Casa Malevo — Restaurant in London

This is a fantastic restaurant on a lovely street in a great part of London.

Loved my Pisco Sour to start. Perfectly prepared. Not too sweet.

To be fair, I'm a devotee of Argentine open fire grilling, and a harsh critic if the flavors don't remind me of the years I lived in Argentina and the copious amounts of beef I consumed directly off of a parilla or at an asado. Matambre (rosemeat), mollejas (sweatbreads) tira de asado (short rib) , morcilla (blood pudding) and chorizo are my favorites, and I order them whenever they are on a menu to transport myself back to Argentina whenever I can.

At Casa Malevo, I ordered the chorizo, mollejas, morcilla and a rump steak. A proper mixed grill asado.

Matambre (pork or beef) is almost impossible to find in any restaurant outside of Argentina for reasons I won't bore you, same for proper tira de asado.

The morcilla was superb. Outstanding hearty flavor with even flavoring, cooked perfectly.

As was the chorizo. They should sell choripan sandwiches out of a food truck and make a mint.

I ordered the cuadríl (rump steak), and not the ribeye (which would have been my first choice), because I felt it would be a good test of the asador. Rump is usually a tougher cut, easier to overcook and render it to digestable leather, but when done right it brings that rich beef flavor and salt and crust combination to life.

Its was very, very good. I would have salted it a bit more before grilling it, and tried to put a bit more of a crust on the outside, but the temperature was perfect and it was clearly NOT beef from a damp English farm in York. It was rich and clean at the same time. Pure awesome beef. There was a line of tissue in the that made a portion of it hard to cut up and chew, but after everything else I had ordered eaten, it wasn't a problem to put the fork down and leave it alone!

The one (and only) disappointment was the mollejas (sweatbreads). Properly prepared, they should have a crispy exterior with the salt and lemon dancing together, a firm but and juicy interior with that utterly unique flavor which is distinctly Argentine. The preparation was promising, but the quality of the sweatbreads was disappointing. The taste was like mutton; a little gamey, a little freezer burn (maybe)? Not what I'd hoped for, and to be honest, mollejas are my favorite alongside matambre, so I was a little sad as I chased an underwhelming bite with a lovely glass of the house malbec. It's the only reason I couldn't give the food 5 stars. I'm sure (and I hope) those who don't care for mollejas will find this section of the review irrelevant, as they should, because it was a total outlier to the rest of the experience.

I appreciate it's probably very difficult to source proper sweatbreads, and perhaps this serving was a bad batch.

Did I not mention I had the burrata and tomato salad? One must have a salad on the side with this much meat, even if 1/2 of it is a ball of PERFECT mozzarella that It was also excellent.

I wrapped everything up with a homemade flan with dulce de leche, dressed with a assortment of nuts, alongside a double espresso. Perfect fairytale ending. Firm and rich with an array of flavor, the flan was perfect.

The service outstanding, two lovely and non-judgemental (of the volume of my consumption) servers who indulged my effort to regain my fluency in castellano. They were good company in the casual way a single cover alone at a table for two appreciates.

All in all, this is my favorite Argentine restaurant in the city. Please do see so for yourself. Try the morcilla and the chorizo, skip the mollejas I'm afraid, and treat yourself to a steak. Enjoy the casual elegance at the atrium setting in the back of the restaurant or along the front windows side where a classic London side street sets the scene. Great spot for a date, a dinner with friends, lunch outside on the street, any reason you can think of is a good one to try Casa...

My girlfriend and I visited this restaurant after seeing the reviews and in need for a good steak. The location was convenient to where we were staying.

The food was OK and it is not often that I'd give a poor rating. However, some absolutely terrible service is inexcusable.

To start, our waitress was friendly and came over to take our order - we asked for recommendations and although not very knowledgeable she was still pleasant. A bottle of wine, trio of empanadas to start and the sharing rib eye - medium rare please.

After a bit of wait for our bottle of wine, another waitress comes over and takes the wine glasses away. Hmm, we wondered did they forget the wine ? We asked for the wine and were told that the previous waitress had forgotten to order it. That's ok. Just get us our wine. Oh no we were then put on the spot to remember what was our wine. Alright, wine list again and the whole process once more.

The wine arrived and was ok, not as full bodied as we'd have wanted it to accompany for our steak but hey ho it was still drinkable.

Then the trio of empanadas arrived and the waitress left it on the table without explaining which one had what filling. Again, small details and it's not difficult to get it right. The empanadas were very good. Couldn't fault the taste.

The steak arrived along with the Chimichuri and a tiny sprinkling of chips. We cut in to the steak and immediately agreed it was medium to well compared to the medium rare requested. The manager came over (well we assumed he was) and told us the chef would have checked the temperature rather than go by eye but he'd get it changed. A bit defensive but hey ho, he at least agreed to get it re done.

The manager returned with our newly cooked steak. Before leaving it on the table he arrogantly decreed 'The previous steak was perfectly cooked medium rare but we've now cooked it rare for you - Enjoy'. The steak in our opinion was medium rare and it was ok. The chimichuri was awful with an excessive amount of vinegar and we were lucky to get a bit more chips this time.

All in all, we wanted to make a quick exit, paid our bill in full and hoped the manager would at the least apologise on our way out. Instead, he didn't even want to look at us and we initiated a goodbye.

Well, as I said, food alone would probably have got a 3* from us but arrogance and lack of customer service definitely deserves the score I have given.

The experience literally left a sour taste in our mouth thanks to...

We expected better. We booked this place to celebrate the 70th birthday of our friend, who was born in Argentina. The location and interior were delightful. It was a nice touch that the steaks, cooked to different levels of doneness, were served at the same time. The chocolate Marquise dessert and traditional empanadas were very tasty. However, there are many areas that need improvement.

Firstly, when we arrived, the waitress seemed very tired. When we mentioned our reservation, she simply gestured silently toward one of the tables. That table was in a very awkward spot, making it difficult even for younger guests to sit down and get up. We asked for a different table, and the waitress, again silently and with a displeased expression, gestured toward another table near the door. We chose it to at least have easier access to the restroom. However, this was far from ideal, as we were constantly disturbed by the slamming doors, cold drafts, and delivery couriers. While such a setting might be perfectly fine for a casual dinner, it is not appropriate for a special occasion.

Additionally, the same waitress was quite disrespectful in her service. When I ordered a steak cooked to a specific level, she responded, "Are you sure? That medium well will be almost well done, dry and firm...," and continued explaining. My friends had to turn it into a joke to stop her, as I had no intention of explaining my health concerns and dietary needs. I simply placed my order and expected it to be accepted without unnecessary comments.

When the vegetables were served in a bowl, it became evident that the waitress's long fingernails had touched the food. She made no effort to hold the bowl properly to avoid her fingers and nails coming into contact with the contents.

On a positive note, another waitress who occasionally came to our table was entirely different—respectful, kind, and understanding. Thanks to her efforts, we managed to finish our meal at this establishment, as she genuinely tried to make our...