Gaucho

Let’s first caveat this then — I love steak. And I love red wine. And I love both at the same time even more than on their own.
Gaucho then… If I were a religious man and believed in the pearly gates and flocks of angels, then Gaucho would be the place that sat just beyond the fence and was populated by cherub faced waiting staff.
Gaucho isn’t a restaurant, it’s an experience… should you manage to find the stairs that lead down to the basement on Park Row, you’ll be confronted by surroundings that no place in Leeds really comes close to. And it’s not going to be everyones cup of tea of course. The hidden little corners and booths, the cow clad seating, the near darkness that can make it hard to navigate, the chandeliers that seem to give off lumens at a fraction of what you would expect for their size… Garish? Over the top? Slightly eccentric? Maybe. As I say, it’s not RBG, it’s not Blackhouse, it’s not Piccolino… It’s special.
And that special runs through everything about the place — from the décor, to the staff, to the meat, to the wine, to the… everything.
Make sure you reserve your table in advance and once you’ve been there a few times this will pay off with their diner notes ensuring that your waiting staff know exactly what wine you like, exactly how you want your steak cooked, exactly which starter you always have. Because lets face it unless you’re going to a restaurant every week it’s really hard to do that kind of thing for the staff (to look like they know you that is, to treat you special), but Gaucho does it brilliantly — part of doing this is their diner notes, and part of this is their absolutely brilliant staff. From the second you enter the door and have your coat put into the cloakroom, to sitting at the bar, to being seated at your table, to being shown the meat board, to your wine arriving, and … well you get the picture, the staff at Gaucho are second to none in my opinion. No request is too small, as they’re happy to cater for most every whim you might have with regard your visit.
But the food and wine you say?
With a wine list that runs into the hundreds at price points from £20 up to £200 and beyond, in all the colours that you’re expect from an Argentine restaurant, if you can’t find something you like then you probably don’t like wine… But if you can’t find anything you like and you’re lucky enough to be visiting on one of the nights that Phil Crozier, Gaucho’s Chief Sommelier and Wine Buyer/​Creator is on the premises, then the chances are he’ll be able to find you a gem!
The food then… Did I mention the meat board? That’s where the amazing waiting staff come around at the start of your meal and show you different cuts and sizes of the meat that you could be eating if you’re lucky… If you’re new to Gaucho, definitely ask to see it… The dead cow wants you to admire it!
So, the sausage platter is £20 — which is a lot of cash for a starter. And it’s only made up of 5 sausages and a red pepper. And is THE BEST STARTER in Leeds, if not the UK, if not the WORLD. If you manage to not order 2 of these and actually choose to have a steak for your main course, then there are all the choices you would expect — rump, sirloin, fillet and rib-​eye — albeit all with their Argentine name… and so long as you don’t want one of their marinated options (which you should totally go for) they’re available from 200g all the way up to 2kg… and no matter what your preference for cut and size you better believe that the guys and girls behind the grill there, they’re half angel, half demon and will create you something that tastes beyond what you thought possible.
The first time I ever went to Gaucho I made the mistake of asking for a steak knife… I’d ordered a chateaubriand and thought it might need more than the butter knife that i had… when meat based perfection arrived I almost laughed at myself for ever having asked the question.
All of this of course can come at a price and if you want to you can spend many a hundred of pounds there — but equally if you’re on a budget you can get two steaks along with a potato based side, steak sauce and a shared bottle of wine for £80… Which again isn’t the cheapest, but without a doubt the experience that is Gaucho is worth it.
When I die, I want to go to Gaucho.

It may surprise you but I used to be a vegan. Stop laughing.
I spent my Uni years harbouring the false belief that I could put right all my hardcore partying at a physiological level by eating nothing but vegetables, pulses and grains. This went well for the first few months and I may well have been the healthiest (and sadly also windiest) party poppet that Leeds has ever seen. Then came the day I made a devastating discovery. Monster Munch are vegan. And that was that. All healthy home-​cooked vegan feasts were immediately eschewed for a diet of nought but variously flavoured Monster Munch dipped in hummus. Eating nothing but crisps and mashed chick peas for 3 years is not something I’d recommend.
Then one day I cracked. Sliding down Briggate on a wave of vitamin starved misfiring synapses I found myself stood outside Burger King foaming at the mouth and stamping my feet like a nervous horse bound for Tesco. No less than 4 Rodeo Burgers later I was forced, due to digestive ‘unpleasantness’, to spend the rest of the week in bed with a bucket. So you’d think I’d learn wouldn’t you? But no. I dumped my hippy treads and embarked on a new career as eater of all things living and dead, there is né’er a creature walking this earth that I will not willingly pounce upon for an appreciative nibble and the mighty steakhouse is my new Jerusalem.
So it was no real surprise that for Valentine’s Day my boyfriend took me the most direct route twixt living cow and my eager gullet.
Gaucho is impossibly slick. I rather suspect the staff have been augmented with some sort of biological hovercraft system, they seem to float toward you beaming smiles of perfect professionalism out of their inhumanly white and even dentition. This is by no means a cheap night but bar the rather overpriced wines you get what you pay for– delicious and serious cocktails delivering a multitude of clearly distinguishable flavours, succulent and perfectly cooked steaks with tasty and interesting side dishes, a cheese board that would cause a cardiac in even your most experienced mouse affineur and the opportunity to sit back and giggle at the very serious clientele with their 6″ inch heels, frozen faces and identikit figures as they struggle to understand their footballer boyfriend’s monosyllabic conversation whilst nibbling a single chip. Arf! Silly tarts!
I would agree that the music loses Gaucho a star, I know it’s a la mode in Brentwood to drown out the mindless verbal diarrhoea of your braindead dining companion with thumping techno in even the most sedate restaurant environment but this is Yorkshire and occasionally people have something interesting to say. Well some of us do. Not too sure about tables 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12, 14 and 20… THUMP THUMP THUMP (pause) «…but then I said ‘yeah’ and she said ‘yeah but no’, know what I mean?»…THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP
The food at Gaucho was utterly delicious, the service impeccable and the surroundings stylish considering how many cows were flayed to achieve it. Put simply, if you want to impress then this is a great place to take a date… if you know your date well and want to stuff her full of meat, herby chips and booze until she doesn’t know what’s what then take her to Fazenda.

I took my beautiful girlfriend here for Valentines day. Internet booking was flawless and the restaurant emailed a reminder and also called on the day to confirm the booking. We were greeted at the door and as we were early offered a drink in the bar area. We both had ‘THE CLARIDGE Tanqueray gin, Noilly Prat, apricot brandy and a dash of Cointreau’, the service and the cocktail was wonderful, really well mixed and you could taste all the ingredients.
At our table we admired the cow skin décor and were handed heavy, metal bound menus. Our server, clad in black as all the staff were, brought over the ‘meat board’ showing the different cuts of steak, asked how we liked steak cooked — blue and rare — recommended either rump or fillet. We eschewed starters and went straight for meat, accompanied by a rather nice bottle of ‘Maurico Lorca ‘Fantasia” Malbec. The rump steaks were wonderfully cooked and the chips and sides (peas and bacon, spinach and garlic) and were fantastic as well. The 300g speaks were devoured without the aid of huge steak daggers either as the meat was so tender, sauces of bearnaise and smoked garlic hollandaise were creamy and tremendous. We finished with a cheese board of 5 beautiful cheeses, oat cakes and with Malbec and Torrontes jellys.
The food and service was fantastic but the place seemed to be filled with people who didn’t want to be there but wanted to be seen there — lots of serious straight faces even on Valentines day, the music (a combination of disco and techno — with a bit of jazz!) was slightly intrusive too not to say distinctly odd.
Overall Gaucho is a wonderful place for a special occasion or a treat, not cheap but the food and service is worth the price, the wine list is pretty criminal tho especially if you see what you get bet the bottles for at retail.

Wow, started with a wheat beer, I’ve tried many wheat beers but this was truly exquisite. The waitress came to our table with a board with all the actual cuts of meat on, going through each cut as well as the different marinades. Then after ordering we were served some and what amazing bread!!! We got a sour bread which was good but the Colombian Cheese bread was out of this world !! When the steak arrived it was perfect served with broccoli stems which were cooked spot on. All in all just Fantastic !! On a side note while we were dining half the England Cricket Team were also dining there. Thoroughly enjoyable experience :)

You can’t go wrong with Gaucho if you like steak. The waiter will always come round with a board showing you all the cuts of meat they sell. The steak itself is always juicy and delicious. I always opt for a peppercorn sauce to go with it. The sides are great too. They have a fantastic wine list or Argentinian origin. The steak itself is really expensive, you can buy a 400 fillet for £40, so prepare for a big bill at the end of the meal. I would advise going for a Sirloin, it’s without doubt the best cut. The fillet is way over priced and not as big as the Sirloin.