Gaucho (Tower Bridge)

Started nicely with a bowl of seeds and a whisky at the bar. Things went downhill from here. I was sat in a seat that was ridiculously low; 6'3 isn't particularly tall, but I felt like my knees were around my ears. Bread, oil and butter then turned up, but we unfortunately had no side plates or bread knives. One of the breads was nice but the other was stale. I went for the 300g fillet, which was OK, but not remarkable at all. It didn't help that we were not given steak knives - have you ever heard of such a thing? The sides were alright, nothing special. We weren't shown the different meats, even though we saw others being shown them - I guess we were in the cheap seats. The wine list is extensive but over-priced - you'll be hard pushed to find a glass for under £9. I'd heard a lot about Gaucho - although I will now not be returning, having paid £95 for 1 course each; 4 drinks and 2 sides between us. Not that much cheaper than Maze, but incredibly inferior.
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6 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 2
Monday, November 02, 2009

I took my better half to Gauchos for our anniversary. I have been expecting to pay a lot and to get a lot for what I've paid for. Everything was going great right until we finished our mains and started waiting for our dessert menu.. I had to ask for the menu 3 times (time wasted 25 minutes), another 30 minutes passed by before I had to get someone to take our order and another swift 20 minutes passed before someone actually got our desserts. Needles to say, there was no tip at the end of this extravaganza.

As for the quality of the food, I was not too impressed with my rib eye steak, although the missus loved her fillet steak. The starters were very well served and I honestly enjoyed them. However, the best part was the 'Dessert sampler', even though it was not worth over and hour's wait, but it was fantastic and a great sharer.

I really doubt I will be going there again. A nice one-off though.
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6 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 6
Monday, October 12, 2009

We have been to this restaurant 4 times now, including yesterday evening and it's become a firm favorite for us. On two ocassions we have taken friends who enjoyed it as much as we did. The service is the best I have come across in the UK, from the minute you arrive to the minute you leave. The staff are friendly and helpful and the ambience in the restaurant is fabulous, not stuffy and really comfortable and the decor is great!. The food, although pricey is worth every penny; from the bread to the dessert, everything is prepared to perfection and the steaks are to die for - believe me, you do NOT need a steak knife!

Thank you to the manager, chef and staff for another great dining experience.
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Rindy James
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, October 12, 2009

We arrived at 4.30 on a Saturday afternoon. The bread basket consisted of two slices of granary bread and some warm cheesy breads, the butter was rock hard and completely unspreadable.

My medium rump steak was tough and proved extremely difficult to cut which was compounded by the fact that we were not given steak knives. Our peppercorn sauce was bisto with green peppercorns thrown in, I thought the sauce was supposed to be creamy coloured. The side dishes were passable - tough stringy spinach and hand cut chips that looked like they came out of a bag from Icleand, the humitas were excellent though.

The cheescake for the dessert was the best I've had outside of the USA but at £7.50 for a slice I should think so.

The cheapest bottle of wine at £22.50 was good but for the price we paid I wouldn't expect an excellent bottle when one can get a top class full bodied red in the supermarket for £5.00

Service was good but the waitress spoke very fast and her strong accent made it difficult to understand her. She was nice though.

In a nutshell Gaucho is not cheap but you can cut costs by bypassing wine altogether. But in all honesty I've had better steaks in cheaper restaurants. The view of Tower Bridge was nice, one can only imagine how breathtaking it looks at night. This is my second visit to Gaucho and honestly whilst it wasn't horrific, I doubt very much if I'll be going again. £90 with service for a 2 course meal and wine is not cheap. Over rated.
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BC
7 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 5
Monday, July 27, 2009