The second word that entered my head after walking into the Gaucho Grill was Cow, but more of that in a minute. The first word has to have been Dark, as after coming in off the street it is really rather difficult to see where you are in a room with no windows and not much in the way of electric lighting. After a bit of stumbling about, we discovered a place to put our coats, and someone to take us upstairs to the restaurant proper.

This is where the Cow bit comes in; presumably it is a planned reaction for a restaurant specialising in beef. Not only is there an abundance of conventional leather, but also on at least half the walls is leather with the fur still on it. Maybe this is what a room would look like which had several cows detonated inside of it, and the gore cleared away. Whatever – the effect is not exactly subtle and hopefully doesn’t do too much to put off today’s eaters who do not like to think where their food has come from. Me? I like it.

Starters and desert are really a distraction from the task at hand, but in the interests of science we try some enchiladas and a spicy prawn dish, both of which are reasonable but not earth shattering. As is often the case, my eyes are bigger than my appetite, and I delve into the custom menu of oversized steaks and receive a 600g Ribeye, whilst my colleague gets a taster platter comprising Filet, Sirloin, Ribeye and Rump. After a small hiccup with the cooking of my mammoth piece of meat, the main part of the meal begins. I have had a bit of a soft spot for Argentinean meat since spending two weeks on a carnivorous tour of the country a few years back, and possibly as a result of high expectations I found the meat here to be slightly disappointing. Personally I am more a fan of flavour than of texture, which is why I will rarely order a Filet, but in truth none of the steak we were served majored on either of these disciplines. They were all “good steaks” but in a reasonably expensive speciality restaurant, with the product coming from one of the best beef producing countries on earth, then I would expect exceptional. Sadly the meat fell well below the level of the Wagyu steak reviewed in the last edition (not surprising considering its price), but it also was comprehensively bested by a Chateaubriand which I had eaten in the previous week. Still, the wine (all Argentinean of course) was good and the atmosphere was fun too. Just don’t go expecting to eat like you are in the Pampas.