CrumpEats' Reviews

When I first moved to Battersea, my housemate gave me the tour of the local area. What began as a long list of fabulous places to explore, shortened pretty abruptly when we went past the restaurant Santa Maria Del Sur. We were both glued to the window, gawping at the fat juicy steak chargrilling on the open grill, or parilla as they're called in South America and the handsome Latino chef casually flipping them over. Said chef looked slightly amused by us, gave us a cheeky smile and ushered us in. Sold.

The phenomenal steak restaurant that is Santa Maria Del Sur, an Argentinian restaurant run entirely by Argentinians that specialises in flame grilled meat and hearty red wines. The restaurant won Gordon Ramseys F-word last year, just after the first time I went. The F-word gives awards to local eats who offer their clientele something different, special and grounded. This restaurant is exactly that. It offers a fantastic experience built around delicious simply cooked food, the trick being that everything on offer isn't played with. The ingredients are top quality and stand our for themselves, sometime enhanced with some fresh parsley, a slither of red pepper or a simple tomato and coriander salsa.

The steak was (on both occasions) probably the best I've eaten. I've been to Argentina and apart from the prices and not being offered it by a gaucho in a poncho, the quality and freshness is comparable. The fillet was thick, smooth, smoky and rich and cut like velvet. The inside was pink and juicy whilst the outside remained slightly cripsy and caramelised. Each slice encouraged more and more salty and meaty juice to come trickling out, the perfect accompaniment to triple cooked crispy chips. To start, there was chorizo, firey and crumbly and empanadas, deep fried pastry parcels filled with spiced spinach and ricotta, fresh and fragrant. This was all set in warm candlelight washed down with top-class full bodied red wine from Malbec. The meal for two came to £70 for two starters… More

Roast. Roast and more Roast. They've sure got the name right. If there was one word I would use to describe the type of cuisine on offer it would be ‘Roast’. It was a friend's birthday last night and for a (yet another) special treat, we went to the restaurant above Borough Market in London Bridge, famous for its (you guessed it) roast meats and rich accompaniments. This is not one to visit if you are trying to eat healthily or on a budget. It's indulgence in all sorts of ways.

The restaurant is beautiful; it was stylishly lit and with a stunning semi-circular window (the retained portico of an old flower market); there was an open kitchen where you could see the kitchen staff plating up salads and sauces (my friend did ask if one of them was the headchef to which we all replied, no dear, he/she will be doing much more important things in the back); a vault for expensive wine and a swish shiny bar cutting off the casual area with a live piano from the bistro style restaurant.

The meat was delicious, especially the steak, which unsurprisingly enough was the most expensive thing on the menu. It was cooked medium and presented stylishly on a wooden board with a novelty miniature pan of peppercorn sauce. I didn't order it so cannot give a full account. All I was allowed was a tiny slither. Look at the photo to the left though and you can make up your own mind. It looked pretty damn good to me. Instead I ordered the Beef Wellington and it was great, but didn't leave me speechless. The meat was pink and soft and the sauce was rich and winey, but the pastry wasn't crispy enough and the mushroom pate was a little overpowering. It was also meant to come with braised red cabbage which was another reason why I ordered it, but the restaurant had run out, very unimpressive considering the £28 price tag. I was offered root mash as an alternative which I accepted a bit grumpily only to find that the sidedish was left off our order when the rest of the food was bought out. The other side… More