Gostoso Restaurante

Gostoso is one of the best kept secrets in aruba. the food there is AMAZING!i had the grouper in mango sauce and it was amazing, it had such great flavor. my daughter had the grouper in a passion fruit sauce, topped with a banana, and finished the whole entire thing and said that she could eat a whole other one! my wife had the cabrito stoba, stewed goat and ate every piece. The dessert was AMAZING!the tres leches cake is absolutely to die for. we have this cake at home at a restaurant and this one was even more delicious and milky than the one at home. great find in aruba, a must to go to!

The owner, Jose, was absolutely charming and could not be prouder or more earnest to please his guests. The restaurant is small so definitely do make a reservation. Gostoso is on a small side street in downtown Oranjestad. If you are going to take a taxi anywhere on the island, this is the place where you want to take a taxi to. Parking is also very limited.

The food at Gostoso is a mix of international, Aruba and Portuguese foods. There is a very large menu and Jose patiently answered all of our questions and suggested various items we might like to try. Definitely do also try a pitcher of their delicious white sangria!

cute place, hard to find, very tasty foods with nice presentation. only gripe was quantity of food for the very moderate prices. very small portions of fish in all appetizers. all four of us had the same complaint. due to that probably would not go again. also, watch the bill for included service charge.

Tried this restaurant based on the posts here, we were disappointed. We ordered the sushi roll, but wanted shrimp instead of the mix, they said it would be another 15-20 minutes to make, so they were pushing the pre-made mix. We each selected the Golden snapper - one mango sauce, the other with a different sauce. The sauces were fine, but the snapper was the strongest tasting snapper I have ever had- it really detracted from the flavor. The chef was very nice and offered dessert free, but the intense fishiness of the snapper turned me off everything. Very hard to find the location in the dark also....but that is not the fault of the restaurant, it is the fault of the poorly marked Aruban streets.

We have been coming to Aruba since our honeymoon in 1983. We always look for new restaurants that spark our interest and offer something more that the "same-old-same-old."

We tried Gostoso at the recommendation of an Aruba resident, and we were not disappointed!

With many appealing choices on the menu, we shared the "sushi roll" appetizer to start based on other online recommendations -- a really good choice to split. Give this a try!

In addition to the sweet sauce provided with the appetizer, the house-spicy sauce was excellent.

For entrees, Karen had the seafood tempura and Steve had the goat -- two very different dishes, and both were excellent. We may switch our orders next time!

Service was attentive (and excellent) without being intrusive. The atmosphere is casually intimate.

We were "pleasantly full" after this meal, so did not have dessert or coffee.

Definitely a recommended dinner reservation!!

Wednesday, 09/22/2010
First time trying Gostoso. DW & DD had the Grouper with Creole sauce and both enjoyed it. I had the
Bacahlau Vinaigrette as an appetizer and the Bacalhau Portuguese for a main course. The dinners came with
sides of vegetables, fried plantains, and white rice. We had been to Portugal years ago and I was looking for some dishes I recalled from that trip, but didn’t see them on the menu. Most of the entrée’s seem more
Aruban than Portuguese, but there are many seafood and meat choices at reasonable prices to please most
tastes. Drinks & wine were good. It’s a small, cozy restaurant north of the downtown area.

We dined here in mid-September (off season), so we received great personalized service at this off the beaten path establishment. Jose, the owner and chef, introduced himself and the daily specials. My wife and I shared a unique appetizer, a plaintain sushi roll (best with his special pepper sauce) and also split some conch in creole sauce. Both were great. Jose mixes Portugese, Italian and Aruban touches in his cooking. As the grouper was the "catch of the day", we both ordered it. My wife had hers in a garlic and butter sauce, while mine was meuniere, with shellfish. The grouper itself was a much better value. We met a couple from Chicago who ordered the same meals and agreed with our assessment. Order the fish, hold the shellfish for a zuppa di pesce at home. A Portugese white, Vinho Verde (also ordered by our neighbors) was an excellent accompaniment. The four of us topped the pleasurable evening with coffee and a complimentary after dinner drink at the bar. Highly receommended!

I would like to try this restaurant but want people to know the prices listed on this site are quite different from the prices on the Gostoso site. Just a word of warning - it is not the bargain it appears here.

The best restuarant in Aruba..great service, unbelievable food. It's off the beaten path but well worth it..

This is the BEST hidden gem in Aruba. If you're cab driver doesn't know where it is, then call the restaurant and get directions. Or go on their website and get the directions. It's a little tricky to find but well worth it. The staff was fantastic. The food was fantastic and the atmosphere is very relaxed. The flan was everything I read about and more and I also tried the avocado salad which was also highly recommended on this website. There are some places people will rave about (Madame Jeanettes, Chef's Table, etc) that were once great, but now too popular and have lost their touch. Gostoso's blows them all away.

Returned from the island just a week ago and returned to one of our favorite restaurants on the island on 21 July. Jose continues to do a wonderful job as well as his staff. Started off with the great "suishi" which again was wonderful. I had the baucala and wife had the grouper on a skewer. The presentation of the grouper was delightful as the fish hung on the skewer on a hook, quite the contraption! Food absolutely wonderful. Very thoughtful also that they offer a couple half bottles of wine. Charming restaurant, wonderful staff and as always, Jose greeting you at the door with that pleasant smile. Highly recommnend this place, a bit out of the way, but not impossible to find.

We just returned from our annual week in Aruba. Gostoso was recommended by our taxi driver, Hubert. It was great. Food was outstanding. The most interesting menu of the week. It is a small restaurant and 30 minutes before we arrived they got a call for a party of 22. They handled it masterfully. I can not recommend this restaurant any higher!!

We tried Gostoso for the first time last year. The restaurant only had about 3 reviews at the time, but they we’re all outstanding. A year later, and the food and service are still consistently fantastic. This is one of the better finds on the island and it only has about 8 tables. My husband who does not eat seafood loves the chicken parm. Their alfredo sauce is delicious and yet so light. We ate there twice this year.

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 .

Inderdaad een heel aardig restaurant. Leuke kaart en vriendelijke prijzen. Prima bediening. Buiten zitten is geen optie omdat het direct aan een weg ligt. Maar binnen is het prima vertoeven.

Voor herhaling vatbaar.

3 times to Aruba, first time to Gostoso. Absolutely wonderful in all respects. Kim had the superb Aruban stewed goat and Dick had the chicken/alfredo penne noodles. I loved the people who worked there from the moment we walked through the door. Friendly, happy, experienced. A little hard to find -- make sure the cab driver you use knows the address!
We will be back!