El Quincho - Argentine BBQ — Restaurant in Christchurch

First, this is my personal experience with this restaurant. This establishment has the potential to be outstanding and clearly make themselves a must go to place to eat, however, they fall way short with consistency. My first experience was outstanding and probably one of the best ribeyes I have ever had! The steak was grilled to perfection with a couple of very flavorful sauces. The fried potatoes were crisp and hot and came with their own special extremely flavorful dipping sauce. That night, the chef was a younger man, very engaging and attentive to his patrons, he made recommendations and provided all food hot and abundantly flavorful! Tonight, my wife and I ate here again, but this time a different chef and staff. We ordered exactly the same things since we loved everything the first time. Unfortunately, tonight was an extreme fail. The staff although very friendly, seemed to struggle with our order. The food came out extremely bland. The steak tasted as if had no seasoning, was not grilled to medium well and only had one dipping sauce or chimichurri that was nothing like the two sauces the first time. I had to ask the staff for my potatoes or French fries as they did not come out with the meal, they never came, we finished our extremely bland meal and walked out. What a difference the chef and staff make. We most likely would not be back as we would be unsure what version or level of service we would be getting. If I could receive the same flavorful meal we did the first time, this would be a “go to” and “must try” for anyone looking for a flavorful and satisfying meal. I hope this place figures it out and provides consistent flavorful meals moving forward. Thank you...

Having had a couple of previously good experiences here, I was deeply disappointed at my experience here last night, as I was quite excited to introduce my father to this place.

While the food was good, we did have a slight hiccup with some kumara fries turning up that we did not order instead of smoked cabbage (the waitress did not seem entirely keen to rectify this, but she did as it was her mistake), and the Morcilla whereby it was served to us cold, as discovered when a bite was taken. We asked the waitress if this is usually served cold as some small goods are, her reaction suggested we were right to question it. Now any reasonable restaurant, even McDonald's, would take the item and replace with a properly cooked one, right?

No, not these guys. They wanted to slap that puppy back on the grill, bite taken and all. The reason being, we'd already started consuming it - just (a quarter had been consumed then spat back out). When challenged and asked if it's normal for customers to sit there and finger their food to ensure it's at temp, we were told it was up to the chef and chef said no "because you've already eaten it!". But we were offered a complimentary glass of wine which, shock horror, was worth more than the bloody sausage!

In the end, we got our replacement sausage, though we should not have had to argue this, but no further apologies were offered and the offer of a complimentary glass of wine was rescinded.

Based on this experience, I'm not keen to return, which is a shame. This place has fantastic food but the attitude from staff towards issues when raised, leaves...

Had a very disappointing experience at this Argentine BBQ restaurant. Ordered the Quincho Parrillada set, expecting high-quality food and service, but the pork belly was mostly fat with NO meat at all. When we raised our concern with the staff, he went to ask the chef, who insisted, "this is how pork belly is." Unsatisfied with that explanation, I asked to speak to the duty manager, who repeated the same.

Eventually, they replaced the dish, and the new pork belly was significantly better, with more meat and far less fat. This begs the question - if the chef and staff kept insisting that the first dish was normal, why was the replacement so much better? This clearly shows they could do better but chose not to until we complained.

As a pork belly lover, I can confidently say I know how pork belly should be, and I’m more than capable of recognizing a good cut. The first dish served was unacceptable and should never have left the kitchen.

To make things worse, I could see the chef from my table, visibly unhappy and gesturing while continuing to argue that this was "normal" for pork belly. Adding to my frustration, the table beside us also left their pork belly uneaten, which shows that I wasn’t the only one dissatisfied with the quality of this dish.

For a price like $80, I expect not only better food quality but also better customer service. Instead, I felt dismissed, unwelcome, and frustrated. Won’t be returning and cannot...