22. January 2014: Restaurant El Gaucho
The Restaurant El Gaucho is definitely a meat heaven, or, to be more precise, a beef heaven! Quite some time ago that I have had such good meat – well, okay, actually not that long considering that I recently have been to the Restaurant Stef’s Freieck. Anyway, my starter, a “Beef Tartare ‘Surf & Turf’ with crispy crab cake” (EUR 13.00) was incredibly yummy! The beef was tender, nicely seasoned, and the crab cake on top of it was a nice crispy topping!
My company tried the tuna tartare and I had a bite of the sashimi and – OMG – the tuna was definitely mouth-watering!
As a main, I went for the recommendation of my company and had a “Bife de Lomo, Filetsteak, Churrasco (350gr)” (EUR 35.00) and let me tell you one thing – smooth and tender like fresh butter, aromatic like stepping out to the first day of spring! A flavoury explosion right there when you have your first bite.
As a side dish I went for the “truffeled gnocchi with cream” (EUR 4.00) which were quite nice as the truffle was decent – but they were a bit too gooey for my personal taste.
My personal low-light of a great menu was the “vegetables prepared in the wok with chili ginger” (EUR 3.00) as they just did not taste like much but …
… overall the dishes were definitely great. Already the bread placed on the table with olives and sliced ham was a great start (cover charge, EUR 2.90). Not to mention the prices which are absolutely reasonable for the quality you get. Even more, also the wines were quite fine. We had a bottle of “Marqués de Murrieta Ygay, Rioja, Reserva, 1989” (EUR 39.00) which was – for the fact that the wine was 25 years old – absolutely great. And a bottle of sparkling water (0,7L) accounts for EUR 5.90 only.
What is of outstanding importance is to book a table in advance – I somehow managed to book for the wrong place (yeah, definitely a firsttimer) – as else you have almost no chance to get a table. We were lucky though as the waitress apparently had pity after me standing there for 20 minutes in order to get a table – and it was so worth it! The service is dedicated and definitely does a great job – although towards the end of the evening the service got less attentive. And the setting is truly unique – located somehow right behind the Sofitel Hotel there is some design area and basically right in the middle of that there is the “El Gaucho” – and it is absolutely worth a visit!!!
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Contact Details:
Restaurant El Gaucho
im Design Tower
Praterstrasse 1
1020 Vienna (AT)
Tel.: +43 1 212 12 10
Fax: +43 1 212 12 14
E-Mail: beef@gaucho.at
Homepage: http://www.gaucho.at
About the Author: Sven
I started the blog in October 2009, while living in Milan which I definitely consider to be one of the food capitals of the world. I was in touch with food since my early childhood (as my father is a former chef). Whenever I can, I travel the world to discover new places, to meet people but mostly to try local dishes and to find hidden gems! If you know a place worth going, please drop a line to: info@thediningexperience.org.
Currently, I am a member of the following food-related associations: Chevalier @Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Zurich-Ville; Membre Gourmet Dégustateur @Ordre Mondial des Gourmets Dégustateurs [OMGD]; Gesellschafter @Goldener Fisch and Member @Slowfood Convivium Zurich City. 
