18 March 2006
Am developing some kind of a dry cough so didn't go to the gym. Instead, went for pre-dinner drinks with M-A and P from work. I had an Irish coffee in celebration of St Patrick's Day and for my throat. (I also fashioned a shamrock out of a green Post-It at work to stick on my computer for St Patrick's Day but that was the extent of the celebrations at work)
After drinks we went to the Gaucho Grill for Argentinean food - recommendation of P who is a New Yorker, loves food and has been looking for a good Argentinean restaurant since arriving in London. I had no idea Argentinean food was so varied.
It was VERY good. The restaurant is a tad claustrophobic as it's in the cellar of a building nr Piccadilly - all arches and low ceilings. The lighting and layout at the entrance was a bit disorientating and I kept thinking I was going to trip or something. That's the mildly bad stuff out of the way.
The food and service was just great. Our waitress and the manager, who both served our table, were very friendly, helpful and efficient. When the waitress spilt some food on the jacket of someone on the next table by accident, the restaurant offered to pick the jacket up from the man's place of work the next day (because he wanted to wear it home), get it laundered and sent back to him free of charge.
Now the food. M-A & I had churrascos - described as fork tender, marinated spiral cut beef fillet. It was so tender, just perfectly cooked piece of meat. J & P had the mixed grill with lamb chops, rump steak, chicken, sweetmeats (brain I think), chorizo and morcilla (both types of sausage). All tasty. All the meat is flash-grilled in an Argentinean sauce called chimmichurri which consists of oil, vinegar, garlic, oregano, chillies and possibly parsley. There was a dish of chimmichurri on the table to put on anything you fancy and it went very well with the bread also.
The side dishes were fantastic. There were heaps of things I hadn't tried or heard of. Yuca chips were made of some kind of root vegetable - the texture of really good crispy on the outside chips with really creamy, slightly sweet/sour flavour on the inside. Then there was chorizo fried rice, corn romero (sweetcorn with peppers), humitas (creamed corn steamed inside little packets made of corn husks - apparently similar to Mexican tamales), fantastic spinach (not squeaky on the teeth or gritty or overcooked and very flavoursome) and roasted mushrooms.
Dessert involved quite a lot of dulce de leche (condensed milk, but better as it's been caramelized). P declared he could just eat a bowl of that without all the other stuff like pancakes, icecream etc. It was really good.
Definitely one of the best restaurant experiences I've ever had in London. There are several branches in London, so maybe next time I'll check out one that isn't in a cellar.
Poor BB had to work late, so missed the whole thing. I shall have to take him some other time.
After drinks we went to the Gaucho Grill for Argentinean food - recommendation of P who is a New Yorker, loves food and has been looking for a good Argentinean restaurant since arriving in London. I had no idea Argentinean food was so varied.
It was VERY good. The restaurant is a tad claustrophobic as it's in the cellar of a building nr Piccadilly - all arches and low ceilings. The lighting and layout at the entrance was a bit disorientating and I kept thinking I was going to trip or something. That's the mildly bad stuff out of the way.
The food and service was just great. Our waitress and the manager, who both served our table, were very friendly, helpful and efficient. When the waitress spilt some food on the jacket of someone on the next table by accident, the restaurant offered to pick the jacket up from the man's place of work the next day (because he wanted to wear it home), get it laundered and sent back to him free of charge.
Now the food. M-A & I had churrascos - described as fork tender, marinated spiral cut beef fillet. It was so tender, just perfectly cooked piece of meat. J & P had the mixed grill with lamb chops, rump steak, chicken, sweetmeats (brain I think), chorizo and morcilla (both types of sausage). All tasty. All the meat is flash-grilled in an Argentinean sauce called chimmichurri which consists of oil, vinegar, garlic, oregano, chillies and possibly parsley. There was a dish of chimmichurri on the table to put on anything you fancy and it went very well with the bread also.
The side dishes were fantastic. There were heaps of things I hadn't tried or heard of. Yuca chips were made of some kind of root vegetable - the texture of really good crispy on the outside chips with really creamy, slightly sweet/sour flavour on the inside. Then there was chorizo fried rice, corn romero (sweetcorn with peppers), humitas (creamed corn steamed inside little packets made of corn husks - apparently similar to Mexican tamales), fantastic spinach (not squeaky on the teeth or gritty or overcooked and very flavoursome) and roasted mushrooms.
Dessert involved quite a lot of dulce de leche (condensed milk, but better as it's been caramelized). P declared he could just eat a bowl of that without all the other stuff like pancakes, icecream etc. It was really good.
Definitely one of the best restaurant experiences I've ever had in London. There are several branches in London, so maybe next time I'll check out one that isn't in a cellar.
Poor BB had to work late, so missed the whole thing. I shall have to take him some other time.
Labels: festivals, food, restaurants
# posted by gilamonster : 07:30
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