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Over the last 8 months of living in Buenos Aires we’ve had the pleasure of visiting quite a few of the city’s excellent restaurants. We had some family in town recently and on their final night here we decided to give them a fancy last hurrah dinner at one of the best restaurants in the city.
We used this, normally very reliable, Argentine restaurant website to make our selection: http://guiaoleo.com.ar/list.php?orderby=Comida&ad=desc&Rank=true&pricemin=80
We should’ve been paying more attention because the restaurant in question was French ‘haute cuisine’ and that’s not exactly what we were in the mood for… and we found out that the restaurant is haute price as well without the equivalent value… It was by far the most expensive meal we’ve had and the food was not notable in any way other way than the small oddly-presented portions… Also, there was an extreme lack of selections. We kept flipping back and forth puzzling over the two pages of the menu. The wine list wasn’t lacking in selections as long as those selections cost more than $100 pesos…
There’s a fine line between fine dining and farce in the realm of haute cuisine… pretty presentation only goes so far when the stakes are raised by high prices… We’re sure one could have a fulfilling and sophisticated dining experience in this establishment, but we felt like we got worked-over like suckers.
Any day of the week we’d take a steak at La Cabrera in Palermo or the Balcony in Recoleta over that other clap-trap.
Until next time.
It’s snowing today and really coming down… No sooner did we finish our last post about how mild the climate is than the temperature dips to historic levels and a snowstorm kicks up the likes of which hasn’t been seen in 89 years… I’m looking out the window at snow accumulating on palm trees…
The weather practically eclipsed a national holiday today, when Argentines celebrate their independence from Spain… The streets and shops were dead, which usually happens during holidays here. We had to go over to the tourist area of Recoleta for lunch. We were actually well rewarded for the decision.
At the ‘Balcony’ Steak House across from the Four Seasons we had a killer sirloin… one of the best steaks we’ve had in a while… It was 30 pesos or $10… Definitely grassfed beef, unlike the feedlot beef that Yanqui Mike recently noticed has been slowly edging into the Argentine marketplace. That would be a travesty if the famed Argentine beef would be degraded to lesser quality following the plight of the US market… But we’ll worry about that in a future post.
Signing-off from snowy BA…
It’s no secret that they eat late here in Argentina, but for whatever reason the reality of this fact takes time to sink in…
We hold out for as long as we possibly can, till around 8:30 when the restaurants will actually let you in, and then we’re usually the first or second people there… When we finish dinner at around 9:30-10 we know that things are only just starting to pick up.
It takes some getting used to.
One secret to holding out till so late to eat is maté. We’re always impressed by the feeling of well-being after drinking maté. Also, this yerba tea helps stymie your hunger…
When we were in Salta, a gaucho who worked on the farm we visited would pretty much only drink maté throughout the day and then eat a big dinner… He was slim and trim… He inspired us to invent ‘The Gaucho Diet’, a new and exciting diet craze consisting of drinking maté, horse-back riding, spending many lonely days out under the big open sky, and wearing cool traditional outfits…
Or maybe it’s just the maté. Whatever it is the Argentines eat good food, lots of meats and carbs, things that taste good. They eat late. They do everything that Americans are not supposed to do… yet, it’s very rare to see a fat Argentine…
With friends in town we’ve been going out to eat a lot lately… Visiting these restaurants has really affirmed something we’ve thought since we got here… Argentines know food and how to cook!
The ingredients, the execution, and presentation are of very high-quality in most of the better restaurants. The steak goes with out saying, but we’ve been impressed with so many other dishes as well…
We’re going to go way out on a limb, and venture that, unless you’re a multi-millionaire who can afford the outrageous prices of nicer establishments in New York or Paris, Buenos Aires offers some of the best options for great cuisine anywhere in the world.
The salmon, in the salmon sushi is amazing… We’ve heard it comes from Barlioche, near the border with Chile, and from Chile itself…
And the vino, oh the vino… so many great whites and reds, you can hardly ever go wrong…
We’re going to put together a list for you, dear reader, of restaurants we’ve enjoyed, and recommendations from some trusted sources…
Last night we had a delicious white wine with our dinner that has become our favorite white… It was a torrentes, made from a unique Argentine high altitude grape.
We discovered the torrentes wines on our first trip to Salta last year. We visited, what’s considered, one of the highest altitude wineries in the world (~8,000 ft)… Colome, in the foothills of the Andes (pictured above).
Torrentes wine is crisp without being tart. We highly recommend it, if you can get your hands on a bottle…
Here are more pictures from Colome, which in itself is a very special place…
Yesterday it was a holiday here in Buenos Aires to honor the War for the Malivinas, which I wrote about on Sunday… We didn’t allow ourselves much of a holiday here at Discovering BA, no, we were chained to our computer as usual.
But we treated ourselves to a nice dinner out over at the Buenos Aires Design Center last night. The place was buzzing with holiday activity when we arrived around 8PM.
We decided on the Italian restaurant we like… Primafila, as their terrace looked the most appealing.
It was a full moon out and the night air still had some of the warmth from the day… it was perfect.
After some excessive and delicious gorging, we waddled back home at around 10pm.
We are going to look at a house for sale today… we’ll report to you about that tomorrow, dear reader, if it’s anything interesting…
We live in the Retiro area of BA, near the border with Recoleta. Most of the time we’ve been here we would usually head into Recoleta for dinner and drinks. But recently we’ve found that Retiro also has a lot to offer. There’s a nice strip of bars and restaurants on San Martin street, behind the Marriott and San Martin Plaza.
The Dada Bar, pictured above, http://www.whatsupbuenosaires.com/tourism/goingout_view.php?id=141 is a nice quirky little bar/restaurant. We haven’t tried the food yet. But it’s supposed to be good. San Martin street runs parallel with the main tourist drag Florida which is closed off from cars. Both streets begin at San Martin Plaza which is a very nice park (pictures to come).
Some friends are in town on a tour of Argentine investment opportunities in both real estate and stocks. They’re headed out to Salta for the first leg of their tour. With one night in BA, we took them out to a swank bar/restaurant in a very well preserved and converted mansion with a beautiful courtyard. We somehow fen-angled the best seats in the house on the balcony (the balcony at the top of the stairs in the photo) overlooking the courtyard. You can see pictures here on their quirky flash website (if you can figure out how to navigate it): http://www.milion.com.ar/w2/index.html More photos and reviews here: http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/South_America/Argentina/Distrito_Federal/Buenos_Aires-1541981/Nightlife-Buenos_Aires-Milion-BR-1.html
The current owner inherited the place in the late 90’s and as a young man he struggled to maintain it and pay all the expenses etc. Then when the financial turmoil of the early 2000’s struck he did the only thing he could think of to save the place and not have to sell… he started a bar in the basement… When that was successful he opened a restaurant on the first floor. The food was not great. But the ambiance more than makes up for it and they make some good drinks including a tasty scotch mojito. The place is now internationally known, and worth a visit if you’re in BA…
We’re starting to figure out where the locals go, where the good values are… Last night’s dinner was particularly satisfying… a hip restaurant, great ambiance, good service, cold beer, a surprisingly delicious skirt steak, and the best part… the bill: $14 total!
(I know, some pictures would help. We’re going to get in the habit of taking the camera with us as much as possible…)
In most ways BA is incredibly cheap, example: today’s lunch for two at a nice locals’ tex-mex restaurant with drinks and tip was $12.
For a highend dinner for two with a nice bottle of wine you won’t pay more than $60-80.
Taxis are cheap. A 15-minute ride costs less than $5… But I’ve heard they will rip you off if you’re not paying attention.
Electronics are expensive. Anything that has to be imported is expensive, American or European namebrands… Luckily this is not true of beer. You can get a Stella Artois for $1.50!
I guess it’s politically correct for foreigners to pretend that the low-prices aren’t a major factor in the attractiveness of Argentina… Whatever floats your boat. And besides, you can always find ways of spending more $ than you should!
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