SoFlyOn

Just a follow up to Alex's recommendation, Eh! Santino is only a small restaurant, and quite popular. So if you want to be assured of a table, arrive early, say at 8:30, before the crowds.

http://www.guiaoleo.com.ar/detail.php?ID=370

John

HKG_Flyer1

samftla

Friends will be here over Thanksgiving and want to go someplace for a traditional meal. Can someone recommend a place other than the Marriott?

iahphx

So many great restaurants to try, so little time . . . .

One question though --

If I find myself in the Microcentro (near Florida) and I want a great steak at a good price, where should I go? Or would I be significantly better off taking a taxi to one of the previously recommended restaurants?

Thanks!

VPescado

In BsAs Taxi's are cheap.

We've been here one night, and based on our experience, I'd suggest spending 5 USD or so for a ride to Parilla Brigida in San Telmo. It is well enough known that I spoke the address to the cab driver and he said "Ah Brigida? . . . Carne!" and smiled.

We went there last night. My girlfriend ordered the Bife de Lomo and it was the second best steak I've ever eaten in my life.

It only ranked second best as the best was the Bife de Chorizo that I ordered.

iahphx

That's certainly a testimonial! I plan to get to La Brigada. I can't recall ever seeing a parilla recommendation near Florida, even though the area has lots of restaurants.

But maybe few good ones.

tazi

El Establo is in the Microcenter area just a block off Florida. The Bife de lomo there was wonderful and I enjoyed it much more than my meal at La Brigada. Here is a link to a picture:


http://picasaweb.google.com/khaehl/B...50095794649378

iahphx

Thanks for reminding me of that one. I recall a flyertalker got passed counterfeit notes there by a waiter. But it otherwise gets good reviews. If I try it, I'll make sure to have exact change.

Gaucho100K

For another parrilla option, dont forget La Cabrera, which has lately had an important jump in my list of preferred parrilla places.

VPescado

Would that be the location at Cabrera 5127 or Cabrera 5099? They are a half block away from each other, but seem to have the same name (and a decent amount of confusion).

Gaucho100K

They both belong to the same owner.... one is La Cabrera, and the other is La Cabrera Norte.

iahphx

OK, I can now add my two cents worth of experience.

If you want to try La Brigada in San Telmo, phone ahead before your arrival in BA. We made 3 "same day" efforts to get in, all unsuccessful. Throughout Argentina, we kept running into folks who loved the steak there, so I'm guessing it's well worth the effort.

El Establo was a very good "old time" parrilla in Centro. No complaints.

After being turned down by La Brigada, the concierge at our hotel recommended "La Chacrita" in Recoleta for steak. I was beyond skeptical, but we had just come in off the red-eye and didn't feel like hunting for an alternative. It turned out La Chacrita WAS good: my sleepiness at the time prevents me from making an accurate comparative judgment, but if you want a more modern parrilla in Recoleta at a fair price, it's certainly not a bad choice.

We also wanted a late afternoon steak dinner before heading to the airport on our last night in town. Given the off-hour, our local volunteer guide (ciccerone) recommended La Estancia -- "touristy but tasty." He was very much correct. I remembered eating there 19 years ago! I thought the grillmaster did a fantastic job cooking my bife de chorizo (not sure it was the best cut of meat I'd had in Argentina, but it was the best prepared). So don't write that place off as a tourist trap. Fair prices, too, albeit with somewhat spotty service.

For fancier fare, we tried Gaucho's highly-recommended PuraTierra. Gaucho is very much correct -- it's a very nice spot for fine dining. Dinner for 2 with decent but not great wine was about US$60. We were stunned when they presented us an English language menu (helpful in fine dining restaurants, as we would not have understood all the Spanish ingredient and preparation terms). Frankly, I thought the atmosphere and service were better than the food -- which was still very good. We ordered their sampler plate for the appetizer, which was tasty but somewhat lean. For our main dishes, our server recommended the seasoned beef and the glazed pork. We ordered both, and liked the pork better (there's so much good beef in Argentina that an alternative is nice!). For dessert, the chocolate mousse was excellent. The funniest thing about dining in a place like this is that we had the restaurant completely to ourselves until after 9:30. Personally, I like dinning unfashionably early in BA -- you get better service, and who really wants dinner at 11 pm?

Gaucho100K

Glad you enjoyed Pura Tierra.... yes, the dining scene in EZE begins at around 10pm, so dining early does have its advantages.

iahphx

Personally, I think it's good to be unfashionable while eating in Argentina, because you get better service (and dining at 10 pm isn't that conducive to getting a good start the next day). In Patagonia, we tended to eat later (because it got dark well after 9 pm and didn't seem that late), and the service would inevitably decline as more patrons showed up! We passed on at least 2 dessert courses because we just wanted to flee the restaurant and get some rest.

heggers03

Just finished a hugely enjoyable trip to Buenos Aires, this is my first trip back to Argentina in five years! We visited a few of the recommended restaurants
but unfortunatley time would not allow us to visit them all!

Here are my thoughts on a few of them:

Parilla 1880 - Visited this parilla twice and had reservations on both evenings. This was the biggest and best Bife de Chorizo (Sirloin) I have ever eaten, perfectly cooked Žal puntoŽand was exceptionaly tasty, my partner attested her Bife de Lomo (Fillet) was the best she had ever eaten. The food is extremely reasonably priced, the winelist was good and again very reasonably priced. Service was also excellent. This is an exceptional parilla and I would highly recommend.

La Cabera Norte - Had no reservation for a Monday evening, but had no difficulty getting a table. Service was a little 'gruff'' but the Bife de Lomo was perfect, portions huge and and accompaniments were nothing short of superb. Again a good winelist at fairly reasonable prices. Overall very good but more expensive than Parilla 1880 and service was a little bit of a letdown.

PuraTierra - Superb friendly and efficient service. Tuesday evening 10pm and the place was full, we had no reservation, however we got seated at the bar. The food was very good, the winelist excellent at very reasonable prices. I would definitely recommend as a good 'beef' break from BA's Parillas.

Many thanks to Gaucho100k for all the excellent invaluable advice given through this forum. I now am looking forward to the dining recommendations in my next Argentine destination, Mendoza!