Gaucho (Piccadilly)

I've been to the Gaucho grill twice at two different locations. Both times the experince has been extremely disappointing and poor value. Both times the steak has come undercooked to the point of being inedible. I like my steak rare but both times the steaks have come cold in the middle and one of these times I even tried it medium rare to compensate. And no I'm not exagerating. You would think that being a steak house they would be able to cook a steak correctly but alas they cannot. They also tend to use an awful lot of salt. I ordered the peppercorn sauce which was more salty than peppery. In fact it was more of a salty gravy as there were very few peppercorns in it. Avoid the sauces.....

Another thing that I found particularly off putting is their choice of beer. They only offer their "house argentinian" botled beers. Apart from being expensive and just generally tasteless, they are brewed in Greenwich which is hardly Argentinian. If they insist on serving foreign beer then they should do so, otherwise just serve domestic beer. They aren't fooling anyone. By the way if they were to serve Argentinian beer it would probably be Antarctica which isn't bad.

My final grumble is the staff. Now I' m all for good service and attentive staff but I feel this is where you are spending your money at Gaucho. When you arrive you will be greeted by a door man and then up to four people at the reception desk. They will then call the second reception upstairs/downstairs to arrange your table. You will then proceed to said second reception and repeat your name and wait for yet another person to guide you to your table. There is then another person to bring the menus, another to show you the steaks and yet another person to be your waiter. All this time there are various people walking around with ear pieces straightening tables, polishing forks and just generally trying to look busy. I kid you not, they have more people watching than doing anything productive. Perhaps they could spend more time trying to improve the food than trying to turn what is a poor steak house into a fine dining experience through ambience alone. After all we're there for the steak not the image.

The bread is good though........
Comment on this reader review

R. Luck
3 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Friday, December 10, 2010

My husband abd I dined at this restaurant last night and we had a fantastic evening. The food and service was amazing, we are already planning our next visit.
Comment on this reader review

L Kurylo
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Sunday, October 31, 2010

Horrible food, not really Argentinean flavour at all! ( and I am an argentinean myself, so I know what I am talking about). I took a business partner for dinner, and it was really a bad choice! we hardly manage to hear each other because of the volume of the music, very bad service and very bad food.

The bar is the only good thing, and the atmosphere (decoration)
Comment on this reader review

3 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 2
Thursday, September 23, 2010

8 of us went to Gauchos on Saturday night. It was a nice atmosphere and the starters were quite nice. However the steaks weren't that great (considering that is their thing). They also don't provide steak knives so we all had to really hack through our meat!! Nearly £500 later we were all left feeling slightly disappointed, and we only had 1 bottle of wine and a few beers! It certainly isn't worth the money. I've had far better steaks for half the price elsewhere!
Comment on this reader review

3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Visited the famous Gaucho Picadilly yesterday evening, party of 4. As previous reviewer stated, if you're thinking about it don't bother! Started off with v. warm welcome from door attendant and then went down hill. Female bar staff member who served us champagne was sour, declined to speak or welcome us and when it was time to go through to the restaurant again didn't bother to offer us a word. Restaurant initially looks impressive but the very dimmed lights & small table space are annoying. We asked for bigger table but none available.Waitress did explain the cuts of beef by bringing a selection to the table. Our starter and main course order came super fast (I know, can't please everyone but it did feel rushed). Food was ok, nothing spectacular, overpriced,chips were very poor standard, dessert was nice though!

But overall the service was by cold, unfriendly staff who don't practice basic manners of smiling, greeting etc., the only exception being the door attendant. I cannot see how such a well known and talked about restaurant can offer such poor service and get away with it. They do not deserve the reputation that I have seen from critics and reviews and should offer customers a decent quality of service. Will not be returning, will recommend to avoid.
Comment on this reader review

Eileen
2 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Sunday, July 11, 2010

booked a party of 8 for a saturday night,great service, dennis our assigned waiter looked after us all evening,we didnt have starters just a main and afters.the steaks was first rate cooked to perfection,afters good to.we had a fabulous evening for a special birthday,all the way from yorkshire.
Comment on this reader review

Linda Garvey
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, May 25, 2010

I met up with a few friends yesterday and went to the Gaucho for the first time. The place does have an exclusive feel to it but is one of those venues that chooses to turn the lighting down to a minimum. I haven't quite understood this concept.

But onto the food. It is basically steak and chips and I agree with many of the reviews already mentioned here that the chips themselves are no better than fries at McD's. I chose a fillet steak medium to well done. It was half medium and half rare. I passed the steak to a different server and asked what she thought it was. She said medium rare. When I stated it was supposed to be medium to well done she just said, "why didn't you say something earlier?" and that was that. No sorry, no deduction on bill, no offer of a complimentary whatnot. To be honest I wasn't after anything but a small apology as I was having a good time with friends.

Overall, the restaurant is quite fancy but I have to say that I have had better food in my local pub. Really. And the bill was £50 each. I think in a normal restaurant you would be paying around £25 for the same meal. That's quite a mark up but then it is in W1.

My friends had other choices and all food was ok but nothing more. I'd research and look at other options before going here if you do want a really good steak.
Comment on this reader review

Mike
4 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 1
Saturday, May 15, 2010

I had visited Gaucho Piccadilly in 2008 with a group of friends, a party of 5. This experience was excellent.

Since then I have visited 3 times up to 2010. I am appalled.

Service was a disgrace, steak asked for medium rare, it arrived raw and winking, chips are pathetic, nothing I could not get from mcdonalds. Honestly. And chips in a staek restaurant make or break the place.

I cant believe the change from my first visit to date. Are staff here not trained. I have been treated better by toilet attendants.
Comment on this reader review

daniel fernandes - View all reviews by this user
1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, April 07, 2010

The place is overpriced for the service that they offer. They have a very snobby attitude, which does not make you feel to talk to the staff. Very posh but they could not bring the food at the same time for everybody in the table, which is a basic rule in every restaurant. It happened in the starters and the main courses.

My girlfriend ordered her steak cooked raw but it was cooked "well-done". One of my friends had a problem with her credit card and the waitress did not even try to pass the card again and she had a very arrogant attitude.

An espresso costs 3 pounds, it is a joke.

I have been in Claridge's, one of Gordon Ramsay restaurants, and the staff is super friendly. You do not need to be arrogant to make the place expensive. The food should talk by itself.
Comment on this reader review

4 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Sunday, March 07, 2010

My wife and I went to the Piccadilly restaurant October 2009 for a late lunch. Unfortunately the grill broke after our starter which meant we could not have a main course.

We were offered the opportunity to move over to the Charlotte St branch. There was no request for payment for the starter and a couple of bottles of water. Gaucho Piccadilly paid the taxi to Charlotte St.

The quality of steak at Charlotte St was outstanding, we shared a fillet, sirloin and rump, all medium rare and a couple more bottles of water.

To our very pleasant surprise Gaucho Charlotte St made no charge for our lunch.

The Piccadilly restaurant is lively at lunch time while the Charlotte St branch is quiet.

Staff were polite, engaging and courteous at both locations.
Comment on this reader review

steve
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Thursday, October 29, 2009