Nicole in Rome

Occasion: Saturday evening dinner

Initial Impressions: We didn’t know where to eat and when we finally thought we places in mind, the restaurants wouldn’t pick up for Paolo to make the reservation, or they were full. We were recommended this place by a friend and they both picked up and accepted our day of reservation. We decided to invite my friend from the US to try it with us. The restaurant from the outside was cute. There was the first floor and a basement downstairs. Upstairs was cute, downstairs was meh. I was excited to come for steak. The restaurant was about 1/2 full when we arrived and left. You would be able to dine on the first floor if you are handicapped, however, the basement would be pretty inaccessible (unless there is a lift, but I didn’t see one).

Once Seated: I was getting a bit of a meh ambience. It seemed not formal enough to dress up for, but too expensive to be casual. I found it a bit weird that everyone was paying a pretty penny but the decorations and overall experience did not match. I would critique that if you sit on the main floor, you will constantly be passed by servers and other patrons exiting and entering the restaurant from the basement. The decorations in the basement were kind of weird. The paintings were directly on the wall and of the rainforest/waterfalls. This did not really match the food and made the place seem hole in the wall. The lighting was bright. However, I think this took away as their speciality is steak and most of the patrons also had glasses of wine. It was like they couldn’t decide if they wanted to be romantic or not. The menu is available in Italian and English and Spanish and a bunch of other languages. However, to have English you have to scan a QR code and if you’re in the basement, you’ll have to request the wifi password because there was no signal there (for both my American and Italian phones). I think there was a bathroom, but I didn’t use it.

The Food: The food was meh. Actually, I was very disappointed and annoyed at our friend. We ordered all three empanadas: Empanada de Carne, Empanada de Maiz, Empanada de Verdura, Sopa de Zapallo, Mixto Angus Argentino 600 gr. (Misto di Carne Argentina Filetto, Controfiletto, Entrecote, Scamone), and Bife de Lomo Argentino 300gr. (My friend ordered a sangria, but I didn’t try it).

3/5 Empanada de Carne: I like a good empanada. This one was alright. Actually I thought there wasn’t enough flavor or seasoning. It was also expensive for its price point (4.5).

3/5 Empanada de Maiz: This tasted slightly better I would have given this a 3.5. However, I thought across the board this also didn’t have enough flavor or seasoning. Also the end was kind of burnt. So it stays at a 3.

3/5 Empanada de Verdura: This was the best empanada. However, the portion was even smaller than the other two empanadas and it wasn’t better by much.

3/5 Sopa de Zapallo: The soup was alright. I’m not a fan of pumpkin and squash-like vegetables, but it was the only dish I thought was worth it for its price.

1/5 Bife de Lomo Argentino 300gr: This is what you all wanted to know what I thought. Congrats to Baires 1!!! You have received the first 1 star on my blog 🙂 I find it ironic that they managed to earn one star for what they specialize in, but I think the lesson is not to underestimate the power to mess up this badly. The server asked me how I liked my steak cooked and I said medium and from there he suggested this specific cut of meat. I choose the size. When we received the meat, it was not medium. It was not medium rare. It was rare on the outside for the first few pieces, and then it was straight blue. Not warm, bleeding, and just straight raw in the middle. Why? because they don’t know how to cook steak. The cut was already really thick, so just grilling it wouldn’t cook the meat evenly. I also think they just skipped the ovening part which would have cooked the middle more evenly. Anyways, the seasoning also lacked. Putting olive oil on top of it after it was cooked also just showed me that they were either lazy or didn’t know how to cook and serve steak…at a steak restaurant. Also the side salad was just leaves and (perhaps oil), no seasoning.

3/5 Mixto Angus Argentino 600 gr. (Misto di Carne Argentina Filetto, Controfiletto, Entrecote, Scamone): This was alright. We weren’t told which cut was which, but also at this point I didn’t expect the server to know anything about his menu and I wasn’t bothered enough to stop anyone and ask. It was at least cooked and editable. However, it lacked any seasoning also.

Service: The service was nonexistent. Also the server took our order but wasn’t really helpful beyond that. We even paid ourselves upstairs at the counter. He was no where to be seen when we wanted to order the sides. I guess in hindsight I am thankful because everything sucked already. Also when he did appear it was to ask at the end when we wanted to leave about dessert. I don’t know who is coming here to have steaks and have such service. McDonald’s kiosks are more helpful.

Payment: The total cost was 108.50 euros. This was not worth it. I do not recommend coming here. The price is too much for what you are given. And as you can see by my shorter review, there isn’t much to say except nothing was good here.