Say what you will about Gordon Ramsay – you have to give the man credit for raising the profile of what would probably be fairly ordinary run-of-the-mill local restaurants into something a bit more special. Like Simply Thai Santa Maria Del Sur made it to the semi-final of the latest series of Gordon Ramsay’s the F-Word and this was the one that Sandra wanted to check out.

After getting a thorough soaking in the rain, and rather randomly running into Nic on the bus!, Julian and I met Sandra and James for dinner. I hadn’t seen any of the F Word series so had no idea what to expect from this Argentinean Steakhouse – which I think could only work in my favour as then I had no expectations.

Walking into the restaurant you’re treated to an open kitchen where you can pretty much see all the grilling going on. The restaurant is dark though so don’t expect to be able to see your food too well! Hard bread (unwarmed) was served with the trademark butter with blue cheese. The blue cheese flavour was quite delicate but gave a nice sort of zing to the bread.

For starters, with the exception of James who opted for the ox tongue, we all stuck to the traditional empanadas. Empanadas were great and I could have easily eaten a whole ‘nother serve of them, if not for the fact they were deep fried. James wasn’t too impressed with the ox tongue which was too vinegary for his taste.

Mains were, as you would expect, steaks all around though we did all try different cuts. I can’t speak for the others but my fillet steak came out tender and chunky, if not necessarily having too much flavour. This was accompanied by a side of chips seasoned with garlic, herbs and I think parmesan.

We really couldn’t fit it in but desserts also went on to our table – hey, who knows if I’d make the journey out to the restaurant again. I couldn’t go past trying the milk toffee cheesecake – but it proved way too heavy and I couldn’t finish it!

Service was pretty decent for us without being exceptional. I get the feeling it could be hit and miss depending on who is your waiter and also depending on how busy the restaurant is.

Overall, I’d say it was a nice experience to eat at Santa Maria Del Sur. I don’t think I would call it the best steak joint in London, certainly not at the prices which seem a tad expensive, but if you live locally you could definitely do worse for good steak. PS the plating could do with some better presentation (e.g. I think our empanadas came served on paper towels!)