Argentinian inspired Gaucho, is already a success in London, Manchester, Leeds, Dubai, Hong Kong and Buenos Aires. In Birmingham, however, it is the new kid on the block, thus ripe for review. We attended Saturday 4th June for a review of their Electro Brunch.
Gaucho is located with the Victorian grandeur of Colmore Row. This area was originally a Georgian square surrounding the beautiful St Philips Cathedral (more like a magnificent church). The Victorian building which Gaucho now resides has recently been renovated and brought back to life, Gaucho sits slightly inconspicuously just off Colmore Row.
Upon entry you feel as though you are entering a swish night club, easy disabled access leads to a reservation/reception area where the staff are friendly and helpful. As we walk in the true glamour and opulence of Gaucho is revealed, modern, stylish, low lighting and a DJ playing relaxed house vibes.
Electro Brunch
We are greeted and seated by our host for the afternoon Pedro, he explains how Electro Brunch works. Served from 11.00am – 4.00pm, diners pay a set fee which allows them to try as many dishes, as many times as they like, and one drink per person at any one time, which is valid for the duration of 2 hours from the reservation time. Last orders are at 2pm – Simple!
The Electro Brunch has a diverse offering to please most tastes, with many of the ingredients from Spain and Argentina for authenticity.
We started with a Bacon Sandwich, which is smoked streaky bacon. Bread was fresh and the bacon tasted great. Next up was Eggs Florentine with Spinach. The eggs were just right, this delicate little dish left us wanting to order again, but conscious of so much to try in two hours.. we moved swiftly on. Staff are attentive and won’t keep you hanging around for a glass refill, or a new menu option.
Choripan Sandwich arrived next, a Chorizo sausage and chimichurri served on fresh bread. The intense flavour of the sausage was unique with the Chorizo taste really coming through. Something you immediately notice about the small plates served for Electro Brunch, is that they may look tiny, but are actually quite filling, don’t be fooled, try as many as you can within the two hours.
A colourful and tasty dish was the Smashed Avacado on Toast, with or without crispy bacon bits. We opted with, crunchy and rich.
The steak was salty and flavoursome, in fact, delicious and made me want to try it as a main
Probably the highlight of the Electro Brunch for me was the Steak & Eggs (100g). This arrived as Churrasco de cuadril cut, with a fried egg and we tried it twice. The steak was salty and flavoursome, in fact, so delicious it made me want to return and try as a main, highly recommended. The consistency when choosing it twice did not disappoint.
To finish we opted for French Toast, Peanut butter dulce de leche (a sweet cream made from milk popular in South America). This was sweet, rich and delicious, with a strawberry perched on top for perfection. In fact there was just enough time for a dessert, so it had to be Banana Pancakes with Maple syrup or Nutella, we chose the latter.
Drinks played a large part in this journey of Argentinian exploration. Brought to the table, we tried Aperol Spritz (A bitter sweet mix of Aperol and soda water topped up with Chandon Argentine sparkling wine), Rubia Pilsener Lager (made especially for Gaucho in Germany), Domaine Chandon (Sparkling Argentine wine) and Apple Gone Loupe (Green apple, cantaloupe melon and mint). I Think the images tell the story here, all superb and helped accompany an extremely enjoyable brunch feast in beautiful surroundings, to the backdrop of chilled house.
Gaucho does have some top company in Birmingham, restaurants of similar ilk include: Fumo, Rofuto and Pushkar, that fine dining stylish ambience without breaking the bank. Thoroughly enjoyed and will be back soon.
As a side note, apart from great steak, Gaucho stocks over 180 wines from Argentina, from the Andes in the west to the Atlantic in the east most of Argentina’s wine production takes place between a wide range of latitudes and altitudes, so get exploring!
www.gauchorestaurants.com/birmingham
Review by Nick Byng for Grapevine Birmingham twitter.com/NicholasByng