Los Argentinos

The 2012 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).

This review is taken from the current (2012) edition.

If the yuccas and canyon-coloured walls only hint at the theme, the photographs of bulls and huge cowhide stretched over one wall leave you in no doubt what Los Argentinos is all about. This Argentinian-themed steakhouse – an offshoot of its original branch in the Netherlands – is proud to import its steaks direct from Argentina. Red meat is undoubtedly the focus of operations. Choose your desired cut and size by weight and steal a glance at other diners’ plates if you can’t work out how big 225g or 300g actually is. Choose baked potato or chips as an accompaniment and perhaps a sauce such as the house special chimichurri. While diners are best advised to head straight for the steak, if you need to get your appetite going, you could try a starter of empanadas, Argentinian pasties filled with beef or vegetables. The Marguerite Patten-style palt y camarones (a cocktail of avocado, shrimp and whisky sauce), meanwhile, is best avoided as the promised whisky kick is impossible to detect. Desserts play a similarly insubstantial supporting role and include an ill-advised coupe Argentina, whose four different-flavoured ice-creams include, surprisingly, horseradish and arrive smothered in scooshy cream.

• High point: Wide choice of steak
• Low point: Supporting cast lets down the main event