El Gaucho Inca Estero - Seafood and Steakhouse — Restaurant in Florida

Update; had another nice meal here. As far as price goes, it it quite pricey for lunch . We spent just about $100 per person, which does seem a bit much for what we had. We were there for two separate occasions but since no one asked if there was a celebration of any sort, we didn’t do anything “special.” I think it would have been nice if its protocol for the host and servers to ask this question especially for the price point.

Original Review: Love this place. I would say this is probably the best restaurant in the area at this price point, and love the flavors of the dishes here. I haven’t tried a lot of different things because I always want my go-to dish, but I do want to try the octopus appetizer one of these days when I feel like spending $40 on an appetizer.

The initial service is always a bit spotty, because they usually have a host or hostess without the ideal hospitality and bilingual language skills liasoning between the guest, guest to table, and server to table, so sometimes we have to wait a while before someone comes by to the table, or not quite understand what the hostess is trying to tell us in regards to their current seating availability. But once that’s out the way, we have a good dining experience.

We love to get the pisco sour, in the original, passion fruit and my favorite, mango. We normally get the trio ceviche, lono saltado and my favorite the shrimp and fish a lo macho. It reminds me a lot of Thai curry without the acidity and coconut flavor, and I love the combo of the sauce-y dish with rice. These 3 drinks & 3 dishes were $135 before tip, and I would certainly come more often if It was more of a justifiable cost but $80 a person is a splurge for me.

They are often booked up so definitely make a reservation! We’ve come multiple times without it, and they have no seating for at least an hour so save yourself the disappointment. I’ve yet tried to order to go, but I’m craving my dish so I hope it will taste the...

Colossal disappointment.

I will not say anything about the Peruvian food on the menu because it is true to its origin. But the Argentinian portion is truly lackluster.

As a native Argentine I was hoping it would live up to its hype. The first time trying them back in September was amazing. Large portion Parilla for two with all the typical meats one would see in an Argentinian Asado and the sides were huge. Now Coming back today and upgrading to a Meatlovers Poseidon ($98!) It was literally the SAME size as our $59 parilla. The downside was now all the seafood was over-seasoned and EVERYTHING Crammed into the same platter made the meat taste horrible. The sides were half the size of what they were just a mere two months ago.

If they're going to charge double the amount they should at the very least give you double the food. The poseidon upgrade included: 6 small shrimp, two grilled squid, 4 mussels and one lobster tail cut in half. That is what this restaurant considers worthy of a $40+ upgrade. There was nothing special in the meatlovers either, on the contrary it replaced a lot of our fave argentine staples for over-seasoned chicken and pork chops.

The chimichurri needs to be renamed to something else because this sauce they provided was in no way remotely close to an argentine chimichurri.

Their only points go to the beef empanada. The chicken is dry as anything.

If you are looking for a real authentic Argentinian dinner experience this isn't it. I am hopeful that the gulf coast will one day have an authentic place that does my country a culinary justice.

Very...

Sat exactly at reservation time(arrived 10 minutes early) Restaurant is very busy, birthdays , and even a marriage proposal. Lots of large parties with lots of happy people , celebrating a milestone or each other. It stayed busy up until the time we left around 9:30PM, moderate music level, and even with all the large parties it was not difficult to carry a conversation at our table. Lots of staff everywhere and server was kind and attentive enough. One major knock for me is soda, tea, and lemonades are served in plastic bottles for almost $5 a pop. For $50 a person establishment this is was the only low point. Ordered fried calamari, it came with 4 yucca fries, and some kind of purple onion topping. Portion was very large. My wife liked it , I didn’t care for it. Had a good taste and no smell, but calamari was soft. Not chewy mind you just soft. Not the way I like fried calamari. The main course was fantastic! I had Trigoto a la huancaina wheat huancaina aji Amarillo sauce with entrana steak. Think a risotto covered in a pepper cream cheese sauce . It’s yellow but doesn’t taste like any yellow cheese I’ve had. It was amazing ! And skirt steak was not chewy. I don’t know how. it tasted flamed grilled and was perfect! It’s hard to see in the pic , easily could feed 3 people. The wife had gauche entrana with beans and tostones. Excellent as well. Atmosphere is Peruvian country and it works. It feels happy, warm, and inviting. Sure to be a long term Estero establishment. If our experience is typical I strongly recommend reservations even in the off season. We...