Food CAU

Went to Gaucho's today in Piccadilly. Great steaks, but pricey, would go again though, just not too often!

I lived next door to Gauchos in Breda, I ate there extremely regularly to the point where the owner found me a table on busy nights without any need to book.

The prices were not expensive and nor was the booze and I never failed to have a great meal and night out when I went there. I do not know how the UK price but it seems a little extreme. Additionally Gauchos is a franchise so quality may vary.

If you get the opportunity to go to Breda, book there, it really is very very good.

As for food, I am a massive foody (hence my constant battle with weight). What I know about myself us that I do not enjoy meal "fillers" ie an excess of carbs. I like to have 3 moderate courses and feel satisfied afterwards rather than over full. I prefer to enjoy and share one bottle of good wine than "get pissed" on cheap rubbish....

Last weekend I was in Cambridge and we ate at St Johns Chop House, the atmosphere was brilliant, we were 8 and were in our own cellar room which was fun. The bill was extremely low at 308 gbp, having said that some only had a main. For me I had salmon cured in slow gin with beetroot, Dover sole and the most exquisite chocolate cheesecake and shared a very good bottle of red. My part of the bill was 47 gbp. For me that is cheap.

Living now in Stockholm eating out really is expensive, ie for new years eve at grill it was 70gbp per head before booze, however I experienced some of the yummiest food I have ever had. I have booked to go again when TdC pops over for a visit as eating off the menu can be cheaper obviously than NYE however I expect the quality to be high.... (although if you want the kobi beef be prepared to pay a little more!)

Rant over, however if you want to skip to the bottom I prefer to eat out at a quality restaurant once a month than have a mediocre meal each week....

Gauchos != Gaucho Yoni

They are the same organisation I think you will find.....

To expand a little the UK franchise has been rebranded slightly in order to generate higher prices for the same product. If you look at the menu style, the decor they are the same except for a few regional differences and the pricing structure. However if you want to believe that it is different then please carry on... I have been to both and discussed ownership structure on many occasion with the Dutch, especially after my own experience of the UK operation and after seeing the bill you guys popped up here... The price differential made us laugh

Gaucho= too expensive for moi.

Wagamama's = yes please!

I couldn't care less about over hyped (and priced) places like Gauchos. Yes they have good food, but so do most tiny independent steak houses, especially the Argie ones.

Overpriced, overhyped noodles! Fucking noodles!

best steak I ever ate was in America

been to plenty of so-called steak places over here and most of them suck

there's an argentine place in south london thats supposed to be gob-smackingly awesome.

Grass fed over grain fed everytime.

+ beer and massages

I thought I'd had Kobe beef but apparently I couldn't have had because its never exported.

As for Gauchos, 'salright, but what is considered one of the best steak restaurants in London is actually average by US standards, and of course the real deal in Argentina is better for a third of the price. Funnily enough the best steak I've had in Europe is right here in Dublin; place called Shanahans on The Green, which is also stupidly expensive but seriously good.

Steak is easy to cook well, finding/selecting good steak is the hard part.

That usually costs me £40 extra for 30 minutes!

I've also had kobe, or thought I had, I have noticed it described as kobe, but it usually has a disclaimer stating it's "kobe style".

Correct Da Gaffer I Gould have said Kobe method ( I have not had this from Grill btw)

http://grill.se/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/grill_meny_eng.pdf

Before I die I have to go to Texas and experience the food there.

My sister's been. She said everything's big in Texas.

http://www.pictorymag.com/showcases/texas/

Now that is a fucking stadium...

Yeah I was thinking much the same, shame it is used for that oval ball nonsense they call a sport!

You can even play your Xbox on that screen:

Grill is super overpriced imo. For that kind of money id go for something a bit more rewarding, like http://www.ekstedt.nu/, everything is cooked using open fires.

I don't think it is..... As for Ekstekt sadly I don't like the current menu or I would try it there.

I like pie.

Personal bumpage/reminder to tell those of you interested about the lunch I had last weekend. Been too tired to do it properly recently.

There's, like, 2 things on the menu. No wonder he can do it for $0.02. He doesn't have to think.

Michelin star limitation tbfh. I like a little choice

I do like a good independent ramen bar if I can find one, but they're hard to come by. Wagamamas does seem like an excuse for bad service - but it is nevertherless yummy

Right, might as well do this now.

Showed up initially and some random free goodies were brought to our table. One was a smoked haddock sauce and one was a chicken liver parfait, both with a crispy bread thing to eat with. Without asking, and because they knew my girlfriend was ordering from the vegetarian menu, they also brought up a couple of vegetarian options, which I paid less attention to: a beetroot thing and something else. I forget what it was now, but it had coriander pearls and both were very nice according to the Mrs. I'm not a big fish guy but the haddock sauce was lovely, smoked just right to bring out the flavours but not overpower. The chicken liver parfait was very good.

Next came up a free bread basket of home made, different breads. There was a good choice of normal breads, herb-infused breads and my favourite, the bacon bread. They were all still warm from baking and the lardons in the bacon bread were of a very high quality. I could still smell it for the next few hours.

Starter: I had the Pork two ways. Cuts of belly and cheek, the cheek dusted in a coating of black pudding. This was served with thin strips of apple and a celeriac foam and the belly had been lightly spiced with cumin, which added a nice extra depth to it. The balance of flavours was exceptional, I don't normally go in for fruit and meat but the breed of apple used was perfect for the meat and it really brought the dish alive. To be hyper ctitical I'd say the belly could have been slightly crisper, and the cheek was a tiny bit chewy but these were in no way detrimental. Lindsey had the Shallot Tarte Tatin with Goats Cheese and Poached Pear - she was going to have this as a main but front of house were good enough to inform us that the dish would work better as a starter, so we went with what they suggested and they were absolutely spot on.

Main: I had 3 textures of lamb. Belly, loin and tongue. Belly was good, slightly crispy, fatty meat, which worked well with the delicate lean cut of loin. The tongue was the real surprise though, never had tongue before and I really enjoyed it. It's meatier than the other cuts of lamb and isn't at all chewy or poorly textured. The dish was served with a pea and broad bean puree, peas and broad beans, samphire, bergamot jelly (beautifully cubed) and garlic croquettes. This was my favourite dish of the day. Didn't like broad beans really before this, and I'd never had samphire before. The samphire was incredible. Unbelievably tasty. Remarkably so. Again the flavour balance was excellent, the veg choice matched the meat and season perfectly and was cooked superbly. I can't say I've ever had vegetables cooked so well before; the difference it makes to taste and texture was a huge surprise for me. I would have personally chucked on another croquette and a couple more cubes of the jelly just to help chew the meat a little, as there was a fair bit on the plate despite the dainty appearance. That could well just be me not being used to eating dishes like this though - where the meat is the star of the show (and rightfully so). Lindesy had the Pickled Vegetables with Sheep's Cheese Croquettes, which was beautifully served with coriander pearls and other bits I didn't pay too much attention to.

Desert - not really anything I would personally get excited about, we both ended up going for the Honeycomb Parfait with Salted Caramel Doughnuts and Praline, which came served with a dark chocolate ganache with popping candy inside and some honeycomb. The honeycomb was exquisitely textured, it was solid and crispy right up until the point the moisture of your mouth touched it, when it immediately melted and went all gooey over your mouth and teeth. The use of texture here was good - soft parfait and ganache, crispy/gooey honeycomb, crunchy praline and the little joy of popping candy. I'm not a big fan of honey flavours, but despite that I was able to keep eating away, which is rare for me. If I don't like flavours I normally can't eat it: so the fact I was continuing to do and getting pleasure from it really shows the difference in quality and concept.

We turned up right as they opened so it was quiet when we first got in there, but it soon filled about halfway up. It's simple and refined inside but not overly stuffy or up itself. Table salt, sea salt (course) and black pepper are all on your table but I never even considered using them as the seasoning was perfect. Probably the first time I've been in a restaurant and not needed to add salt to anything.

The service was excellent and friendly, attentive but not intrusive. They never let you empty your water glass, cleared up crumbs from the table and explained each dish as they served it to you (since there's a lot that goes into the dishes that isn't on the menu). Despite me being in a hoody, there was not one bit of pretension towards me, I was treated as exceptionally as everyone else in the place.

All in all the bill including a service fee for 2x 3 courses and drinks came to £90. I was stuffed for the day (I don't eat in vast quantities but Lindsey was also pretty much done for the day) barring a late evening cheese sandwich. I was so impressed with the staffing that I thought I might as well tip extra and gave them £100. That still felt like good value and we'll likely look to go back there at some point, probably when the menus change again. It's rare you find a Michelen starred place that offers a range of vegetarian options. Most places either do 1/2 dishes or nothing at all, and you have to speak to them in advance to get something sorted which is a real hassle.

Ooh that pork starter sounds wonderful, not overly bothered by lamb these days but it sounded like a quality meal. Very reasonable too, £100 for a good meal sounds good, did you do wine or just normal drinks?