RESTAURANT REVIEW : Gaucho Grill Makes Beef-Eaters Feel at Home on the Pampas

Argentina is known for its beef. It is less known for its substantial Italian population. This odd combination has produced an original and appealing kind of cooking--some of which can be enjoyed at the Gaucho Grill in Studio City.

Beef is the star here. And since much of it is unobscured by sauces, it is easy to see how splendid its quality is.

Consider the Milenesa, a characteristically successful Argentine-Italian hybrid. Although the traditional Italian veal cutlet is replaced with an enormous, very thinly sliced sheet of beef, there is nothing to regret.

The meat is tender and tasty, and the delicately applied bread crumb and egg batter has been enhanced with garlic, parsley and herbs. It’s as much a pleasant surprise to the tongue as it is to the eye. I like it as it comes, but it can be jazzed up with chimichurri , a lively combination of olive oil, vinegar, garlic, parsley, oregano and chili pepper that is used both as a savory dip for bread and as a barbecue sauce. There’s a good reason for its versatility: It tastes great.

The portions of more conventional beef dishes at the Gaucho Grill were equally generous. A thick sirloin steak, El Grande , was so large that it draped over the edges of the platter that it shared with a mound of curly French fries. The steak was not only large but inherently flavorsome, partly because of the meat itself, which was loose-grained and therefore moist, and partly because the edge fat, which holds much of beef’s flavor, was intact. At $7.95 (or $8.95 substituting salad for the fries), it was a great bargain.

Other equally gratifying beef dishes included bife costilla , a rib-eye steak and asado detira , Argentine-style ribs. The rib-eye steak was as fine as the sirloin, though of different texture and flavor. Our Valley Girl waitress asked if we wanted it “totally rare?” We did. Its tight grain gave it an agreeably buttery feeling in the mouth, and its remarkable tenderness easily withstood the “rare test.” If beef is tender when virtually raw, it passes.

The original Gaucho Grill is on Sunset Boulevard near West Hollywood. In the San Fernando Valley branch, the management has established a welcoming atmosphere in what was once a Pizza Hut. Although some of the chain-restaurant coldness remains, the open kitchen and Mexican terra-cotta floor provide some warmth. Unfortunately, music, varying from rock to Gershwin, is played very loud, adding to the noise bouncing off the hard floor. The terrace, which faces the boulevard, is less raucous.

In spite of its efforts to attract a young, mainstream Valley clientele to this branch of the Gaucho Grill, the management is offering unusual ethnic appetizers.

Provoleta is a sort of gaucho version of a cheese omelet without the eggs: A substantial slice of provolone is melted in a small cast-iron skillet until brown and crispy on the bottom. It comes topped with chopped onion and tomato. The dish was new to me, and I’d gladly go back for more.

There are also grilled sweetbreads ( mollejas ), once a staple of the American table, now making a tentative comeback. Tasting them here makes me wonder why we’ve been doing without them. Empanadas may sound equally exotic, but they are simply turnovers with a well-seasoned beef and onion filling, and bear a comforting resemblance to beef potpie.

Among the occasional specials was another unexpected, but no less welcome appetizer, lengua a la vinagretta-- tender sliced cold beef tongue with a robust olive oil and onion vinaigrette.

The only weaknesses of the Gaucho Grill’s menu are the wines and the desserts. Judging by two of the three Chilean reds that I tried, I’d stick to beer--American, Chilean, Mexican or Dutch--which all go well with this far-from-timid cooking. As for the desserts, an ice cream sundae in a tall water glass looked better than it tasted and proved very difficult to eat.

The flan with dulce de leche (a light brown cream made by reducing milk and sugar) is terrific in very small quantities, but here it was glucose city. The cheesecake and chocolate mousse cake were pedestrian.

If the noise doesn’t bother you, the Gaucho Grill is a perfect place for an interesting and quickly served meal.

Recommended dishes: mollejas , $3.95; provoleta , $2.95; bife costilla , $6.95; El Grande , $7.95.

Gaucho Grill, 11838 Ventura Blvd., Studio City. Open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays. Beer and wine. Parking lot. American Express and Diner’s Club. Dinner for two, food only, $20 to $30.