Gaucho - Flame Grilled Argentinian Steakhouse

Price: $$$$

Cravingness: ★★★★★

Flame on! Gaucho, the award wining Argentinian steakhouse originated in UK has recently made its stop in the steakhouse battle scene in Hong Kong. Located at the LHT Tower, the very heart of Central, Gaucho Hong Kong is the first flapship restaurant in Asia (Wo-hoo!). I am very excited about its opening, but not as excited as Henry, as Gaucho is his favourite steakhouse on Earth and he can talk hours about it. We thought reservation would be difficult, but to our surprise, we got our reservation pretty easily.



Like all Gaucho in UK, you would expect the same contemporary, glamour interior at Gaucho HK. Spacious dinning hall, iconic cowhide adorning the walls, black leather and cowhide armchair, black glass topped tables and crystal chandeliers all imbued Gaucho with its unique Buenos Aires inspired sense of opulence and luxury. Servers dressed in black but highlighted with cowhide along the side of their pants, how cute!

Menu looks opulence with tinted golden glass cover and bound with shiny studs. Gaucho menu features four cuts of steaks and several choices of appetisers, mains, sides and desserts. The steaks are cooked in the traditional Argentinian way which are all cut to order, grilled and turned only once to seal the juices and lock the flavour. The steaks are also cooked over a traditional open-fire asado grill and to be served with four different sauces or in Gaucho's delicious chimichurri sauce. Yet you probably do not need them as it is best to enjoy the Argentine steak by itself.

Our lovely cowgirl waitress Flavia came with a tray of steaks featuring rump, sirloin, rib-eye, fillet mignon and a fillet mignon marinated with chimichurri. She talked through all steaks in details, explained the differences among them and told us all steaks in display are in 600g for our reference. Gaucho focuses on offering the finest quality ingredients at source, their brilliant steaks are all grass-fed and free-range Angus beef from Argentina.

House bread is one of the best in town. The gooey cheese dough balls was crazily addicting, it tasted like the Japanese mochi balls selling at Panash. The sourdough was nice too with crunchy rim and soft inner. Sadly our breads were not hot enough though, perhaps we went at lunch and there was less traffic. Despite the traditional butter, Gaucho also serves chimichurri, sea salt and pepper to go with the bread. The chimichurri was superb aromatic, fresh and herby. Hmmmmm I can't wait for my rib-eye slow grilled with chimichurri!

We started with the Burratina - HKD128 which we thought the burratina would be small, but it turned out to be in good portion. The burratina was fresh but not exactly soft and runny. The complementary plum, cherry and datterini tomatoes were a good pair with the burratina which were all sweet and fresh. The fresh basil and pesto added a herby note to the dish, making it a refreshing dish to enjoy.

We also had the Pan Fried Scallops - HKD158 for appetiser as we both cannot resist scallop. The scallops were cooked to perfection, lightly browned the surface and kept the inside raw to give a smooth and supple texture. The smoked pancetta was crispy and savoury. The scallop was another refreshing dish with sweet confit red peppers and watercress purée.

Drum roll please, and here it comes our Argentine steak, the Tirda De Ancho (rib-eye in spiral cut, slow grilled with chimichurri) - HKD498/500g. We thought about having the steak by its own, but I wanted to tried the Chimichurri version first. Our waitress recommended us to cook the steak in Medium rather than Medium rare, to give enough time for the marbling on the rib-eye to melt.

I was totally infatuated with our rib eye which was insanely delicious. The execution was spot on, it was nicely charred on the outside to give a smoky flavour, the inner was utterly juice and supple with ample beef flavour. The fresh Chimichurri seasoning was spot on, delivered a delightful herby note to the palate. The only thing I would complain would be the fat distribution of the rib-eye which got slightly lean on both ends (see below photo), otherwise, the steak was perfect.

For sides, we got the Humita Salteña which is roasted sweet corn and pumpkin served in a corn husk. I have never tried Hunmita Salteña in my entire life and seriously I have been missing out. This was epic good.

We were full to the max, but hey, we always have room for dessert. We ordered the Salted Dulce de Leche and Hazelnut Cheesecake - HKD68 to share. The dulce de leche and hazelnut cheesecake was quite lovely, caramely with a thick body texture but was rather sweet. The coconut meringue was delicious, tasted like a torched and melted marshmallow. The milk chocolate ganache drops were a great complement to the mildly tasted meringue.

Gaucho is a solid steakhouse that offers a full package of Argentinian dining experience from food, ambiance and down to services. The fabulous Argentine steaks are, to my surprise, very affordable which are priced starting from only HKD198! Where else can you find a properly done steak at this price? The steak I had today at Gaucho was truly amazing, unlike the ones that I had at another Argentinian steakhouse called T-something. I would definitely come back to try their plain grilled steak next time.

Rating
Food - ★★★★★
Service - ★★★★★
Ambience - ★★★★★
Overall - ★★★★★


Gaucho

Address (E) 5th Floor, LHT Tower, 31 Queen's Road, Central, Hong Kong
Address (C) 香港皇后大道中31號陸海通大廈5/F
☏ 2386 8090
Opening Hours: Daily 12nn - 3pm | 6pm -11pm
Reservation Available? Yes
Walk In Possible? Yes
Bill Per Person (Lunch/Dinner inc. Beverages) - $$$$ (HKD500-800)
Website: http://www.gauchorestaurants.com.hk/

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