Grace Lewis - AsiaLIFE Magazine

El Gaucho
An
Argentinean steakhouse with plenty of
meat on the menu. Photos by Fred Wissink.
Cuc Gach Quan
Family-style
Vietnamese food served in artful
surroundings. Photos by Eunji Chung.
Specialising in great-quality
steaks and hearty and filling Argentinean
comfort food, it’s best
to visit the newest restaurant in
the El Gaucho chain on an empty
stomach.
With 45 outlets preceding it,
the Saigon establishment follows
the same formula as its counterparts.
The menu is mostly the
same except for some additions
to cater to local tastes, and the
décor has the same rustic feel
that can be found worldwide.
In HCM City, though, the
design seems very fresh. The
downstairs is small and cosy and
backed by the gleaming stainless
steel kitchen. The upstairs is
bright and airy with a fantastic
heavy-wood bar and outside terrace
that overlooks leafy Nguyen
Sieu.
The food is just as impressive.
To start, crusty white bread is
served with a side of slightlyspicy
chimichuri (40,000 VND).
Similar to salsa, the zesty sauce
is made from diced capsicum,
onion, parsley and olive oil. Next
out is the very substantial Argentinean
beef soup (65,000 VND).
Almost like a stew, the broth is
thick and rich with chunks of
tender beef and potato, and butter
beans.
Homemade chorizo (120,000
VND) and a spicier sausage
called salchicha (120,000 VND)
are available, too. Both are
savoury and fragrant. The beef
empanada (95,000 VND) is also
homemade. Minced beef is
encased in fried pastry to make a
parcel resembling a pasty, albeit
of a more exotic variety.
It’s during the main course
that El Gaucho’s emphasis
on deluxe cuts of premium
imported beef becomes clear.
Cooked medium rare, the
prime Black Angus rib eye
(550,000 VND/250g or 750,000
VND/350g) is unbelievably tender
and flavoursome. The side
of macaroni cheese, rough-cut
chips and sautéed mushrooms
are tasty, too.
The hamburger (250,000 VND)
again showcases a commitment
to top-quality meat. The 350-
gram patty, also medium rare, is
thick and juicy and complemented
by a generous stack of tomato,
lettuce, onion and mayonnaise.
One thing seems almost
certain: a trip to El Gaucho is
sure to satisfy HCM City’s most
carnivorous residents. And with
another location set to open at
The Crescent in Phu My Hung
on June 1, and perhaps more
in the near future, El Gaucho
certainly has Saigon covered.
5D/104 Nguyen Sieu, District 1
Tel: 3825 1879.
Open daily for breakfast 8 am to 11
am, lunch 11 am to 2.30 pm, dinner
3 pm till late
Go to Cuc Gach Quan and
you’ll wish you lived there.
Tucked behind a half-open gate
on Dang Tat, the restaurant is a
series of nooks filled with deep,
leather chairs, salvaged-wood
tables and armoires stacked
with blue-and-white china
bowls. Head up the ladder-like
staircase to find a bedroominspired
second floor, featuring
a canopied bed for lounging
and a spectacular terracotta tile
ceiling.
“The main idea was to recreate
a home,” says owner Thai
Tu-Tho who bought the colonial
mansion with her partner, architect
Tran Binh, to supplement
their first restaurant on Thach
Thi Thanh. (Incidentally, Tran’s
assiduous redesign—and the
fact that his architecture firm
occupies the top two floors—is
responsible for the restaurant’s
nickname of “Architect’s
House” among HCM City’s
expats.) “The two of us live far
from our families, and we’re not
the only ones in Saigon away
from home. This is for people
who miss the taste and simplicity
of family-style food.”
Even those who didn’t grow
up in Vietnamese homes will
appreciate the Southern dishes
cooked with care by chef duo
Co Diep (vegetables and salads)
and Chi Bay (meat and stir
fries). Sipping on fresh fruit
juices that arrive in glass bottles
with whimsical rolled-leaf stoppers
(55,000 VND), we sample
cuon diep or lettuce rolls with
prawn (60,000 VND), each bearing
an orange prawn trussed on
the top.
The homemade tofu also
impresses—we marvel a
deep-fried version topped with
crispy chilli-fried lemongrass
(65,000 VND). As good as it
is, though, it’s forgotten as the
thit kho trung—stewed pork in
clay pot—arrives at the table
(75,000 VND). Pieces of pork
and a hardboiled egg bathe in
a rich, brown salty sauce and
conversation stalls apart from
an occasional grunt of delight.
Unlike the set menu on offer
at the Thach Thi Thanh location,
the menu here is extensive
to the point of bewildering; if
you’re feeling overwhelmed,
the staff will happily provide
recommendations or even
choose your entire meal. All
you need to do is grab a pair
of chopsticks out of the can at
the end of the table and make
yourself at home.
10 Dang Tat, District 1
Tel: 3848 0144
Open daily 9 am till midnight
42 asialife HCMC asialife HCMC 43