Review: Gaucho Smithfield

The Gaucho brand has been kicking around for some years now, with restaurants slowly spreading across London as diners increasingly flock to eat quality Argentine steak amidst cowhide-clad walls and sleek low-lighting. However, Gaucho Smithfield has to be the most aptly positioned branch yet - directly opposite the famous, and now fashionable, Smithfield meat market.

A sleek black facade lures diners in with the promise of a luxury culinary experience where you can mingle with the city-cool set as well as hardened carnivores looking to get their gnashers on a perfectly prepared piece of beef.

My dining companion and I decided to start the evening as we meant to go on, and kicked back at the bar supping on a cocktail whilst watching Farringdon's finest stroll by. Each day, bar tender Tony conjures up a unique creation, and today's happened to be the Summer Breeze - a mixture of Sparkling Argentine Vida Organica, crème de frais and a dash of pineapple juice - a taste bud temptress of a drink.

One of the things that diners will notice in Gaucho Smithfield is the distinct lack of traditional steakhouse décor. Red velour booths and masculine boy's-club-feel have been replaced with gaucho-styled black and white minimalist furnishings, where low-lighting comes in the form of chandeliers to create a modern and refreshing take on the old school feel.

Having seen the huge slabs of meat being delivered to the surrounding tables, we opted for the Picada sharing platter, with a range of thinly sliced cured meats, aged Keens cheddar, marinated artichoke hearts, olives and peppers. If in doubt about what wine you should choose from the list to accompany your nosh, a knowledgeable and attentive sommelier is on hand to make informed recommendations. After seeing us scratching our heads in confusion, she suggested the Verdelho Cristobal 1492 - a Portuguese white grape grown in Argentina that had the right amount of crispness to cut through the salty meats and olives, whilst refreshing the palate.

Although the meat entrée slid down a treat, our journey to meat debauchery had only just begun. Help is on hand when it comes to choosing your steak, as the highly attentive waiting staff will happily bring you a large wooden block laden with different cuts of meat, talking you through the taste and tenderness variations. I went for the Bife de Chorizo (sirloin) as I prefer more flavour and my dining companion chose the Bife de Lomo (fillet), preferring a more tender cut.

I can safely say that we were not disappointed. My sirloin quenched my lust for a tasty meat hit, and was packed full of beefy flavour that conjured images of the best roast beef dinner you could ever imagine. Silence descended at our table as my companion shovelled fork loads of meaty goodness into his mouth, only stopping to make garbled references to its melting texture and ladling the sweet potato chips with chorizo and spinach with garlic and lemon onto his plate. There is no measure of a meal's success greater than its ability to reduce its eaters to silence in my mind, unless of course it is through sheer horror. Thankfully this time it was due to our upmost satisfaction.

Having gone in with the intention of making it to dessert, the huge slabs had us defeated and so with little room left for food we consoled ourselves with an after dinner cocktail to round off the affair, staying with the South American theme and ordering a Gaucho Mojito - a cleansing option with fresh lime, mint, sugar and a generous dash of Havana Club 7 that sent us off into the night entirely satisfied and in the mood for a dance.

Gaucho Smithfield
93A Charterhouse Street,
London EC1M 6HL
Tel:  020 7490 1676
Website: www.gauchorestaurants.co.uk