El Toro

We went to this restaurant last night (11/04/12) with my partner and 2 friends, I read the reviews before going and was very apprehensive as most of them were very negative, bad food, service, etc. I can only think that these people who gave derogatory reviews must have eaten at a different place, as all 4 of us could not find fault with any aspect of this restaurant, the ambience, the service and especially the food was excellent. My starter was the meatballs and it was very tasty, there was plenty of it. I had the 14oz steak for my main course, it was cooked to perfection (medium rare) melted in the mouth and I can honestley say it was the best steak I have ever had. My partner had the chicken dish and again could not find fault. Our 2 friends also had the sirlion steak and as they had just come back from a holiday in Argentina they thougt it was very comparable. We went on the Groupon voucher £17.00 per couple which we thought was excellent value. All in all I would definitley give El Toro 10 stars and would definitley eat there again paying the normal price. So please do not be put of by these negative people, go and try it for yourself you might be pleasantly surprised.
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Peter Lear
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, April 12, 2012

I dined at this restaurant yesterday and really enjoyed it. I was seated in the corner but the waiters and waitress were very attentive especially Fazuma ( sorry if i've spelt your name incorrectly) I had a voucher and the meal was just £17 for 2 people having 2 course. Steak was cooked just as ordered and the cocktails were lovely. Well worth the money.
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9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 10
Thursday, April 05, 2012

The worst restaurant I've been to in London. my partner and I have bought many restaurant vouchers in the past, but I never had such a bad experience before. The service is terrible. The appetizers are not good at all, but the main were ok. I'm Argentinean myself, and the food is not Argentinean at all!!

I would not recommend it.
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Barbara
2 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 3
Sunday, March 18, 2012

We went there for dinner on Friday night having purchased a groupon voucher, We are not london based but bought the voucher as it seemed like a fantastic deal, let that be a word of warning, if the deal is too good to be true it probably is!!!

I ordered the calamari as a starter, there was nothing fresh about it, infact it looked like it came out of a packet of £1 iceland deals. I asked if they had any tartar sauce to accompany them and was pointed toward a bowl of sachet sauces on the table. My husband ordered the meatballs (the chef must have picked them up from ikea on his way to work - or to be fair IKEA meatballs taste much better) again they tasted like they came out a tin.

For the main course we both ordered steak, I ordered a bernaise sauce to accompany which was just dreadful. I am convinced they just emptied one of the sachets on to the plate. The accompanying veggies (carrots and cabbage) were overcooked and had even lost their colour.

We booked our table for 9pm so appreciate it was a bit late but whilst we were eating our main course the chef traipsed across the resturant and left two big smelly bin bags by the front door - obviously to be put out when they closed. I went to the toilet just before we left and there was a sign "written on the wall" in a black marker saying toilet broken flush once only. The fact that it was actually written on the wall and not on a sign suggests to me they have no intention of fixing it.

To top off the comedy of events they automatically added a £5 service charge on a bill that was only £20 (the wine)

There is nothing argentinian about this resturant - dont be fooled by special deals.

I wish groupon would actually review these restaurants before advertising them
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Disappointed Groupon
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Monday, March 12, 2012

Having done my research and searched for previous reviews before visiting the restaurant, my expectations turned quite tepid very fast. however, I persevered in keeping an open mind to try and restrain the feeling of dissapopintment and refrain from throwing my Groupon voucher in the bin.

This, however, proved to be the 2nd biggest mistake i made in the long and unsatisfying process that a paying visit to this steak house entails. Although pretty well located and easy to find, be aware of the parking arrangements around as we had great difficulty in finding a parking meter anywhere in the vecinity. as we approached the restaurant, and observed the modest exterior, we felt slightly more encouraged, in the knowledge that often an overstated exterior suggests an overly business orientated approach to an eatery. however, this encouragement was left at the door with the realisation that there was absolutely nothing to suggest, other than the name, that we were in an Argentinian restaurant. The music was loud, repetitive, and completely inapporpriate for a dining environment, illustrating a complete lack of attention to detail and restaurant know-how. The restaurant was about half full, which we thought was a pretty lame excuse for the fact that we had to wait about twenty minutes between sitting down and them taking our order. Despite a very enthusiastic waiter, all in all we felt that the service was poor, mainly let down by the waiting times. after another 45 minutes, we finally recieved our food. a mixture of relief and resignation set the tone for the meal which we were about to consume. the chips were made from real potatoes, mechanically processed and over greasy. the steak was not juicy, slightly bland and under dressed by the measly side accompaniment of steamed vegetables on the side. The dessert seemed like it had just been taken out of the freezer and the box but a few seconds before reaching our table. i could go on all day as to the flaws in this restaurant but then again, I feel defeated already by the fact that i went to eat there, so why waste any more of my time dwelling on it?
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1 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, March 11, 2012

The worst steak I have ever had, bad service
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Anna
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Monday, January 23, 2012

I bought a Living Social coupon for this restaurant, so I went there with my friend. However, we left with complete despair and disappointment.

We sat near the kitchen and as the kitchen was an open kitchen, we saw what was going on in there. There were only 3 table seated with customers, which was enough to keep them busy to make the waiters not attentive and impatient when dealing with customers, as they only had one and ‘half’ waiting staff and 3 and ‘half’ kitchen staff.

The ‘half’ of a staff was the manager, who was taking my order at one minute, and at the next minute, he was handling food in the kitchen without wearing gloves. I could only hope that he had washed his hands. When the manager was demonstrating to the chef how to cook a steak, he was scolding at them, it was like watching the hell kitchen live!

The only food we order that ok was the fries. We ordered a Tres carne (rump, sirloin, fillet) and a 8oz rib eye steak, which we asked them to be cooked to medium rare. The main problems of the steaks were as follow:

The meat does not taste fresh and the texture was like it was frozen for a long time.

The steaks were all cut opened by the chef to check the doneness of the steaks, so their juice could not be sealed inside itself but to leak onto the plate.

We saw the chef kept flipping the steaks on the grill when cooking them. A good chef should only flip a steak once when cooking it and clearly whoever was cooking the steaks was far from being good or even being qualified.

The fillet was cooked to well done, when it was reported to the waiter, he asked ‘what do you want me to do?’ As I had already gained an insight of their ability of cooking by that time, I dare not to send the dish back and ask for another one. I asked if he can give us another glass of wine as compensation, he checked with the manager and refused. By that time I was completely disappointed and kept regretting for going to that restaurant.

When we paid for the bill the only waiter asked if the food was ok. I told him frankly, ‘It was not ok, I told you about it and you knew about it.’ Yet he did nothing about it and still asked me if it was ok. To summarise my experience, never go there and what they are doing completely the opposite of their slogan, ‘The best Argentina steak we promise.’
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Terry LEUNG
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, December 28, 2011

I went to the restaurant a couple of days ago. I have read the reviews and my they were bad. But I went anyway. I had a Groupon voucher and was hoping for good food. As far as I can say, all the reviews I read weren't true. To me the steak was the best I had, waitresses were nice and friendly and the atmosphere was good. I recommend this restaurant to you guys out there.
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10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Thursday, December 22, 2011

I really liked the food! Very good steak! And the garlic bread is also great. The waitress was very kind and made suggestions that i took and turned out great. When it is busy they have too little staff, so when you have time it is really enjoyable.
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8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, November 29, 2011

We just had a lovely experience at that restaurant.

We went with a groupon deal and we found that the amount of food and the quality and environment were outstanding for what we paid. The steak was big and juicy, the starters were tasty and pleasant and side orders were good too.

The environment was pleasant, clean and cozy, with candlelight and music, but not too loud. The waitress was very polite and pleasant and helped us choose.

I would definitely recommend.
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Nick
9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Friday, October 14, 2011