Gaucho Smithfield’s Mini Beer Festival

Gaucho Smithfield held a mini beer festival in collaboration with Meantime Brewery. Our beer matching tasting menu kicked off with a flight of Meantime Brewery beers and some delicious little steak and ale pies made with the stout from Meantime.

The beers featured were the Yakima Red ale made with red hops from the Yakima Valley, a raspberry wheat beer, a chocolate beer and a stout.

This was followed with some beer cocktails created by Amol. The first one was the a very refreshing Beer Pimms made with the raspberry beer and this was followed by a clever new concoction of a Caramel Mojito which was topped up with the chocolate beer and rum. These new cocktails will be added to the their beer cocktail list.

Our meal started off with a plate of mixed empanadas featuring beef, chicken and cheese. These empanadas had light flaky pastry and well seasoned fillings.

I like the way that they show you the cuts of meat when you order and all the staff have to go through a thorough training on the menu. Our delightful waitress was very knowledgeable about the cuts and provenance of the meat. She convinced me that I should try the Gaucho tasting plate of steak which has three cuts of beef including a chorizo (sirloin), vacio (flank) and entrana fina (marbled skirt) each with a different marinade. Beautifully tender steak and delicious sauces.

Besides regular fries and spinach, we had some unusual Argentinian side dishes like black quinoa and humita saltena served in a corn husk. Humita Saltena is a pre-Hispanic native dish in South America made with corn meal and spices (in Argentina).

For pudding we shared a Dulce de Leche cheesecake which was unctuous. This was served with another beer cocktail , an inspired espresso beertini made with the Meantime Coffee Beer. This was a perfect accompaniment to pudding and if you like coffee after your meal, I would definitely try this instead.

Lastly, we were served a Patagonian sparkling Dessert wine, delish. The Mini Beer Festival goes on until September 7th where you can enjoy some beer tasting, beer cocktails and even try your hand at making some.

Gaucho is also holding a beer and food matching masterclass with brewmaster Rod Jones. This will be a five course be inspired menu priced at £75 per person.

Love the cowhide chairs and wall coverings

To make a reservation, call Gaucho Smithfield’s on 0207 490 1599 or email johnny.southwell@gauchorestaurants.com

For more details please visit: www.gauchorestaurants.com

Gaucho Smithfield

93A Charterhouse Street,

London EC1M 6HL

Tel 020 7490 1676