Since the day this site was launched, I’ve wanted to do a full review of the Pampas Argentine Steakhouse, which for just as long has been sitting pretty on our “Top 33″ list of better Budapest restaurants. I don’t know why I haven’t gotten around to it, and I still plan on doing it – even though, judging by a quick burger I had there a few weeks back, I’m not feeling in any great hurry to return. While the long ceasefire in our Budapest Burgerwar™ left me a little hazy on the finer points of burger rating, what I got at Pampas failed on at least three levels.
The restaurant’s sole burger is advertised on the menu as a “classic American burger made of 20 dkg (200 grams) Angus cattle.” While the patty itself was pretty tasty and quite clearly not of Hungarian origin, it came out well done, even though I had ordered it “medium rare” – further specifying rózsaszín (“pink”) to my server, just to make sure. (And for the record, my server never enquired as to how I’d like it.) Meanwhile, the bun wasn’t half as sturdy as it looks in the above pic, and was in pieces before I got halfway done. But the real killer was the fries, which were cold and limp and otherwise a spectacular waste of carbs and fat calories.
If I don’t sound as aggrieved as I might be, one reason is the price. At Ft 1,880, or €7.70, my burger is priced well below what a place like Pampas probably could get away with. The second reason is that, just to be perfectly fair, I got a sense that the overcooking and fry fiasco were probably flukes. On previous trips to Pampas, my meat has come out the way I’ve put the order in, and I haven’t heard any similar reports of botched meals. So I will give the place another try, though probably after they’ve officially lost the Burgerwar they could have easily won.
How They Stack Up:
Meat: 7/10
Bun: 3/10
Trimmings: 2/10
Service/Settings: 5/10
Value: 6/10
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Total Score: 4.6/10
It beats me why you have Pampas in your top 33. This is a pretty average place in my experience, maybe it’s only redeeming factor is that there are few or no competing steakhouses.
They sometimes don’t have the requested cuts, Service can be quite surly and the trimmings look like they come out of a packet.