La Vaca Argentina - Amsterdam

Amsterdam! My visits, recently, have simply been for transit, either to countries further afield or to other parts of the Netherlands, so I was glad to get a chance to wander round the place for an afternoon. The main business of my visit was a stag weekend for regular guest quester, Malcolm (who has joined at Locanda de Gusti and Origano amongst other places), but I got a little oasis of calm to start my weekend with a relaxed lunch, prior to the arrival of the massed ranks of chaps.

Interior

After a wee stroll, I alighted upon a likely looking row of restaurants. I was tempted by one called Garlic Queen, which featured the Dracula-repelling bulb in just about every dish, but sadly it wasn't open, yet. Instead, I popped in to one of the many Argentinian steak places that populate the city centre.

This one was called La Vaca Argentina, and looked a smart if under-populated place. I guess there's not much demand for a steak dinner at 3pm when it's sunny outside.

Soup

Their menu was extensive, featuring a big range of meats, cuts and preparation styles. Argentinian goulash soup caught my eye, unsurprisingly, then I chose to follow that with a rump steak

Soup arrived promptly, in a big cup. It bore some flavour relationship to some previous goulashes I've had, but it wasn't the best soup in history. Solid but unspectacular would be the verdict.

Steak

The steak was entirely better, with an impressively large, accurately cooked and seasoned rump delivering good flavour and that unmistakeable meaty texture. The quality of the beef was good, and the execution was pleasing.

So overall, La Vaca Argentina served me very nicely, and fulfilled its function of giving me a good meal to remember while I shoved bad shawarma towards my face, in the few moments when I wasn't pouring lager down my neck, over the course of the rest of the weekend.

<b>Scores</b>
Blythe scores La Vaca Argentina
3.5/5 for food
3.5/5 for presentation
3.5/5 for setting
3/5 for service
giving an overall 13.5/20

Today's quester was: Blythe

I ate: Argentinian goulash soup; rump steak

I drank: red wine

I wore: brown suit

Total bill: €30.75

Reguliersdwarsstraat 8, Amsterdam
<a href="http://www.lavacarestaurant.nl/">http://www.lavacarestaurant.nl/</a>