Buenos Aires or Montevideo

[Guest Aaron T]

Dinner at steakhouse . Parilla La Cabrera last night. excellent. 4 of us shared 2 entrees and they also brought out an argentine version of panchan. lots of different veggies etc. red cabbage, mushrooms green cabbage, artichokes, pumpkin. my faves were the artichokes and green cabbage. The rib eye was excellent. medium rare and beefy flavor. wonderful malbec. a fun place. long wait for a table but worth it. At Cabrera 5099 in Palermo.

 

Lunch at a parilla in San Telmo called El Desnivel. Less expensive (about 45 pesos all in) but not nearly as good. Skip. more casual äuthentic vibe, a butcher shop / meat market in front. This place had been recommended to me by a friend who lived in BA for a few years until 5 years ago. In the past few years it has been written up in lonely planet, time out, etc and has since expanded and presumably gone downhill.

[Guest Aaron T]

Had drinks at Bar Uriate, in Palermo SoHo. Ok ambiance. I didn´t think it anything noteworthy. Had drinks and dinner a block away at Casa Cruz and it was very cool. The decor was chic in a london, new york, LA kind of way. Walls of shiny darkish red wood (cherry?). back wall of glass showing the bottles in the wine cellar. The bar/lounge is in front. I wanted a drink but didt realize that you have to go up to the bar and order from the bartender, dspite the presence of many waiters. Actually I have not seen so many staff in a restaurant of that size before. Drinks list was among the longest I have seen anywhere. Both classic and signature cocktails. Tried a beverage involving a premium Pisco, limes and sugar. Not bad, but a little too sweet for me.

 

The food: Menu was international. Bread was poor as the crust was so hard it made it hard to eat. Amuse of tongue fried with blue cheese served in a green oil (basil) sauce. not to my taste.

App of provolone cheese souflet. Delicious. Nice and hot and had just the right consistency. Main of rabbit in a black olive and wine sauce. Also quite good, made me forget the medoicre rabbit at the sheraton in iguazu.

Drank a malbec called Sue de los Andes. Nice.

 

Overall recommended, but with the ¨new argentine¨/ international places, they don´t scream Buenos Aires. Fun though as most other restaurants all have the same parilla, empanadas and pasta items on the menus.

 

Expensive.

[Guest Aaron T]

Dinner at Cabana Las Lilas. It was delicious. Including wine, tip etc it was about $55 US a head, the most expensive meal I have had here.

 

Meal started out with a nice assortment of salmon, veggies etc and bread. We ordered an app of grilled provolone. Good but the version of this dish at La Cabrera was better. Sides were a green salad, tossed tableside, and mashed potatos. One of us ordered fish of the day, a whitefish, and she loved it. The others of us ordered a T-bone and Ribeye and shared. both were simply excellent. high quality meat, simply seasoned and grilled to perfection.

 

Wine was nice too, service was good. Only annoyance was that we cought two errors on the bill - they originally charged us for 4 covers instead of 3 and for 2 bottles of wine instead of 1. The error was for a decent chunk of change here.

 

Atmosphere was also excellent, We had an outside table, with a view of the river. Overall the steak was the best I had in Argentina. 1st place in my book for BsA. A strong second place showing to La Cabrera for a wonderful steak and better starters.

 

La Cupertina - located at Cabrera 5296, makes the best empanadas in the city. I tried the carrot, chopped beef, chicken, oonion and cheese and sweet corn empanadas and all were delicious. The restaurant is a bargain. The best $10 lunch I can remember. We ordered a lot as everything was so good. A chivito, a uruguyan sandwich specialty, in which a flat beef sandwich also includes a tomato, an egg and jam, was also ordered. I tried it and removed the ham. very good. the egg was runny. We shared a chocolate dessert that one of us thought was the best cake they had eaten. the portion was so big we could not try more, although i wanted to try the lemon.

 

Rancho - whether or not you stay in Palermo you must make it to La Cabrera and La Cupertina, which are about 2 blocks apart in Palermo SoHo. Las Lilas was worth the splurge. Yum.

 

If anyone finds themselves in San Telmo looking for a parilla, try La Rosalia, at Estados >Unidos 482. website here. not in the lonely planet or time out, so not overrun with tourists,.

[Squeat Mungry]

Aaron,

 

Thanks for these great reports!

 

I have had to postpone my trip to BA due to my upcoming move, but these tips will come in handy when I get down there in the fall (our spring).

 

Cheers!

[nuxvomica]

glad you liked Las Lilas.

 

we liked LAN very much (outstanding service) - much better than Air France, where the food was inedible and the service perfunctory

[Guest Aaron T]

Meant to add that I checked out the Hotel Faena and it reminded me a lot of the Hudson Hotel, when it first opened, except a little more luxe and a lot wierder. A former colleague who lives in BA said some think the whole thing (there is a whole Faena complex on the wayerfront in Porto Madero) is a money laundering scheme....

 

I liked the Art Hotel - the room was small but the ceilings were 12 feet high, so that wasn't a problem. The staff was friendly and helpful and the location was excellent for getting around town, very central to the sights and nighlife, and the cabs in BA are so inexpensive. Most rides were about $3 - $4 US, so I never took the subway or bus. Plus I did a lot of walking. Buenos Aires is a great walking city.

 

A bar I enjoyed, which both Nux and the front desk guy at my hotel reco'd was Milion, on Calle Parana just off Avenida Sante Fe. A converted mansion, there are multiple levels plus a garden and a set of marble stairs leading from the second floor down to the garden. Thanks for the good reco Nux! We closed the place down on Friday night at about 4 am. I am assuming most of the other patrons headed to dance clubs but my friends and I crashed as we were spent.

 

I never experienced any safety issues but I met several international travellers who had. One British woman carried her purse with her hand on it in front of her yet still managed to have her wallet taken from her bag on the subway - she couldnt figure out how it was managed. An American guy I met said a taxi driver told him his bank notes / currency was fake and took 100 pesos from him. I think BA is pretty safe overall, but people need to use common sense, just as in NYC or any other big city. actually a little more vigilance than in nyc. but flashy jewelry, carrying valuables in non secure ways. if one avoids the subways/buses and is juducious in crowds, then the risk can be managed.

[foodie52]

A friend of mine just got back from a week in Argentina. There was $18,000 worth of charges on her credit card that she foolishly used one time in a restaurant. I reminded her how great ATM machines are....

[StephanieL]

Anyone been recently? I'm going in June, and I didn't think I was going to see anything besides my hotel but now I'll be there for 2 extra nights. It'll be me and a couple of (female) coworkers and we'll probably want to stick around Puerto Madero.

[StephanieL]

Bumping this up in case anyone's been lately.

[AaronS]

anyone been to La Vineria de Gualterio Bolívar or know where I can get newer recommendations?

[Blondie]

Any recent reports? I’ve seriously neglected my planning for this trip, so any recommendations are truly appreciated. I’ll be in Buenos Aires for about 2 weeks soon-ish, and then for a few days to a week later in Feb.

 

Nuxvomica’s 12-year old link for Casa Saltshaker still works, and it looks like they might have some availability. My friends who live there are all vegetarians (!), so some of my more meat-centric meals may be solo.

 

Muchas gracias.