The Bush daughters were in BA last weekend and the local press and TV was following every move...... But their hotel choice looks quite good and not too expensive given the fact that hotel rates appear to have increased substantially. They made the wise choice of staying in Palermo rather than downtown like I did!

It was interesting that their hotel and restaurant choices both followed from a New York Times weekend travel section of Nov 19, which was the weekend before they arrived! I found it because I googled the restaurant and hotel after hearing about their exploits on TV.

http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/11/19/travel/tmagazine/19buenosaires.html?em&ex=1164171600&en=5343744e913e3144&ei=5070

http://www.homebuenosaires.com/home/ is the hotel.

Restaurant was Jangada, which is known for its Pacu. I tried to get a table here but they were full so had Pacu another restaurant. It's a good fish.

This place was covered in a post from May 10 to May 14th in the Buenos Aireas master thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=5757633&highlight=home#post5757633

Thanks for the restauarant's name.

It has been funny watching the local press cover their visit. They interviewed staff at Jangada, asking all sorts of questions about what they ate, how much they tipped, etc. Then, on the news last night, I caught a thing where now on the equivalent of eBay for Argentina, there are people selling the assorted things that the Bush girls had here, like a pen they used, or cell phone they rented or some such stuff!

I also read the NYT article, and we went to "La Cabrera". Very nice place, lots of guests waiting outside, however, the food was not great. And yes, very low prices and huge portions - the largest portions I ever had, the waiter was nice enough to warn us (not to order more than the main dish).

I also read the NYT article, and we went to "La Cabrera". Very nice place, lots of guests waiting outside, however, the food was not great. And yes, very low prices and huge portions - the largest portions I ever had, the waiter was nice enough to warn us (not to order more than the main dish).

Interesting..... maybe you should qualify that by discussing whether you even enjoy this type of food? The local consensus is that the food (i.e. the meat) is top notch but service and atmosphere do not get top ratings. So you are telling us that possibly some of the best meat served in Buenos Aires is "not great"?? This restaurant is top rated in the "food" category of all parillas in BA :

E.g. the latest review here:
http://www.guiaoleo.com.ar/detail.php?ID=217

I tried to get a table on Saturday not but not possible....

p.s. Most parillas have 1/2 bife de lomo on the menu. If you are two people then order one and share it.

Interesting..... maybe you should qualify that by discussing whether you even enjoy this type of food? The local consensus is that the food (i.e. the meat) is top notch but service and atmosphere do not get top ratings. So you are telling us that possibly some of the best meat served in Buenos Aires is "not great"?? This restaurant is top rated in the "food" category of all parillas in BA :

E.g. the latest review here:
http://www.guiaoleo.com.ar/detail.php?ID=217

I tried to get a table on Saturday not but not possible....

p.s. Most parillas have 1/2 bife de lomo on the menu. If you are two people then order one and share it.

I checked "GUIAOLEO" (and other sources **)). "GUIAOLEO" is not the best guide .. to say the least. I also went here (27 of 30 for food) http://www.guiaoleo.com.ar/detail.php?ID=1655. Food was not very good! 20 points would be OK.

This one http://www.guiaoleo.com.ar/detail.php?ID=86 is worth 28 of 30 for food, also "Lola" in Recoleta was very good.

Now to "La Cabrera". I had a "Bife Mariposa", a large (huge!) piece of meat, taste and tenderness was OK, but nothing to write home.
Mrs. USAFAN had a 1/2 portion "Lomo", still lots of meat, a little better than my steak.
All dishes come with of least five side-dishes/salads: potatoes, vegetables, two fried eggs .... etc...
We also had a "Newen" Malbec from Patagonia, great wine and only ARS 29.00 (Promo!)
Bottom line: Food OK, but not great, nice ambiance, "friendly" prices and very friendly and helpful waiter. I would go back!

We also had "Lomo" at:

"La Brigada" Parrilla Recoleta Peña 2475 - very good meat, typical Argentinian Parrillada.
and
"Cabaña Las Lilas" Parrilla Puerto Madero Alicia Moreau de Justo 516 - best meat, little touristy. Has only 20 of 30 for food at guiaoleo:confused:

**) Other links:
http://www.saltshaker.net/restaurant-reviews/
http://www.vidalbuzzi.com.ar/
http://www.elgourmet.com/

Ok, although with 86 ratings I figured it would be reliable but maybe 83 of them are by the owners. I guess it's like Zagat, which is utterly useless. Because Americans generally have really bad taste I use it as a contrarian indicator. :p

I went to the top rated sushi restaurant and it was extremely medicore, but I wrote that off as the locals having no clue about sushi. But I figured that they would be very knowledgeable about their meat......

The best food I had on my trip was a Mon-Friday lunch only restaurant called Sabot. I liked 1880 as well, which I found through recommendations on here. The only tourist place I went to was La Chacra, which was quite disappointing.

I tell you there is no point messing around with inferior cuts of meat -- stick with the bife de lomo.

p.s. I had an insane cab-driver who looked someone had nailed over the head with a sledgehammer who was going about a place called Estilo Campo. But I was not too keen on anything in Puerto Madero -- the area has tourist trap written all over it. Las Lilas is nearly next door to a Hooters, for heaven sake.