Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
A meat-lover’s paradise
ASSOCIATED with Italian restaurant Il Leone Mastrantonio on the corner of the same road, Don Armando specialises in Argentinian-style steaks and grills. This is not the place to take your vegetarian friends.
Located in a tiny converted house with an upstairs, downstairs and three-table upper balcony, Don Armando is cosy and intimate. The clever use of a mirror at the foot of the steep staircase gives the illusion of a bigger space.
The restaurant was full to capacity on the night we were there, although out on the balcony we didn’t realise except when the waiters flitted in and out and the pleasant tinkle and clatter of happy dinners spilled on to the balcony where we had requested our table.
The menu comprises starters, salads and several side dishes, but the star of the show is the meat. It dominates the starters too – grilled sweetbread, chorizo, Argentinian blood sausage, along with meat or vegetable empanadas, prawn skewers and a lamb skewer (R70), which we shared.
The grilled lamb cubes alternated with onion and grilled red pepper and was served on a bed of courgette strings and kernels of corn.
The grillados, or main courses, are meat, all meat and nothing, but meat (as long as you count chicken and fish in that general category).
Almost all come in two sizes depending on the cut; the exception is The Don, a standard 600g on-thebone sirloin. For example, the bife angoto con lomo, or T-bone, is available in 500g or 1 200g.
Argentinian short rib can be 400g or 600g, while lamb rib chops are served in 300g or 500g portions. You get the idea.
My steak partner always has sirloin. It’s his favourite and even though I pointed out this makes reviews boring and for their purpose I may just as well be eating on my own, he would not be swayed. He had the 400g cut (R185) with fries and a side order of grilled beetroot (R25). I had a 400g prime rib (also R185), ordered rare and it was one of the best steaks I’ve had in a long time… juicy, tender, little bit fatty and full of flavour. I had it with a very nice side salad. All main meals come with a bowl of chimichurri, a condiment made with herbs, garlic, oil and vinegar, which adds a lovely little zing to the grilled meat.
Other main course options include pork chop (whether that’s just one or plural I don’t know, but it can be 250g or 400g), a whole butterflied baby chicken (at 500g that’s about the size of the ones you get off the supermarket rotisserie), deboned chicken thighs and fish of the day. The choice of chips or salad is standard, but additional sides like deep fried baby marrow, cauli mash, pan-fried spinach with garlic and lemon, white bean and green bean salads and deep fried onions, are available.
The wine list is not massive and there are few by the glass. I had the Trapiche malbec, an Argentinian wine (R70 a glass). The bill, with a soft drink, came to R557 without a tip.
The service was excellent.