El Gaucho

[Foodie-Girl]

We're going for our first visit tonight (using KIRO gift certificates).

Any thoughts on ordering?

Thanks

[little ms foodie]

Just as a fyi if I remember correctly they bring you a platter of fruit, nuts and blue cheese after dinner- whether you order dessert or not. Someone confirm this, it's been over a year since I've been.

[Foodie-Girl]

Thanks for the heads-up ms foodie.

From looking at the online menu I'm sure we'll just share a dessert.

[tighe]

The stuff on skewers is fun because they bring it out to your table on fire. I also remember the fruit and cheese after dinner.

[reesek]

anything they do in front of you is great. definitely share everything - the portions are ridiculous - but damn, best ceasar salad ever, and their bananas foster is always a sexy good time.

[Foodie-Girl]

tighe, I think the Bananas Foster will serve as our retro "bring it to the table ablaze" portion of the meal.....LOL

Thanks, reesek...Yes, I do think one other person mentioned the c-salad being really good.

[tsquare]

there was a whole thread on the steak tartare (e or not e?)

[Foodie-Girl]

We didn't order the steak tartare becuase I generally perfer it with a lot less ingredients than used when served as performance art.

That said...we LOVED our dinner:

Shared the Caesar Salad (modest showpersonship by our server but a perfect dressing coating the romaine)

Shared a shrimp cocktail (how exciting can that ever be)

Shared the 18oz Frenched Rib Steak. Despite a few lukewarm comments I read online we decided to give it a try because it's pretty much our favorite cut of meat.

Perfectly cooked (medium rare) and loaded with flavor...sides were spinach and a baked potato.

We lucked-out when we saw the dessert options as Cherries Jubilee is one of our favorites in the Tableside Preparation Olympics.

Yep, a big old plate of fruit/cheese/nuts did arrive after the meal.

OH...the drinks were super...Mohito and Cosmo for me (no I'm not tired of them yet)

I won't tell you about the wine as we are so wimpy as to enjoy a dry white with even a steak at times.

The room is way-cool.....service professional, thoughtful and not overly intrusive.

The two $50 gift certificates from KIRO made the evening even better....

We're adding El Gaucho to our short, but growing list of places we love in Seattle...

[reesek]

FG - glad you liked it. were they cool about you guys sharing food (an entree) there? was the spinach creamed spinach? i love me some creamed spinach.

[Foodie-Girl]

FG - glad you liked it. were they cool about you guys sharing food (an entree) there? was the spinach creamed spinach? i love me some creamed spinach.

The waitperson was totally cool...I'm sure they don't expect most people to put away an 18oz steak on their own...

No, the spinach wasn't creamed...which was why it was a little disappointing (to me) My husband loves spinach any old way but for me to get it down (cooked, not in salads) I need LOTS of butter....LOL

[lemony]

i think el gaucho is one of the sexiest rooms in seattle. plus, the service has been stellar each time i've been there.

lemony

[Foodie-Girl]

I agree with you 100%, lemony. It IS a very sexy room. The lighting is perfect, the booth was big and cuddly...LOL

Yeah, I loved it !

[cxt]

.....service professional, thoughtful and not overly intrusive.

And, (assuming Foodie-girl is female) as soon as you stood up from the table looking like someone who desires to powder her nose, did the waitperson come striding over to escort you to the hallway with the bathrooms?

[Foodie-Girl]

Yes, I'm definitely a girl (foodie GIRL) being the tip-off.....

It was one of those rare evenings when I didn't need to powder my nose...but my husband did and was pointed in the right direction....

Boy, I wish I'd known how great El Gaucho was...I woulda bought more of those KIRO gift certificates.....

[sserver]

I'm not wild about the food at El Gaucho, with the exception of their Bananas Foster, but I am always impressed with their service. It's one of the few places in town that can make anyone feel like a sophisticated grown up.

[kiliki]

I know it's too late, but for subsequent visits they make a terrific oysters rockefeller.

[little ms foodie]

I am so on the outs here but in the 2 times I've been to EG I've had a bad experience both times. Once our service was so bad that I had to ask if we could order coffee and dessert wine! And both of us girls (party of 2 couples) needed to take half our steaks home as it was too huge. When we asked to have it wrapped up our server looked at us like we were homeless!

2nd time, a friends b-day with 6 of us. Everything seemed to be going well until the next day. We had left the tip in cash- 20%. The next day my friend found they had charged her credit card another 20% for tip!!! We called the waiter to make sure he had recieved his cash and he said yes. Mng. said it was a misunderstanding and removed the charge but GEESH!!! I couldn't believe it!!

So I'm not a fan but I know others are. I know I've just had bad luck but at those prices I'm not willing to go it again (unless someone else picks up the tab!)

[Fritz Brenner]

2nd time, a friends b-day with 6 of us. Everything seemed to be going well until the next day. We had left the tip in cash- 20%. The next day my friend found they had charged her credit card another 20% for tip!!! We called the waiter to make sure he had recieved his cash and he said yes. Mng. said it was a misunderstanding and removed the charge but GEESH!!! I couldn't believe it!!

Was this because of a policy that El Gaucho might have, as do many other restaurants, about an automatic gratuity of 18% (or more) being added onto bills for parties of six or more? In that case, there is a *little* more sense in that kind of thing happening, even though it's still weird, esp. since the manager or server didn't mention the auto-grat when you called.

[elswinger]

I went to El Gaucho (the one in Portland) for the first time this past weekend and it was great! The staff was so great (we were a 9 person bachelor party) and they made room for us in a private room. I had Chateau Brijond (sp?) for the first time and they cooked it exactly as I asked (the warm side of rare). The bill for the 9 of us came to $908 (thank God for no sales tax and the 18% gratuity otherwise we would have spent a grand).

I'd love to go back, but there are too many other expensive restaurants I haven't been to (the Canlis comes to mind) and I can only do this once or twice a year.

[seawakim]

We recently had dinner at El Gaucho and I'm sorry to say that I was very disappointed with the main courses. I agree that the portions are rather large, but I usually don't have any problem with that at all

We had Steak Tartare to start (it was way too hot - tobasco?)

We also had Oysters Rockefeller and fried Oysters - both very good, but FX McRory's makes the Rockefeller way better.

We then moved on to Beefsteak Tomato Salad and French Onion Soup. The soup was fine, but nothing to write home about.

Our main courses were Ostrich and troll caught Salmon.

The Ostrich was so oversalted that one could hardly taste the meat. It was sad. The Scalloped Potatoes were too hot (again - tobasco?)

The Salmon was an excellent piece of meat - too bad it was covered in char!

The polenta was also too hot

I asked my tablemates about the unusual experience with most of the food and they agreed that things were just oversalted and too hot.

The service was EXCELLENT! And the tableside preparations were wonderful. I especially enjoyed the skewers lit on fire.

The fruit , nuts and cheese plate was a really nice touch. I would love to go back for the atmosphere and that fruit plate