Originally Posted by runningshoes
A tourist's view on these two places, and Estancia, which we also visited for lunch.
Estancia is more of a typical local's place, dressed up for tourists (two minutes from the Obelisco on Lavalle), great value, and a good selection of meats. Nothing fancy.
El Parillon - (Gaucho - if I remember, this is the spot right across from the Cemetery?), also decent, not a fancy place, great for a nice steak and glass of wine after the tour.
Las Lilas - definately a high end place, owned by a company that raises cattle, expect to pay $30 - $35 per person USD, with a good bottle of wine. IMHO, this is probably one of the top three steak meals I've ever had. The meat just tastes different than in the US - maybe not having all the hormones and crap in the meat is what makes the beef better, I don't know.
In general, we did not have a bad meal and that includes the Argentinian equivalent of a fast food parillijada in one of the malls. I can't get over the fact that you can either have McDonald's or a steak and the price is the same.
A very good assessment above.
As for the difference between US and Argentine beef, apart from the lack of hormones and other goodies, remember that most US beef is grain fed, and beef in Argentina is fed with grass and raised is less "industrialized" methods which allows for less fat concentration in one place (instead there are many small layers of fat that ensure that special taste)....
^