Bife de Lomo served with roast potatoes, 24€

After winning this year’s Fooding award, and receiving stellar reviews in most of the Parisian food press, we wondered whether this modest new restaurant would stand up to all the hype. The concept is relatively simple: a young duo of Argentinian architects Marcelo and Enrique took over and updated a kitsch 70s butcher’s shop on the up-and-coming rue Paul Bert, filled it with Eames chairs, a Norman Foster table d’hôte, staffed it with expat Argentinians, and there propose a menu of traditional Argentinian fare, imported from their home country. This down-to-earth steak house is right on the money, and is drawing in handsome crowds of carnivorous Bastille locals. The starter of empanandas, small pies filled with beef, are among the best we’ve ever tasted, and the bife de lomo is a melt-in-the-mouth slab of charcoal-grilled beef served simply with roast potatoes and a choice of three home-made sauces (try the chimichura). If you have space for dessert, go for the dulce de leche, a flawless version of the South-American caramel dessert. AM