Gaucho Piccadilly

Reviews for Gaucho Piccadilly

• 4

  Gaucho Piccadilly

  19 Swallow Street London W1B 4DJ uk
  

  More reviews by DanWilkinson
  DanWilkinson

  26th August 2008

  Great beef, great service

  Current

  Now, for some reason, the below-mentioned hype surrounding this place has passed me by, which probably contributes to my positive review. All I'd heard was that the steaks were pretty good, and Gaucho more than delivered on that.
  
  The missus took me here for my birthday, as she knows all too well how much I like a nicely-treated ribeye. It was a Wednesday night, and the place was rammed, but the sort of 'lively' rammed, rather than the 'sardines' type. Despite this, our waitress managed to deliver the sort of prompt, attentive and competent service that should really be standard in London, but which is sadly somewhat rare.
  
  We kicked off by sharing a ceviche platter, partnered by a lovely light, crisp Torrontes which said waitress had recommended. Torrontes can be a bit oily and over-aromatic in the wrong hands, but this was spot on, cutting through the lime, chilli and herbs in the ceviches and gently underpinning the more delicate seafood notes with ease.
  
  The steaks were indeed excellent, although the practice of bringing examples of all of them to the table was pretty superfluous and a bit gimmicky if I'm honest. Mine was as rare as I'd asked for, which in itself isn't that common for steaks in London. The Norton Privada that accompanied it was as great as always, so good to see that wine on the list too.
  
  With a well-kept selection of cheeses to finish with and a complimentary glass of birthday Champagne too, I couldn't fault the entire experience.
  
  I'm sure that, if you've been to Argentina, or if you've been told this is up there with the Fat Duck, you'll be disappointed. However, Argentina this is not, and it's a high-mid-priced central London restaurant, so with that in mind I think you'll find it's really pretty good.

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• 5

  Gaucho Piccadilly

  19 Swallow Street London W1B 4DJ uk
  

  More reviews by vexille
  vexille

  22nd August 2008

  Probably the best steak...

  Current

  ...in London?
  
  Well, that's what I thought! It's a quarterly outing for myself, friends and family. Situated just by Picadilly Circus you wouldn't really expect it to be tucked away when the food is that good.
  
  The ambience is fantastic, light enough to be comfortable and everthing looks as you would imagine in a far pricier restaurant. Cow skin seats and chandelliers litter the room.
  
  Service is again top notch, waiters and waitresses taking their time to explain each cut of meat, where it's from and the best way to enjoy it. Always at your beck and call but never obtrusive. The selection of beef is incredible from clean cut steaks to 30 days marinaded cuts. Chose from selected sizes or ask for the largest cut you can handle!
  
  Price is very reasonable for what are very good cuts of meat, approximately £35 per head with wine.
  
  Highly recommended!

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• 2

  Gaucho Piccadilly

  19 Swallow Street London W1B 4DJ uk
  

  More reviews by Browners
  Browners

  12th July 2008

  Wildly Overhyped

  Current

  Victoria and Alex gave us a very good pre meal analysis. Expect glitz and glamour; immaculate mear; slick service; steep prices; good chips. But occassionaly watch out for inconsistent service, greasy vegetables and listen to how you should have your steak.
  
  Armed with this wealth of advice it all seemed to correct as we shown to our table amongst a dark and sultry dining room. A huge space, crawling with money and girls who had spent hours getting ready and men who were about to spend a fortune.
  
  We settled in and were shown the array of steaks on a wooden board. The waitress gabbled through the description so rapidly we didn't catch a word she said. But Victoria had given us a good sumamry so we weren't too fussed. I ordered a 400g lump of rib eye which the waitress advised me to have medium. I insisted that it should be pink and she said it would be. Cowie ordered a trout ceviche and a prawn and palm heart salad.
  
  The trout ceviche wasn't. It was a collection of three generous slices of cured trout. But it hadn't been cured in citric acid. Now I am clearly no Peruvian but I did think that lemon or lime juice was the central ingredient. A bit like ordering toast and getting bread. It was very tasty, just a bit of a problem for anyone who gets annoyed by misdescriptions.
  
  Then onto the main show. The warm up was over and the headline act was taking the stage. My mega steak arrived with great cermeony. Lots of bernaise. Some chips. A big hunk of....
  
  O dear....
  
  Massively overcooked steak. Grey and rigid it stood lifeless like those a performance artist in Covent Garden. And the chips were cold.
  
  We called over the waitress with a smile and a firm look. She whisked it away and told the chef to cook a fresh one. Meanwhile Cowie devoured her prawn and palm heart salad. It was tasty but incredibly stingy. Cowie counted six medium sized prawns. And then realised that they had all been sliced in half so she had actually only had 3! Three prawns! Not good enough.
  
  10 minutes later my replacement steak arrived. I could hear it mooing as it arrived. As I sliced it in half I could hear the staff collectively sigh with relief. Or maybe I could hear myself. It was tender, juicy and tasted of animal. You could really taste the beef. A delightful piece of meat. The bernaise sauce was fantastic but the second bowl of chips were as cold as the first. Disappointing.
  
  Our carafe of Malbec was delicious. But we didn't need it pouring for us. If you are given a jug of wine the protocol is that you pour it yourself. Cowie only wanted one glass. Having finished her first glass the waitress steamed over and agressively filled it to the brim leaving me with 3/4 of a steak to eat with no wine. Yet another irritant. Cowie and I swapped glasses. But we shouldn't have had to.
  
  Scanning the room we completely agreed that this is one of the best restaurants we have been to for people spotting. Over Cowie's left shoulder was a girl tarted up to the nines wearing a short black dress, some scary heels with a tattoo on her foot. The both fesated on well done steaks whilst drinking glasses of rose topped up to the brim. Kissing and fondling their way through the meal they were having a great time.
  
  It's also great fun to watch the chef at work on the grill. With an earpiece wedged into the side of his head I was surprised he managed to completely balls up my steak.
  
  It was one of the best steaks I have had in London. But given that the first was awful the overall mark averages out as being well below par. Add to that Cowie's measly prawn salad and the abysmal service and you've got glitzy money trap. Give me the steaks we had in Buenos Aires or the USA anyday.

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• 2

  Gaucho Piccadilly

  19 Swallow Street London W1B 4DJ uk
  

  More reviews by Thomasinho
  Thomasinho

  19th March 2008

  Dissapointed to be frank

  Current

  When I was asked to Join a group of friends to grab a steak at Gaucho, I was filled with the excitement, you might expect a child to have, on the way to visit the ultimate tellie tubbies celebration. A good steak is fantastic to someone who spent four years living in the South of Brazil in the city of Curitiba, So I have had my fair share of Latin American Steaks. I was expecting a fine, delicious piece of meat, but was frankly dissapointed,
  The place was packed full of people, the atmosphere, was similar to what you may find in a busy mall restaurant, the waitress came presenting a tray with examples of meat, and I made my choice.
  When it came, it was nothing like the meat I had experienced in Sao Paulo, at some of the fine argentine steak houses they have, or Mario's in Rio. It was lesser quality, less taste. The wine was good, the service rubbish, and I just felt I could have got a better deal somewhere else.
  I think Floridita makes a better steak, for a better price, and you get great ambience, and ok service.

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• 4

  Gaucho Piccadilly

  19 Swallow Street London W1B 4DJ uk
  

  More reviews by GreenHippo
  GreenHippo

  5th December 2007

  Best steak place in London

  Current

  I had heard of Gaucho - something about steak and being not bad so my expectations were not that high...
  
  However, I experienced this place last week when I took a client for lunch. Let me start with the greeting - the girl on the door was fun and had a real sense of humour. I was greeted by name when I went upstairs (so I guess the door girl was efficient too!) and shown to a "quiet" table (something I had requsted at the time I booked).
  
  The decor is cool - cowhide on the walls and a preponderance of wood and leather....but swish too.
  
  They had a good cocktail list - and the mojitos were fab - so good that I found myself ordering two (even though this was lunchtime!).
  
  But you come here for the steak - and the choice was pretty substantive. Various choices of cuts, side dishes, etc. The waiter explained the choices in detail which was much appreciated as some of the cuts were Argentinian and not that familiar. Personally, I thought the food excellent - decent in quantity and quality.
  
  I will definitely come back....

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• 2

  Gaucho Piccadilly

  19 Swallow Street London W1B 4DJ uk
  

  More reviews by mad4IT
  mad4IT

  4th December 2007

  Same old same old

  Current

  Gaucho's do unarguably good steaks, but it's expensive and dull.
  
  Avoid if you have vegetarians in your group!!!

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• 4

  Gaucho Piccadilly

  19 Swallow Street London W1B 4DJ uk
  

  More reviews by Sami
  Sami

  3rd December 2007

  Oh my steak...

  Current

  My boyfriend took me to Gaucho for my birthday recently; we both love steak and have wanted to try Gaucho, so it was a very suitable choice.
  
  We were immediately struck by the decor; the restaurant is clad entirely in cowhide, from the walls to the banquette seating. After climbing three floors to get to our table, we were seated quickly and presented with their menu, along with a full explanation of the wine list and the various steaks they feature. In contrast to other reviews posted, the service we received was both very good and knowledgeable. We found our waitress to be efficient, responsive, and aware of our every need, whether it was more wine, water, or calling a taxi for us.
  
  The steaks were fantastic - not as good as the American chain of steakhouses "Ruth's Chris" if anyone is familiar with them, but very, very good. We thought that the sides were small when they came to the table, but it was a good lesson in a need to stop judging sides by appearance - it would have been a waste for there to have been more, as we bumbled disgracefully down the stairs after eating what turned out to be a vast quantity of food.
  
  I was also quite impressed with their wine selection - I have a hard time paying for wine knowing how exponential the wine mark up is, and we decided to go for their in-house wines - and lucked out, as the Argentinian Malbec we had was a perfect match. Gaucho have also succeeded in finding an appropriate partner to produce their in-house wine and I was very pleased with what we had chosen.
  
  While we ate, a three piece band was playing in the background unobtrusively and was a nice addition to the ambience.
  
  The meal came to a very, very reasonably 90 pounds for the 2 of us - definitely a pleasant surprise.
  
  I'm looking forward to the next time we go - but then again, we are spoiled for choice in London and the next steak restaurant I want to return to is the Argentinian grill Buen Ayre, in Hackney.

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• 3

  Gaucho Piccadilly

  19 Swallow Street London W1B 4DJ uk
  

  More reviews by mattencolin
  mattencolin

  29th August 2007

  Fine, but not impressive

  Current

  The place is great, a modern setting even if the table was a little poorly dressed.
  
  Gaucho is famous for its Argentinean meat, it has been presented and explained by the manager in a very good way. It was nice and of one of the best I've ever eaten in London, however I expected something simply awesome.
  Not as expensive as expected. Good value for money.
  The service in the entrance area and at cloakroom was nicer than what we hat at the table.
  
  I'll come back probably just for the steak but i do not consider this place as an amazing experience.

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• 5

  Gaucho Piccadilly

  19 Swallow Street London W1B 4DJ uk
  

  More reviews by Shona
  Shona

  31st July 2007

  The best steak you'll eat

  Current

  I had heard rave reviews of this place and was keen to try it out so when my Dad visited it seemed like the perfect opportunity. While it was not as good as it should have been the steaks were amazing. We arrived 10 minutes late to be told our table was not ready and waited a further 30 minutes before being seated on the top floor. We waited in the fab bar and enjoyed a cocktail. The top floor is stunning with very low lighting and an intimate atmosphere, so much so my Dad could hardly read the menu! Our waitress was great but it took a long time to order wine and to get it. I did love the way they bring the steaks to you and explain about the cuts. Our starters were disappointing, a lot of money for not very much food, before they had even been cleared from the table I saw someone standing waiting with our mains, too fast! I went to the bathroom and came back to find my steak was cold, no surprise, we sent back the steaks and sides and were brought new ones, which were fantastic, melt in the mouth. We didnt have dessert , no space and my Dad loved his burger. I spoke to the manager and explained we were disappointed at the lack of table on arrival and the fact our mains had left the kitchen before we'd finished your starters, he obviously knew our service that night was unacceptable and immediately took the drinks off the bill. I was disappointed by the service which at these prices should be faultless but the steaks were amazing, will I be back? Yes but now I've found trusted places there are so many other places to try that it won't be for a while!

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• 4

  Gaucho Piccadilly

  19 Swallow Street London W1B 4DJ uk
  

  More reviews by Lacrimosa
  Lacrimosa

  1st April 2007

  Don't miss the sausages

  Current

  Having not enjoyed another Gaucho restaurant in the past (Gaucho Canary) I recently attended a meal at Gaucho Piccadilly with some trepidation. Firstly, I was pleasantly wowed by the sumptuous decor and, having had my coat taken in the cloakroom, by the way I was escorted to meet my friends in the bar. I must add at this point that it was just as well that I was escorted since, on account of the very low and moody lighting throughout, I genuinely didn't recognise my friends even when they were pointed out to me. This is definitely a restaurant in which one needs time to let one's eyes adjust.
  
  Onwards and (literally) upwards to the restaurant: more low lighting, cowhide lining the wall, and packed to the gills with buzzy customers. I'm not a great lover of steak so, of the four of us, I alone ordered spicy lamb sausages, garlic mashed potato, and a mashed sweet corn side dish called humitas, chased down with a sizeable Bloody Mary. I wasn't feeling too well that day but, despite this, clearly ordered the right thing because it all tasted like manna from heaven. Christian, however, received a dud steak, which was replaced with no fuss or bother once the waitress was made aware of it, although it took a long time to come.
  
  This isn't perhaps the sort of restaurant I would visit regularly but I'm giving it a thumbs up on the basis of this one visit. The food was delicious, the Bloody Mary one of the best I've had, and I enjoyed the theatrical over-the-topness of the decor and lighting.

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