San Telmo

You know a place is serious about beef when the wine list is made out of cowhide. In fact, everything about San Telmo (named after an area of Buenos Aires) celebrates the beast. there's more decorative hide behind the dark-brown chesterfields; a feature wall that wouldn't look out of place in a stockyard; and dishes devoted to la carne. Yes, Argentine cuisine is hefty, but it's made to share, so you can savour the best meat dishes around without busting an artery. Their pasture-fed hanger steak, superbly charred on the Mallee-root-fired parrilla (watch the fellas work it from a cushioned kitchen-side stool) comes pre-cut, ready for a dollop of chimichurri - parsley, oregano, olive oil, red-wine vinegar and chilli pounded together. Add to that a pile of lamb sweetbreads puckered with lemon; corn and polenta chips with chipotle dipping sauce; and broccoli fritters with ricotta, and you'll have a meal that would make a gaucho drool.