Gaucho100K

Yes... apenas mas que a punto would be perfect!!! ^

dg4255

Just returned from a dinner at Parrilla 1880. Interesting. Good food. Very understated decor. Extremely local crowd without a single tourist in the place (of course, except us). Food was great. We had the most expensive champagne (Chandon), a very good bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon (Bodega Luigi Bosca 2004), tons of food including 4 steaks and dessert. Total was €63. SIXTY-THREE EURO!!! WOWOWOWOWOWOW!!! The provolota completa was excellent. All of the steaks were amazing. Our server, Oscar, was superb. We arrived at 815pm and that is too early. Definitely make a reservation, but go at 9 or 10pm. Better ambiance. I would recommend this place, but don't arrive in formal wear. This is a place that focuses on the food, not the attitude or pretense that one might see in other places in BsAs.

Gaucho100K

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Great review... glad you enjoyed 1880 !!

lili

I've gathered the names of all the great places, parillas and upscale restaurants.
I know we can get huge "very good" steaks for not very many pesos.

Reading here, Chowhound, eGullet and other more tourisitc places, I'm not sure I understand what people are talking about. From Slow Foods Argentina "Vacio: Vacio is a very fatty cut. A flank steak (bottom of the porterhouse)" and one site said flank is same as skirt steak. Not!

At home I buy Costco filets or American Kobe-Waygu and cook them to my own perfection. Never order steak in a restaurant, as they just don't cook them properly (perhaps excluding Morton's, Wollensky's and the like.)

So I'm not looking for a $10 steak too huge for the plate, but one of great quality and expert cooking. Where would one find quality rather than quantity?

(We are semi-committed to Rodi Bar on Monday, Mi Tierra in Mendoza on Tues, 1884 Mallman on Weds., Thursday ??? , Casa Saltshaker on Friday, Rio Alba and Sucre on Saturday Sunday and Monday will be at Sheraton in Igauzu? Dinner suggestions, anyone??.

KathyWdrf

In Puerto Iguazu, Restaurante La Rueda ("The Wheel") is excellent! You must eat there at least one night while at Iguazu. Two years ago, some other FTers and I had a wonderful dinner there. Since there were four of us dining, we ordered a diverse bunch of dishes (IIRC, some steaks, some Italian, some side dishes) and shared most of them.

Gaucho100K

Hi Lili-- Its hard for me to answer your question without knowing details of what you consider to be quality. Some carnivores are adamant about tenderness, others want full gamy flavour and dont care much about tenderness (this is my case), others like to switch around cuts of meat instead of eating the same cut all the time (also my case), etc. etc.

Restaurants in Argentina will be able to cook your meat properly, that is a given. From what you post as your usual cuts of meat, you should probably be ordering the following cuts here in Buenos Aires:

Bife de Lomo
Bife de Chorizo
Bife con Lomo
Ojo de Bife

Gaucho100K

Lili-- I forgot to add a few comments to your restaurant selection. I love Rodi Bar and go there very often... but if usually go to places like Smith & Wollensky then make sure you understand what Rodi Bar is.... its a very bare bones eatery with very little detail to presentation and very simple cuisine....

I dont know how best to explain this but at Rodi, the guy cooking is a "cook" more than a "chef".

Also, you should consider adding La Brigada de San Telmo to your eat meating list.... if you can deal with your beef being cooked rare.

lili

Thanks! Yes, Rodi is for the night we arrive bleary-eyed and not up to much of anything. It just looks appealing to me and it's near our hotel.

I'm sure everything will be great an it will be the usual FT great time. Will defintely try La Rueda in Igauzu, Kathy!

dg4255

Just finished a wonderful meal at Empire Bar. We had the mixed satay and the calamari. While the sauce for the calamari was not to my liking, the satay was exquisite. The peanut sauce was perhaps some of the best I've ever had. I had the Penang Curry which had such an amazing spicy kick to it. My friends had the Kai Pad and Pad Thai. The Pad Thai was a tad too salty, but the Kai Pad was perfect! Washed down with a few beers, this was definitely one of the best Thai restaurants I've been to outside of Thailand. Highly recommend it. And the service was impeccable. Not only polite, but very efficient and extremely friendly. It is located at Tres Sargentos 427 in Retiro just a few blocks from Florida.

Gaucho100K

Thanks for this review.... I have to say that Im generally very skeptical about asian cuisine here in EZE, but I had already heard good things about Empire Thai and the above review just broke the Camel's back....

In other words... Im going to check out this place next week... ^

Gaucho100K

Im very sad to report that after having received three less than stellar (2 negative and one neutral) reviews from folks I have sent to this restaurant, I am for the moment removing Nectarine from my list of recommendated places to dine in Buenos Aires...

I will be having dinner there in the next couple of weeks to get an updated review of how the food & service are performing, and will report back.

Cholula

I know that most everybody heads to Buenos Aires for the beef.

But a fellow FT’er pointed me to this article which points out how gnocchi, of all things, takes center stage on the 29th of every month.

Just an FYI for anyone who happens to be in EZE on the 29th of X month.

Gaucho100K

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Great post, Cholula! You are spot on about this tradition!!

jmc123

I´m in BA now. Last night was my first night in town. On the recommendation of the Claridge Hotel, we went to Cabana Las Lilas. We didn´t care for the Ojo de Bife (Ribeye) as it was comparable to what we can get at Costco. However, the Medallion de Lomo (essentially a filet) was AMAZING. We usually get the Costco filets and trim them ourselves into 4 inch thick pieces that´s just hard to beat (including what you can get at the top notch steak houses) since Costco gets their beef from Harris Ranch in Coalinga, CA. However, the Medallion de Lomo definitely beat that - it was so TENDER (have never had a filet that TENDER and juicy) and flavorful, and it was cooked exactly medium rare (so hard to find restaurants that get it perfectly right). This was better than Morton´s in NY, Smith & Wollensky´s in NY, Ruth Chris in NY, Peter Lugar (although Peter Lugar is an entirely different style), the Chop House in Chicago, Harris Ranch in CA. The steaks at Cabana Las Lilas were US$20 a person, which we thought were a bargain. Another hotel guest, however, that there were better/equally great places to go for less. What are your thoughts? (We strongly prefer filet cuts)

Panam Clipper

Consider going to La Cabaña (not affiliated to Las Lilas)
http://www.lacabanabuenosaires.com.a...b_a2a_home.jsp