at Gostoso on October 2nd. I had read positive reviews on the various Aruba bulletin board and on TripAdvisor.

For the 2 of us, it was a positive experience. The total bill consisted of 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, 1 glass of wine and 1 dessert. Total $68 plus gratuity.

We shared the appetizers of calamri and the sushi. My wife had grouper Madeira-style. It was served with a passion-fruit sauce, a US-style banana...a sweet sauce. Very tasty! I had the bacalau (salt cod) prepared Portugese-style. I enjoyed it.

The atmosphere is very pleasant. The restaurant seats maybe 50 people. It is located on a "back" street away from the main shopping area. We asked our "concierge"-type person at our timeshare, so the the directions to the Hospitalstraat were very good.

The waitstaff was very good. The owner (Jose) came out to talk about the menu and to check on our satisfaction level.

Most of the other guests seemed to be Aruban...our kind of place after 21 years. Parking in front is very limited, but there is a government building just to the right, so there was no parking problem around 7 PM.

In summary, the food was very good, the service was very good...the price was equally good. We will go back!

Probably the best secret in Aruba . We live in Aruba most of the year and there aren't many we haven't tried . Unless you are looking for "tourist food " and want to pay for the scenery , Gostoso's is the best, night after night .....just hard to find .