Cost of living crisis, what cost of living crisis? The owners of new Bristol steak restaurant Buenasado clearly didn’t get the memo about rising prices, stagnant wages, a looming recession and the possibility of civil unrest.
With the cheapest steak at £16.95 and the most expensive £45.95 - that’s if you don’t include the 16oz or 21oz chateaubriands ‘to share’ at £64.95 and £84.95 respectively - this Clifton steakhouse isn’t within reach of everybody passing the door. In what was previously The Ox before it closed after a serious fire, this is the first Bristol opening for Buenasado, which also has branches in Walton-on-Thames and Reading.
Eagle-eyed Bristol foodies and locals might recognise charming GM Max Bickford as he used to be a butcher at nearby Ruby and White. I’m told there’s also a former chef from the popular and now closed Cowshed in the kitchen so the owners of Buenasado have clearly recruited well.
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With its dark and industrial look - think bare brick walls and tables held up with scaffolding poles - it’s no surprise that a few diners have already mistaken it as a new extension of neighbouring Bosco Pizzeria, which shares the same postal address. From our window table, I spotted several people doing a double take when they got out of their Ubers and removed their sunglasses.
Bristol already has a plethora of premier league steakhouses, from Pasture and The Ox to Mugshot and The Ashville. What makes Buenasado different is the fact the grass-fed beef is from Argentina and effectively aged during their long journey by sea to the UK.
It’s not the first time Bristol has had an Argentine steakhouse - who remembers the short-lived Cau on Queens Road? - but it certainly makes a change from restaurants flying the ‘local’ flag when it comes to sourcing meat. There’s also a decent choice for non meat-eaters.
Vegetarian or vegan visitors could kick off with chargrilled Padron peppers served with pink-hued Malbec salt and move on to a main course of Portobello mushroom and Provolone cheese burger. Alternatively, there’ aubergine escalope with slow-cooked tomato and melted goats’ cheese or tagliatelle al funghi.
Apart from a few bottles from Spain and Italy, the wine list is almost exclusively Argentine. And if you like Malbec, you are spoiled for choice - I spotted seven, from the house Malbec at £27.50 to £65 for the Mendel Malbec from Mendoza.
We began with the gambas (£9.50) - five juicy, herb-flecked king prawns cooked in a white wine, lemon and garlic sauce. It was a decent sauce, but just a shame the measly single slice of toast wasn’t enough to mop up it all up.
Apart from steaks, there are plenty of other options. The cheapest main course is the chargrilled spatchcock half chicken with lemon and herb marinade at £15.50 and fish fans can order a fillet of Aegean stone bass with pesto dressing and a choice of potato for £19.95.
The signature chargrilled steaks come in three sizes - 8oz, 9oz or 11oz. They range from the 8oz cuadril (‘heart of rump’) at £16.95 to the 11oz lomo (‘fillet or tenderloin’) at £40.95.
The steaks are served with a choice of fries, chips or mashed potato and a salad garnish. Sauces are an additional £2.75 and all vegetable side dishes are £4.95 so the bill soon mounts up.
We went for the 8oz fillet (£29.95) and the 9oz sirloin (£23.50), both medium-rare. Each steak had been cooked with great care and rested to ensure maximum juiciness - both cuts were impressively tender and boasting a real depth of flavour.
The fries were golden, crisp-edged and generously seasoned. A side dish of tenderstem broccoli topped with slices of red chilli was perfectly cooked and slightly al dente.
OK, I’ve had far better chimichurri sauces - this one was too oily - and the promised salad garnish was no more than a pinch of leaves - but that’s as far as any criticism goes. Desserts - all £7.50 - were a mixed bag, though.
Lemon meringue pie was zesty enough but the pastry was a little soft and claggy, the layer of meringue too loose. Much better was the creamy dulce de leche cheesecake which was surprisingly light and not too sweet.
The start of a cost of living crisis might not be the best time to launch an upmarket steakhouse but there will be plenty of people living in £2m houses near Buenasado who won’t blink at the prices and warmly welcome this new neighbourhood restaurant to the area. For the rest of us, Buenasado will be an occasional treat but we certainly enjoyed our first visit and wouldn’t hesitate to go back.
In a city already well served when it comes to high quality steak restaurants, it’s a welcome addition. And with tables at places like Pasture and The Ox always so hard to secure, Buenasado is sure to pick up plenty of business as a very capable and enjoyable substitute.
Buenasado is open Sunday-Thursday 12pm-10pm and Saturday/Sunday 12pm-11pm.
Buenasado, 96a Whiteladies Road, Bristol, BS8 2QZ. Tel: 0117 9237770.
