Have visited 3 times 2 times a couple years back . first couple times the food was great really nice meat the 14oz was more than enough.
but on our last visit it was not good - service very poor - people looked miserable and un friendly - went for main course only with with . my partner ordered 11oz rib eye and i had 14oz sirloin although when we got them hers looked bigger than mine! meat had lots of gristle and was clearly a lesser quality meat then before ! - you should live off your good reputation . by maximising profits and providing poor meats - £5 for a portion of chips lol ! i felt ripped off

I've lived opposite this restaurant for the last three years. In the early days it offered an authentic Argentine parilla experience - great meat, no frills and bottles of Qilmes. Even now I don't know a place in the UK that comes close.
Sadly, it has become a victim of it's own success. You now need to book a couple of weeks in advance. They don't need to encourage people to come: they're full up two weeks in advance, and this shows in almost every aspect of your visit. From the couldn't-care-less receptionist answering the phone, to the legendary indifferent/rude/inept service. The quality of the steaks, which still probably makes it worth a trip, fluctuates greatly. Sometimes the meat is very ordinary, and at £20 a steak in a poky Hackney restaurant you take a gamble that could leave you recommending it to your friends with superlatives, or feeling as though you've been taken for granted and ripped off. By the size of their order book, the former is still the more likely, but this is no longer the hidden gem it once was. It's a packed restaurant filled with staff who just don't really care about you - they've got plenty more people coming in afterwards.

lots of reviews seem to be focussing specifically about service, of which we didn't any problem with. The staff were friendly and polite offering us good advice on the meat. My partner and I often worry about the rare to medium rare crisis! When our rare steaks arrived they were perfectly rare as they should be. However we needed them cooked a little more to which they obliged and the steaks returned just as we wanted them.

The problem was the meat itself. We ordered a sirloin and ribeye, which we know is a fattier cut of meat, but that is what gives a rib eye such wonderful flavour. But flavour here is the main issue, the meat just didn't have any depth of flavour at all. Argentinian beef is world renowned but the cuts here just didn't cut it at all! The sirloin was slightly more flavoursome however. The formula and vibe of this place is great but they need to seriously re-evaulate their meat supply. Wine and sides were all fine, great triple cooked chips!

Went on Sunday evening at 6pm and found the service excellent and the food wonderful. The Parrillada Deluxe was a real meat feast, too much for me the wife and child but we'll down size next time. Cooked to perfection (medium rare) and really quickly too. Beautiful bottle of Red (Guggenheim.) Not a massive choice of side dishes but you know what; I preferred that, the meat is the star, just order extra salad if you want. Could do with sharper steak knives and the bathroom could do with some TLC, although very clean. Look forward to going again with a bigger party next time. Surprised at negative feedback posted previously, either it was unfair or the staff have made great efforts to improve.

Very disappointed with this restaurant. On the recommendation of a friend we went there last saturday night and from the moment we walked in it went pretty much downhill.

The waiters didn't seem to want to bring over a menu, we were in and out within 45 minutes having had 2 courses, and the food wasn't great.

Once we had ordered our food the waiter brought over a few slices of bread and two jacobs crackers...nice.

My starter of Serrano ham with palm hearts was very average and was served with what was clearly a shop bought thousand island dressing.

My biggest gripe however was the tomato and onion salad we ordered to accompany our steaks - this conisted of a small metal bowl with two quartered pale tomatoes and a few slices of old onion.

No presentation, poor produce and £4.50!!We certainly won't be going back - although I maybe should give an extra star to the only waitress working there on saturday who was very helpful.

If you are thinking of going to this restaurant, then please do so before reading any of these reviews, go to this restaurant without prior judgements and form your own opinions first.

I went on the recommendation of a friend and read these reviews and was to say the least apprehensive as to what awaited me, had i just gone on the recommendation and not read the review i would of been more relaxed.

Once seated myself and two friends awaited the rudeness and bad service we had read about.

What in fact we had was great service brilliant food(portions were very generous to say the least) after the first mouthful and the pleasant service all misconceptions had disappeared, the place was full to the brim and everyone enjoying themselves and me and my friends delighted in seeing all the gastronomic proportions of steak available.

Everyone seemed to want to take home their own doggy bags. I honestly think this was a great place and would be happy to recommend this to friends so please go and try.

Truly appalling place. Four of us went well out of our way on a visit to London on Saturday night last (22/08/09) to eat at this restaurant, as it had been recommended.

I have never been treated so badly in an eatery in my life. It is difficult to know how to begin to describe the contempt with which we were treated.

Many of the myriad problems were down to the waiter, who persisted in blatantly sneering each time we asked him a question.

At the outset he snapped at us when we tried to place an order with him saying his "brain couldn't cope". We had to repeat our orders three times despite the fact that the menu is very limited.

He then returned to the table at least three further times at intervals of some five minutes apart to ask us again what we had ordered and how we wanted our steaks cooked (the steaks were later not cooked to specification).

Notwithstanding this, only three starters were slammed down rudely on our table. When my husband asked where my starter was the waiter shrugged his shoulders and said "what's the problem, it'll be here in 5 or 6 minutes".

Some time later I received my cheese - a gloopy, congealing mess which was rapidly hardening on the cheap tinned plate on which it was served.

Word limits will not allow me to further describe the issues which arose throughout our awful meal, but suffice to say after further repeated abhorrences from the 'waiter' the final straw came after we received a bill with a large 'gratuity' added to it, which naturally, we refused to pay.

We were told that the owner was there that evening and so we asked to speak to him to complain. Our requests to speak to him were repeatedly ignored, despite one of our party approaching the kitchen area.

This awful awful place ruined our entire weekend visit to London. If my review prevents even one other group from having a similar experience to ours, it will be worth it

My wife and I ate at Buen Ayre recently. We sat on stools at the high table that overlooks the grill.

While we were there we saw some interesting behavior. Just after we arrived a couple sat down near us.

They ordered one of the large mixed grill platters. They couldn’t finish most of the meat, especially as the girl was focused primarily on eating the sausages.

We were relieved when they asked to take the remaining meat with them. After the waitress gave the platter to kitchen assistant he gave the chef a nod and packaged up only the inexpensive cuts o meat for the couple.

My wife and I were shocked when he put the meat back on the grill. We watched very carefully to see if the meat would be served again to another table.

Fortunately, it wasn’t. The tall kitchen assistant took it off the grill, sliced it up, and had it for his shift meal.

One can question his scruples but I guess it shows that the staff stands behind their product.

I live near this place and was curious to try it out one day....

tried to make a telephone resesrvation 5 days in advance once but was unpleasantly dealt - arrogantly would be appropriate in this case.

However, i still hadn't ruled out the possibility of going one day but after reading these mixed reviews, on conclusion, food is good but staff sound horrible to me.

I would also have given this place the benefit of doubt had the "owner" not posted an "aggressive" response - this is confirmation of bad attitude and service for me.

I love a good stake but not that much.

I had some friends coming to London for one of their birthdays which I was organising and I had booked a table two weeks in advance and we were all really looking forward to it.

I got a phone call the day before our booking on the Friday saying that we had not turned up and did we still want the table.

I had booked the table for 7pm Saturday. Confused? I was.

I did not book the table for Friday at 9pm but for Saturday at 7pm.

I was told that there was no tables for four free for Saturday and that there was no room for me and my guests.

I asked if there was anything that they could do for me in the future (hint hint) and I was told 'no'.

There was no apology, nothing,just a slightly smug manager.

So I was left on Friday night to try and find a replacement table for a busy Saturday night and I had to break the news to friends that they could not go to the Argentinean steak house that has so many great reviews.

I have been before and enjoyed myself as the food is good, this however shows little consideration for customer service and it should be known.

If I had got a slight apology and a solution then that would have helped. We will maybe one day give them another go, but in the mean time, very disappointed, sorry guys.

And hey, at least we did not turn up on the night to find no table for us.

Sadly thoroughly unimpressed.Terrible terrible service. Their card machine broke whilst we were there and unfortunately we only had a credit card to pay with - one which we could not use at a cash point. We had no other means of paying, so waited for 40 minutes to see if the problem with the card machine would clear.

We were offered no apology for this wait, and no discount. The owner even tried to make us stand so she could have the table back. When they established the machine was completely broken the owner hysterically shrieked at my elderly father "THIS IS NOT MY PROBLEM, IT'S YOURS!" in the full restaurant, and then threatened to call the police.

What an embarrassment; for both parties. She demonstrated this apaulling behaviour to other tables and customers around us also. It was a truly awful experience and the staff and owner demonstrated real inept customer service.

The owner successfully managed to ruin one of the few opportunities I get to see my family, and caused genuine distress and upset, as she couldn't manage to offer a straightforward solution to a fairly basic problem.

I even offered to leave my belongings with them and catch a taxi back to my hotel to collect another card.

I work in the service industry myself, and am shocked at how badly this was dealt with. We waited for over an hour and left leaving our card details so they could authorise the sale in our absence - a simple solution which I suggested in the first place. Awful service, and the vile manager has a really bad attitude. A dismal place. If you enjoy polite and friendly staff and a relaxed atmosphere Do Not visit buen ayre. Utterly shambolic.

I was at Buen Ayre for the first time last night (Tuesday), so not a very busy night for them, though the place was full.
One laast table for the 3 of us.
I read the other reviews before writing this one and I must say I had a wonderful time ! Nice waiter giving us time to choose, advising a wine etc... And everything, especially the meat was delicious !
We had a lot of fun and we muchly appreciated the small glass of port at the end of the meal !
I am guessing that maybe the owner read some of the reviews and improve things ! I am very glad for him as I will certainly go back there ! Even if I live quite far from it !
Laetitia

I am from Argentina and I am not going to denied that the food in this restaurant is not bad but I have to say that the service it's so bad that made me not going there any more even if that means not eating a parrillada.

The last time I have been (for my birthday) the waiters where extremely rude, speaking to me in Spanish when I was the only Spanish speaker in my table, making us ordering more than necessary, ordering for us as the restaurant was full and they said they couldn't wait for us to decide what to have. Unbelievable.

And even making comments on our private conversations.
They are so arrogant... the worse of the Argentinean personality (that unfortunately I may have as well)
Anyway the food is more a less alright although it has nothing to do with an asado in a Buenos Aires modest restaurant (obviously much cheaper).
Ahh and I don't know who made the main review but you won’t ever drink mate after a parrillada!
Mercedes

'been there last night, o my God! I couldn't believe my eyes what has happened there. those people can be extremely rude, the most I have ever seen. I was in so many places but never seen something similar.
I will NEVER EVER go there again. the food is good but it's no worth it, I would better have some triangular sandwiches from tesco express rather than going there again.

Don't even thins about this restaurant unless you like people being rude and aggressive around you.

cheers

This place is all right in terms of interior. The service is nice and polite. We ordered the house white wine and it was a good choice.



We ordered cheese with herbs and pickled oxen tongue; the cheese was good and the tongue was as you would expect - sour and thick. It should be this way most probably but we did not like it.



I loved the steak. Big chunk of meat roasted on one side, just warm on the other. Blood spilling everywhere and this crispy feeling in your mouth at the same time is just perfect. Will be back there again for sure just to have that steak again.

I have been a regular dinner in Santa Maria Del Buen Ayre for a couple of months and have always been treated like a King. The food is simply superb, though a bit more of variety would be great. Never before have I found such good service in my twenty years in London, I have never received anything but smiles and great treatment from the staff.



The Santa Maria Del Buen Ayre is full most of the time and it is impossible to get a table just by popping by. When this has happened the manager has kindly put me on a waiting list and they have called when a table was ready. I advise you to book a table a couple of days in advance if you want to have a choice.



Otherwise do not complain or go to a mediocre and quiet restaurant, there are plenty to choose from in London. If there's something I wouldn't want it’s more people fighting for a table on a Friday night.

I've never had such a bad eating out experience as I did at this place.
Three of us walked in there without a reservation just about 8.30pm last night.

After finally being greeted by a Brazilian waitress we've been told that they have no tables, despite the fact that some people were on coffees. We went for a drink somewhere else and decided to have another go half an hour later. When we did go back (I wish we never did!) got a table just near the door. We've kindly declined her request, as at this point all we wanted is to eat not play table games!

She walked off and talked to some of the chefs and starting pointing at us. I went over to them and said if there is a problem we are happy to go and was assured that everything is ok. And the she comes to our table and says that I've been rude to her! Unbelievable and shocking. I'll never go back to Santa Maria Del Buen Ayre again and I would not recommend it to anyone else.

Santa Maria del Buen Ayre is so exotic that I can't even remember the name after one glass of their wonderful sangria, let alone the whole pitcher I ended up polishing off.

But whatever this place is called the steak I had was the best I’ve ever eaten - so juicy, succulent and melt in the mouth that I’ll be back to the Santa Maria del Buen Ayre just as soon as I can pronounce the name.