Gaucho Tower Bridge

what a nice place to have food. i can not think of anyway that the place can be inproved. the location is good the views from the restaurant are wonderful. the people that work there are very help full and do not rush you. over all its worth a visit.

Decorated like a goth's wet dream. This is uber masculine design. Consisting entirely of blacks, mirrors and the odd flashes of cow, the room disorientates at first, black doors open onto black rooms through black walls, until you manage to pick out the shades. The crowd in the place is similarly male, a slightly confused couple sat next to us slotted uneasily next to large groups of braying men, flushed of face with bonhomie, wine, good steak and self importance. Deals weren't being done, but like Keens and the grand old tradition of New York steakhouses, they were certainly being celebrated.

It didn't start well for for the restaurant service wise I have to say.. We sat in the (black) departure lounge of the bar and sipped insipid cocktails. I went for the Bloody Asado, a watery £8's worth of roasted plum tomato, red pepper and vodka, reminiscent of a very cheap salsa. 45 minutes after our reservation time we were still sat there. The location and the crowd would suggest they are focussed firmly on the volume business market and a random three top is of less interest.

We finally sat down at a table an hour and 15 after our reservation. The urgent need now was for food and fast so we skipped the starters and got straight in. For the record, the starters have always been a hit in the past. Fresh fish ceviche and tiraditos are bright and clean, served straight up with lime and lemon, the citric acid ‘cooking’ the meat. My guest and I looked no further than the Gaucho Sampler, a 1.2kg board of fillet, rump, sirloin and ribeye. The meat arrived served as requested (though identified incorrectly by the server) and was a melting joy. With a bottle of excellently chosen Malbec, recommended by the server (one bright spot was their wine training) the meat was exactly what we needed. Moving through the sampler board from cleanest (fillet) to most complex (ribeye) flavours I was amazed by how clearly the differences in cut shone through when served alongside each other. It's a must do experience for the steak lover. Sides were largely forgettable (and incorrect).

Ultimately you're here for the meat, and probably business. If you're looking for a great steak experience in London then go to Hawksmoor or Goodman. If you're looking for an authentic Argentinian steak restaurant, go to Buen Ayre in Broadway Market. If you're bringing your (mainly male) team to celebrate winning a piece of business over a few bottles of Malbec and some decent steak, then the Gaucho will do just fine.

We have been to this Gaucho, Tower Bridge 4 times now, including yesterday evening and it's become a firm favorite for us. On two ocassions we have taken friends who enjoyed it as much as we did. The service is the best I have come across in the UK, from the minute you arrive to the minute you leave. The staff are friendly and helpful and the ambience in the restaurant is fabulous, not stuffy and really comfortable, and the decor is great!. The food, although pricey is worth every penny; from the bread to the dessert, everything is prepared to perfection and the steaks are to die for – believe me, you do NOT need a steak knife! The meals at Gaucho are not to be rushed so plan for a couple of hours of chilled out dining.

Thank you to the manager, chef and staff for another great dining experience.

It's a lively restaurant and that's great if that's what you want. Bad points: Very dark, having come in from a lovely sunny evening it took a while to adjust to the darkness. Small bar area, no wonder they wanted us to go directly to our table. Service was fantastic, though sometimes a little too over enthusiastic, my other half threatened to chop the next hand off that tried to pour more wine out for us as one of the waiters tried to do it for the 3rd time in the space of 10 minutes… Starters were lacking in vegetarian imagination, and the salads could have benefited from some actual salad leaves in them (the duck salad was shredded duck, 3x 1cm potato cubes, 3 x1cm beetroot cubes and some spring onions…I rest my case). Good points:the brilliantly cooked steaks and sides (the sweet potato chips with chorizo were only just surpassed by the Portobello mushroom) the depth of knowledge our waitress had on the wines and also her descriptions of all the meat cuts and the dessert platter was just too tempting and even though our trouser belts were telling us we couldn't take any more our taste buds over ruled them.

For any true Steak and/or wine lover there can be no Restaurant that I feel keeps such high quality every time I visit. Up until 2002 my quest was to find a steak in England that was as good as one can buy abroad, however nothing quite made the grade.

I try and go to Gaucho at least once every month, either Tower Bridge or at the O2 Arena as they are the most local. Canary Wharf Gaucho tend to be a little snobby and when I show up in a sweat shirt and not a suit they put me in a corner and are surprised when I spend a large amount of money. I have never had a bad experience at O2 or Tower Bridge however. The menu is small, the wine list huge and magnificent. Gaucho is after all a steak restaurant, and if one wants a perfectly cooked, tender, succulent and mouth watering piece of meat then of 20 to 30 visits I have never been disappointed.

The starters are lovely, the Steak alternatives are great and the side orders well put together. As for the desserts, well they are devine even on a full stomach. The Chocolate truffle cake and the Dulce de Leche cheesecake to name but two are probably as good as any dessert I have ever eaten anywhere. The sauces are not the most generous servings for the price, however the steaks really do not need anything else so the simple answer is not to bother ordering one. The wine list is mind-boggling and if choosing carefully it is almost impossible not to be satisfied. I will even say that on two occasions the Somelier has given us free wine as he decided the wine was corked, and even before the drink reached my lips.

The service is friendly, although the door staff can sometimes seem a little snooty. I think this is just the type of person Gaucho tends to employ at the front of house. Even with a full restaurant at Tower Bridge the service is as fast as the food can be prepared and cooked, and this is very impressive. For a chain of restaurants to grow so prolific and yet maintain such a high standard is unusual, and Gaucho has managed this respectably. The formula is simple: World class steak, with a world class (albeit largely South American) wine list to accompany. If thats what you are after then you will be very very pleased indeed. If you do not like steak there's still a very good chance you will leave satisfied. There are other London restaurants that can compete, including many of the big names with Michelin stars, however these are more expensive, a little more overdressed and if you want to pig out and order a kilo of meat then Gaucho will let you do this without eyebrows raised. A meat and wine lovers dream, in fact as a review that is probably all that need be said.

Disappointing food and slack service. We ordered 400g fillet steaks which arrived with regular knives on regular plates – which ended up slipping all over the table given pathetic knife blades. I would expect more from an Argentinian “Steakhouse”. Sauces arrived in form of 2 teasponfulls, at £4 per shot well overpriced. Sommelier suggested a glass of the pricey Vive C as an aperitif, rather than a pretty good Argentinian alternative. Waitress pretty much forgot about us once we had ordered, except half way through the meal reached across one diner as they were about to take a mountful – to clear a half empty glass on the opposite side of the table. Staff could do with some basic table clearing training and wine list education so that they can make a recommendation in the absence of a sommelier. For all the people say about Gauncho, I don't know what all the hype is about. Wouldn't bother going back to any of them.