Los Argentinos

A M A Z I N G, jut left full and content. This place is a golden nugget in Edinburgh. We have been a few times as you will see from my previous reviews, all 5 star. Service is always good, polite and very friendly stuff. Check the pictures, you will love it. We can never finish the mains, I think the fishbowl size fries is the problem but so delicious. We get the platter for two but ask for it for three as most of the time it is three of us and it is no problem whatsoever. Our bill comes to around £100 for the huge steak platter, sides, starters and drinks.

It is believed (though our memories fail us sometimes) that the steak my husband and I ate at Los Argentinos was the best steak we have consumed outside of the US. Oh, and the value for money cannot be beat. Seriously.
Prior reviewers have made comments alluding to steak being a fancy meal, therefore, it should have fancy décor and cloth napkins and all the trimmings. I don’t fall in that camp. I’ve never fallen in that camp. I’d rather eat exceptional food in an OK setting than OK food in an exceptional setting and I think, when it comes down to it, most people feel this way too.
Many reviewers have described the restaurant as «more of a café» and I’ve physically been to Los Argentinos now and I still don’t understand what that comment means. My only complaint about the space is that the lighting was too bright. Other than that, I was too busy shoving face to notice really anything café-​y or not café-​y about the space.
My husband and I ordered the mixta for two with the steak cooked medium. A few minutes after ordering, our side salads were delivered to our table. Uh, oh, I thought. The side salads came in white bowls and the salad was iceberg letuce and it had a white-​ish tomato and — what I believe was — Pizza Express house italian dressing. We were not off to a good start.
Then came the «warming platter» thingy. It was a plastic grate of sorts that was setup on our table and then the server lit the tea lights. The purpose of this thingy was to keep our mixta plate hot. It was pathetic. Tea lights don’t keep anything hot. They should really just ditch the warming platter thingies.
Next came the meat platter for two which really means four. I don’t care how hungry you are, if you decide to order the mixta plate, do not order anything else. No starters and definitely no dessert. The portion is gigantic and when you think of how much the mixta costs (~£42), then you be so happy that you won’t know what to do with yourself.
Side note: The restaurant doesn’t do takeaway, so they don’t have conventional takeaway boxes but they did round up some aluminum foil and a bag for us to transport our leftovers back to Cowgate and give them to someone in need.
Finally came the serving bowl of fries. They looked like basic fries and I again thought, Uh oh. Literally, the fries were served in a giant serving bowl. Note: There were only two of us!
The meat, particularity the steak was out of this world. The ribs were good. The chorizo was good. The chicken was a bit overcooked but still tasty with a nice grill taste. The fries were, surprisingly super delicious as well. The chimichurri, oh, the chimichurri. We ate the entire carafe/​tub of chimichurri that accompanied our mixta plate.
The food (side salad aside) was just SO GOOD. Probably one of the best meals we have had abroad since moving to the UK nearly four years ago.
In conclusion, Los Argentinos is a good walk from, say Cowgate, but it’s worth it. Well worth it. I would not hesitate for one second about returning to Los Argentinos.

The best steak I’ve had in Edinburgh and the prices aren’t unreasonable, either. If you love a good quality steak, cooked to perfection then look no further than Los Argentinos!

There is one question you need to ask yourself before heading here, do you like steak?
If you answer anything other than yes and drool at the very thought, then possibly Los Argentinos is not for you. This is the best place to get steak in Edinburgh and it is very reasonably priced as well. The interior of the restaurant is very basic and looks a bit dated however the steak makes up for this.
If I had one criticism it would be the drinks selection available, in many ways it would be better to run the place as a purely bring your own bottle establishment, however this isn’t a pub/​bar (if you want a drink the Cask and barrel is just up the road) it is a place where you get glorious steak!

If you prefer to eat solely in swanky restaurants, this won’t be the place for you. If like me, however, you appreciate good food in all settings, then get down to Los Argentinos.
With more of a café vibe than a restaurant, this is a relaxing place to grab an excellent steak.
And Argentinian Steak is what this place is all about, yes there are Grilled Chicken and Fish options on the menu, but the steak is the real speciality.
For starters we had Empanadas, which are mini pastie-​shaped samosa like affairs. One spicy mince & peppers etc the other spiced vegetables. A good, authentic starter.
We also had the Grilled Tiger Prawns which were absolutely delicious, the chargrill flavour permeating throughout.
Having ordered the Chorizo sausages to start, in one of many little aspects that characterised the superb service, the waitress pointed out that Chorizo was included in our main and asked if we wanted to change.
The staff struck the balance of being very attentive without becoming an unwanted distraction and were very friendly.
Back to the food, for the mains we opted for the Platas selections, which come with salad and either Chips or Jacket Potato.
One person went for the Ribs and when they were brought out commented that she, «Couldn’t possibly eat all of those». Anyway, she enjoyed them so much they were all devoured.
Another of our party chose the peppered fillet steak which, having tried a little, was very tender and the sauce creamy.
My brother and I shared the Mixta Platos, which was superb value.
It is designed for two (a little like a Noah’s Ark for meat lovers, 2 by 2 of everything) and came with;
Chorizo Sausage — very rich and beautifully smokey.
Ribs — tender ribs in tangy BBQ sauce.
Grilled Chicken Fillets — with a lovely chargrilled taste.
Rump Steak
Sirloin Steak
Fillet Steak
The steaks were really tasty and having three cuts represented on the same plate really made you appreciate the difference.
From the more substantial, densely packed texture of Rump, to the almost creamy smoothness of the Fillet they were all delicious in their own way.
In fact, with the flavour of the meat, I was reluctant to use any of the sauces apart from the Argentinian staple for grilled meat Chimichurri which I had pretty much every third mouthful or so.
We had chips & a jacket potato as sides to this meat feast. The potato was fluffy and the chips were crisp.
The sauces I hadn’t used with the steak proved to be excellent chip dips.
Drinks were a bottle of Malbec and a couple of Quilmes beers (Argentina’s most popular) brewed since 1888 and ideal with the steak.
If you’re looking for a casual dining experience and good steaks — I recommend a visit!
(I was swung to give 5 stars rather than 4 due to the balance of quality of food and value for money)

friday and our first choice restaurant told us there weren’t any tables available until 10pm! it was 8pm, if i had to wait another two hours just to look at a menu i was pretty sure i would turn into some sort of green hulk monster desperately running to a field in search of cow! then a friend suggested los argentinos who could seat us right away! we jumped into a taxi and were looking at a menu less than 15 minutes later.
los argentinos is a steak restaurant, definitely not vegetarian territoy at all. it’s also not a fancy steak restaurant, it just does really good steaks with a fairly basicly decorated dining area and friendly staff. maybe not a place i would normally go (i like a bit of swanky style when i dine out) but i was quite happy to find myself here.
the menu is straight forward, you can either select a platter which is a steak (or a variety of steaks) with sauce, salad, and either a baked potato or fries. you can also select your steak, sauce, and sides all seperately at a slightly higher price. there is also a nice selection of starters if you want to have meat before your meat.
i opted for the grilled king prawns followed by a fillet steak with bearnaise sauce and baked potato all topped off by a glass of the house red. my wine was brought over quickly and after a quick sip i confirmed that it was quite tasty and good value. starters arrived in good time as well and before me were four massive king prawns grilled to tasty perfection. i wimped out a bit and had my boyfriend remove the heads but managed to peel off the rest of the shell myself. i made short work of the prawns (i was stravingggggg!) which were super tasty and accompained by a garlic mayo for dipping. i only wish i’d had a bit of lemon to squeeze over them.
the main courses were next and did not disappoint. the boyfriend was thorougly pleased with his selection of steaks as were his friends! i was equally pleased with my lovely and perfectly cooked fillet steak. the bearnaise sauce was only ok but the quality of the steak meant that it didn’t need much sauce added to it. the baked potato was also quite tasty although the main event was most definitely the steak.
stuffed full from our steaks we opted to skip dessert and just get the bill. i was surprised that with all the food and drink we had it only came to £30 each including the tip. i was fairly certain i would have paid about twice as much for my steak dinner at the other restaurant we tried to go to so i definitely felt like we had gotten good quality and value for the money. i very much enjoyed this place and am looking forward to a repeat visit next time i’m in need of a steak dinner!

Been meaning to review this place for ages. I took a bunch of people that know what a good steak is here and none of us came away disappointed. The Gigantic tbone and the 400g sirloin in particular were the highlights I think. For value for money, service and great food this is definately my favoutite steak restaurant. I compared the prices of tbones with some other restaurants around the town I have eaten in recently and it really doesnt compare this is it for me.
The dishes ordered were:
— Tres Carnes. Three types of steak on one plate looked great and massive thumbs up.
— Bife con heso gigante. The gigantic tbone… this was what i ordered the first time I visited and many visitslate and my order still hasnt changed.
— 400g Sirtloin. this was impessive and gobbled up surprising quickly. :D
— Beef kebab. never really been keen on kebabs but this looked very nice.
Everything is served with a baked potatoe /​chips and s side salad, so the prices are inclusive.
They have a veg option too, but our token veggie couldnt make it along this particular evening.
Only reason for not giving this five stars is the beer selection. I dd not look at the wine menu but beer and spirits were limited. I think it was Fosters as the only draft option.

Mixed feelings ahoy!
Los Argentinos has been on the list for while now and for my birthday we decided to score this one off.
In some ways it’s a case of thank god it was sooner rather than later, in other ways I can’t wait to go back again.
THE PROS:
– Possibly the best fillet steak I’v experienced in Edinburgh.
– Lovely crispy chips and selection of tasty sauces.
– Decent wine selection.
– A charming waiter.
– Very conveniently located in the Newington area.
THE CONS (with elaboration):
– A wider menu that causes you to struggle with the asking prices. Starters such as spicy sausage for £4.50, a side of fried onions for £2.75, and a veggie dish of salad, baked potato and corn on the cob for a staggering £14.50, are the three main examples that jumped out at me. The steaks are certainly worth the cash, but overpriced averageness such as the above can really offset the way you feel about what you pay. The rest of the food MUST stand up to the quality of the spotlight dishes and compliment them as standard, especially if they are charging these prices for it.
– A wider menu in need of broadening. I’ve never heard of a steak being accompanied by a baked potato. Especially not in Argentina. Where are the Potato Dauphinoise? Potato Gratin? Further fish options? The fish menu is in actual fact quite respectable, but consisting of only 4 dishes. Give us more. Your chefs know their stuff, trust them with more.
– Staff that know their trade. Our one error in this visit was booking too early. At 6:30 the restaurant was empty, not even music. The latter was quickly amended upon our seating but the staff had nothing to do after taking our order, so in the half hour that followed before more diners came along, the two waiting staff on hand decided to hover. Hover badly. Hover withing 3 feet of our table. On top of that the female of the pair thought it wise to stare at Jennie for most of this time. And although my back was to them the entire time, when someone’s hovering you can feel it. Busy yourselves, maintain distance or get involved with a bit of chat, but do not hover and CERTAINLY do not stare. As said above, our waiter was attentive and charming in his earnesty. The girl however clearly had a lot to learn, even down to the inexperienced way she bustled in on us to ask if everything is okay (still have no idea why restaurants do this; if something’s up, I’ll say so).
So in summary, a decent eatery with decent surroundings that, when busy, is quite charming. But at the minute a bit overpriced for the menu as a whole and a staff that require a bit refining. I’ll be back for the steaks, they really are worth experiencing, but my expectations of a dining experience, where Los Argentinos are concerned, are now set at an average level.
Potential to be so much better.

Considering my husband is from Argentina, we didn’t hold our breath when we first went to Los Argentinos restaurant as we didn’t think that it could truly compare to the food across the water. However, for once we were happy to have been proved wrong!
Although the interior doesn’t really shout Argentina (there are photos of Rabbie Burns on the walls), the food certainly does! This is one of the restaurants that we frequent regularly and always come out smiling. It is a small restaurant so it is nice and quaint for either a night with friends or even a hot date.
We have worked our way through the Argentinean wines on the menu and the Malbec and Cab Sav are winners. Similarly, I’ve had several of the steaks (bife de lomo) options including peppered steak (bife a la pimienta), steak with garlic (bife al ajo) and steak with a creamy mushroom sauce (bifen champignones a la cream) which is my favourite. The steaks come with a huge bowl of chips and another gigantic salad which are two meals in their own right!
I dare you to walk out of this restaurant having cleared your plate because as of yet I have failed to achieve this! One of the reasons though may be down to the fact that I always go for the chorizos caseros (sausages) for starter which usually fills me up but they are too tasty not to order! For those fish lovers out there the grilled prawns (gambas a la parrilla) are meaty and suculent.
Something for everyone and a little taster of Argentina without the price of the flight ticket!!!

I’ve come to dread going out for steak. Shelling out £20−25 for one course and not having a clue whether they’re going to cook it properly. If you go to any other restaurant where you would pay this much for your main, it’s always going to be fairly good at least. Any chicken or fish dish or French, Italian, etc. will be edible, even if not great. Moreover, other meals have numerous ingredients so if one is a bit messed up then you can cross-​subsidise your tastebuds with the others. Steak comes with few side dishes (and you often have to pay extra for them anyway), so when someone ruins a £25 steak, that’s your whole meal ruined. Lately I’ve been coming close to the conclusion that I should just eat steak at home and save restaurant dining for other things. But that’s quitting talk. And when you get that feeling, you need steaky healing.
Thank heavens for Los Argentinos, a place where you can get your steak on without fear. Gillian and I both had the fillet steak and it was like a textbook for how to cook steak. Mine was medium rare and hers was rare; when we cut them open you could clearly see the difference. We should have taken photos to send them to other steak restaurants.
As others have said, it’s lacking in ambience. I don’t expect steak houses to be upmarket (fine dining and steak are two different things to me, but then as a recovering Australian I’m somewhat colonially challenged), but they could spruce things up a little to improve the atmosphere. But for me it’s not that kind of place anyway. It’s the place for friendly staff, reasonably priced steak, cheapish wine. It’s the kind of place to forgo the starter and just focus on the main event. Huge steak, large glass of wine, baked potato, job done. Not really for a special night out but when you just want to steak it up in no frills surroundings.

It seems you CAN judge a book by its cover.
I’d always been a bit ambivalent about Los Argentinos. Everyone raves about the steaks, but it does look a bit naff from the outside. And … yep, delicious steak, but the venue is a bit basic and the whole experience just didn’t quite cut it for me.
I think of steak as a special occasion food, I suppose, and so I do want a nice table, maybe some candles, decent glasses for the wine. And you just don’t get that at Los Argentinos — it’s sort of café-​like, with bare tables and everything a bit on the budget side. My tomato salad was actually an iceberg salad, with a few slices of tomato — nice enough, but still a disappointment. Roasted veg, similar.
So — yeah. Great steak, decent price, nice people, but not really somewhere I’d rush back to.

I keep coming back to Los Argentinos because, to date, I have not had a steak anywhere in Edinburgh which comes close to the amazingness found here.
Plus, not only are the portions generous, it’s about half the price of many of the steak houses in the city centre.
The starters are a bit unusual (I always get the empanadas, and the veggie one especially is amazing), and the desserts are admittedly a bit uninspired. But let’s be honest, you probably won’t have room for dessert anyway.
Los Argentinos is a brilliant place to come in a group as the ambiance needs a bit of an oomph, but then I don’t do a lot of chatting when I’m here, just a lot of eating.

It was a long week last week. I reached the end, feeling fully strung out, and ready to go out and drink a dozen margaritas and throw myself on the dancefloor, in an attempt to destress. Of course, none of that happened, because before even reaching the end of my meal, my eyelids were almost to the floor. Stress does tire one out.
But, as I drifted off to sleep, I was sent on such a lovely little journey by way of Los Argentinos. I have to let the boy steak every so often, or he gets a little rambuctious, so why not let him eat at one of the reputedly best places in town?
Now, to be fair and it’s four not five stars because the vegetarian option sucks bottom. You could argue that it’s a steakhouse so be grateful, but at least provide an option of grilled veg (it’s a side) and not potato, rice and corn. Bit too much carb for me, so it wasn’t an option. The baked potato that I did have was on the raw side too and, as Jame O noted, the salad wasn’t particularly impressive. Grilled asparagus was fab, but the garlic sauce accompaniment tasted like lighter fuel.
On the other side, I had the grilled tuna and that was something new for me. The chargrilled flavour on top of some nicely cooked tuna was fantastic — and a hefty steak at that. Throw a little chimichurri on the side and it was fantastic. The boy tucked into some sirloin and rump steak… and reported that it was as good as the reviews said they would be. By the time we finished our main, we were done and it was time for bed, not beer as originally intended. But oh… what a way to go…

After reading all the raving reviews this was such a let down!
I went with the set lunch menu, option B, and was rather disappointed. The «goulash» soup was fine, though i’m 95% sure the produce came from one of FarmFoods frozen bags. Peas, pre-​cut baby carrots, and peeled potatoes in wedges, the entire thing felt pre-​processed.
the Salad of lettuce, beans and corn, was mediocre at best? I hate complaining about produce when obtaining ingredients can be very difficult, but surely a step above from a can would be nice.
The steak was alright. certainly warranting a rating of «meh. I’ve experienced better.», at best.
Having had an Argentinian exchange student live with us, and her making us many delicious amazing meals, I have to say Edinburgh, you’ve been had.
By the way, can anyone confirm that the chef is Argentinian? Because I know the only waiter there was from Holland, and didn’t speak a word of Spanish (after I wonderfully embarrassed myself), and I overheard him speaking dutch to someone in the kitchen…(not that there’s anything wrong with that, I just tend to like my ethnic foods a tad bit more authentic)

For some reason I have always struggled to get a decent steak at a decent price in Edinburgh. Los Argentinos has come to the rescue. I do agree that the décor could maybe be improved, although I’m here for the steak. They have made tweaks since they opened such as adding new, more intimate, lighting and the nice pots for the chimichurri.
The most important factor for me if the steak, which is second to none. and even the starters such as the ribs are fab. Good value is to go for the special dishes which include fries /​baked potato and salad as standard. Can’t wait to go back.

Fantastic!
Without a doubt the best steak I’ve had in Edinburgh.
Thoroughly recommend Los Argentinos if you’re a lover of quality steak, chicken and lamb cooked to perfection.
If you’re a vegetarian, keep walking.

Hands down, best steak I’ve had in years. And I eat steak, out, on a weekly basis (I kid you not).
Let me start with the good part, then come to why it’s not a 5 star review despite said steak being so amazing. The steak itself, and the food. Los Argentinos is an Argentinian steakhouse. They import all their steak from Argentina, and hand cut it themselves in the restaurant. There are also chicken and fish on the menu, but 90% of it is dedicated to steak.
There are a variety of ‘specials’, including the «ginormous t-​bone» and something to share for two people, at £40, with a mixed variety of steaks. They also have fillet, sirloin, and rump at three different weights (220g, 300g, 400g). I really liked this level of options, as when the boy and I go out and order the same thing (steak) he always ends up eyeing half of mine up. So I could go for the 220g sirloin whilst he had the 300g.
There are lots of sides to choose from too, and we went for the mixed grilled vegetables, grilled mushrooms, tomato and onion salad, and fries. See the uploaded photo of my plate once I’d added all these on. The vegetables really had been freshly grilled and didn’t have a trace of oil on them. I was also glad to see brocolli and aubergine amongst the mixed grilled veg, rather than just peppers and onions (as I expected).
Now, the steak. I ordered mine medium rare. In fairness it came out rare, but I am NOT complaining. It was the most melt-​in-​the-​mouth, amazing, tasty, flavourful, ohmygodilovethissteaksomuch steak I’ve had in a long time. Probably since the one I had in Toulouse, France circa 2003.
So everything on my plate was completely nom-​tastic, and we finished it all off. I had a mini food-​bubble of love feeling afterwards. Oh and they have their only special sauce on the table, it’s not spicy but like a mix of tomatoes and onions — quite nice.
So, why the missing star? Well, the interior leaves something to be desired. In fact, if I were rating it on setting and ambience alone I’d probably knock off another two stars. From the outside it’s yellow and blue with some fun bull horns as an emblem. Inside they’ve gone for terracota orange, trying to make it feel warm. A grill and steak house should feel positively sizzling inside. Warm, bustling, atmosphere, the smell of the meat sizzling, the sound of the kitchen, the sound of happy customers with a bit of back ground music. I can’t put my finger on exactly what it was, but the layout, the slightly lax staff, the row-​on-​row tables of families, the slightly too loud argentinian tango music that seemed twee rather than authentic. It all felt ‘fake’ despite that it is run by Argentinians. It didn’t have that lived in character. It’s a new restaurant, I know that, but it felt like a painted, empty cardboard box.
I so, so, so want this to be somewhere I could come time and time again and enjoy. And I will when I’m craving good steak. But I’ll come for me, not on a date, or to bring a good friend, or for a birthday meal as it just lacks the ambience and vibe to make it anything other than a good feeding spot. A shame, a nd they could probably tackle that problem. The substance is there (good steak) they just need to work on the style.

Rather an odd mixture of a restaurant and whilst my fears about the booking not having registered were unfounded the request to reduce our seating from 12 to 7 hadn’t been taken on board. How authentically Argentinian it is I can’t really say having only been to one similar place in the past and that being part of a chain in Germany. As other reviewers have pointed out the staff are certainly not South American and whilst the menus state the steaks are all Argentinian meat there are pictures of Highland cows on the wall which seems rather incongruous.
Having said all that none of my party had any complaints about either their starters or mains, the wine was decent, the service attentive and the prices pretty much what you’d expect for steaks. Probably one to come back to.

Had been wanting to try this place for a while and finally got around to it last night. They have a very good menu that made it hard to choose what to get. I went with the chorizo for starters with was really nice. The stuffed peppers my friend had also looked really good.
Next was the mains — steak is what you come here for and they have all the cuts and decent sizes. I had a 300g sirloin which was perfectly cooked.
The service was friendly and attentive the prices were very reasonable.
Will definitly revisit to try the ribs which also looked great.

I have been keen to try this restaurant even before it was opened, so i waited and waited and finally went there yesterday with my husband.
It was a pretty busy day for them, they had an almost 25 ppl table, i think it was a birthday, and other tables were occupied too.
they were kind and got us a table, the staff were nice, but i got the feeling that they are not all experienced, and yet they were good.
so we ordered our drinks, w had our starters; something called empanadas which was dry o i dont really recommend that, and we also had spare ribs wich were really good but they were warm rather than hot.
we also ordered two 400gm steaks each (which turned out to be a huge portion!) and we had two sides, fries and mushrooms (i dont recommend the latter), our steak took a while to reach us about 40 minutes but i think it is because it was a huge piece. The table next to us shared a plate with different kind of grilled meats and it was a huge portion yet they had it before us!
I shouldn’t complain though, the steaks were really good and we left happy. would go back for sure but it wouldn’t be regularly because it was a wee bit expensive