Anna's Reviews

As a regular visitor of this branch of Gaucho on Swallow Street over the past 4-5 years, I was very disappointed with my most recent lunchtime visit, which will probably be my last. Despite having booked a table in advance, we had to wait 45 minutes to be seated. When I asked the waitress whether she wouldn't mind removing the cost of the drinks we ordered while waiting for our table, she just gave me a hostile stare and said that wasn't up to her to decide.

Once finally seated, we had to stand up and wave at the staff to get any attention (not just to make an order, but even to get menus). We arrived at the restaurant at 1:20pm and at 3pm, we had only just received our starters – a couple of which were the wrong dishes.

The food was very good and the meat was delicious, but given the price of the food, it ought to be extremely good. Not good value for money and generally terrible service.

This restaurant has all the potential in the world, but it is almost as if it is trying too hard. Our lunchtime visit felt stiff and uncosy. The staff were extremely friendly, but over-attentive to the point where it made us feel uncomfortable, appearing out of nowhere to refill glasses, rearrange napkins, or remove two breadcrumbs as soon as we moved a finger. The food was very good, however, given the stiff competition in this neighbourhood, not worth the steep prices. Presentation, overall style and atmosphere is not right for the majority of the lunchtime audience on Charlotte Street. I had heard many good things about this restaurant, but was very disappointed by the overall experience.