El Gaucho - Happy Hour

Good gravy, El Gaucho in Bellevue is hard to find, hard to park, and expensive as all get out. But the happy hour prices were half off, and once we got there, both the food and the drinks were phenomenal. Once we sat down in the beautifully padded banquette (both of us sat on the same side; it was THAT cozy) and took the first sips (more like mini-gulps) of our cocktails, all was right with the world.

We decided to do what any self-respecting food blogger would do: inquire about which foods were the tastiest AND the prettiest. It was honestly tasty all the way through, save for the Ahi Tartare which was interesting and flavorful, but it just didn't have the right flavors to punch us in the gut.

Here are some highlights from our three-hour happy hour.

Sun was shining through the bar right on us. Good times.

She had a lemon drop and I had a Pear Argudo, arguably one

of the best cocktails I've ever had. Very smooth.

The waitress suggested the Tenderloin Diablo and it was 

absolutely fantastic. And it was quite a lot, even for the two 

of us with our voracious after-work appetites.

The Fire-Roasted Pepper Flatbread - it was as tasty

as it looked. Again, quite a large portion!

This is the Mac 'n' Coastal Cheddar Cheese dish. Gourmet

Mac 'n' Cheese never tasted so good. Absolutely delicious.

I really wish I would have fallen in love with this dish.

See how beautiful it is? Mixed together, it just lacked

something important. And my friend thought the capers

overtook the flavor of the dish. I have to sadly concur. 

Creme Brulee is a favorite of my friend, so we had to get that

for dessert. The brulee was good, but my friend wasn't 

keen on the fact that it had a citrus overtone and that was never 

mentioned on the menu description. I liked the flavor myself, 

but it did indeed taste of citrus.

The Chocolate Bourbon Cake was so moist, 

it was almost a mousse. 

We honestly expected chocolate lava to pour out from inside. 

It did not, but we weren't the least bit disappointed.

It was probably the best part of the meal. The candied 

pecans, the caramel, the chocolate, the vanilla ice 

cream -- then the warm and the cold... it all 

went together.

(Which is why we photographed the heck out of it!)

Gorgeous AND tasty!

Another fabulous night out -- this time in Bellevue!