I agree, El Pobre Luis is awesome. There are a lot of great steak places in Bs. As., but its a cut above. Just don't go on a night that River Plate is playing at home, the steak house is a couple blocks from the stadium.

Also, be certain to ask for thier chimichurri, they normally don't bring it unless you as, and its very good.

Two more nights in BA for me to try steaks and so far I have to say I'm not impressed. Don't get me wrong the meat quality is great everywhere. But everywhere no matter what I say I get my steak overcooked. I typically like ribeye rare to medium rare, ordering rare at places I know or high end steakhouses.

So far I've tried a few places. At Desnivel I ordered beef de chorizo medium rare, it was a very flavorful steak, probably my favorite taste wise so far in BA but it was cooked somewhere between medium and medium well which was such a shame because I am sure it would have been an amazing steak if not over cooked. The other places I tried were in the area around Sheraton Libertador. One was Al Carbón on Reconquista 875. I ordered a ribeye medium rare and again got an overcooked steak that was decent but didn't have the same flavor of the Desnivel steak. Another place I tried near my hotel was Castelar Cafe & Bar on Esmeralda 799. Another ribeye ordered medium rare that was a bit overcooked but not as much as the other places. The worse steak I've ever had anywhere and the only time ever I didn't eat a steak that was served to me was at my hotel in the lobby restaurant. Ordered a ribeye medium rare again and got, not sure what cut but it wasn't ribeye and it was so overcooked that I wasn't able to cut it without difficulty. Finally tonight I went to Parrilla Al Carbón which was near Al Carbón but I can't seem to find the address. It's 1 block off of Cordoba and 1 block off of Florida right on the corner with curtains closing all windows. So far probably best overall meal I had at a BA Parrilla. This time I ordered my ribeye rare and also since it was after reading this thread I asked for it to be jugoso and I got a steak that was rare to medium rare in the middle but medium on the outside. It wasn't as flavorful as the steak in Desnivel and still a little more cooked than I would have liked. Funny enough the guy sitting at a table opposite mine ordered right before me, he ordered a beef de chorizo medium rare and I was able to see from a few feet away that he was eating a proper medium rare steak that was way bloodier than mine. Otherwise still a great meal at about double the price of Desnivel. I may try them again tomorrow night and try a different cut, their menu had a lot of options.

Just to clarify when I say I'm not impressed I meant that because sadly I've cooked a better tasting Costco USDA choice cut ribeye at home on my frying pan than I've had at any of the above mentioned places. I am far from an expert when it comes to cooking steak.

I am wondering if more feedlot beef is creeping into the parrilla meat supplies :mad: and the cooks just don't know that it doesn't cook the same way. Beef quality is, unfortunately, down over the past handful of years, and it doesn't look like it is going to go back up anytime soon. I've generally never had a problem with overcooked meat in BA, in fact, a lot of places historically refuse to cook it too well done, because with grass fed beef, you can't really eat it.

The best beef I've eaten in the capital has been at La Brigada, but I haven't been in at least a year. El DesNivel is variable, but it is convenient. El Pobre Luis, one visit, it was acceptable but not worth a trip across town (in March). My "parrilla del barrio" run of the mill places have been extremely variable, from meh, to pretty good. No home runs in quite awhile.

Try this place, one of my favorites in BsAs
 

greendx: Try this place one of my favorites in BsAs ( and I have been to over 25 of them over the years ) I normally go by myself for lunch ( full of local businesmen ) A great find for a true BsAs meal:: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran..._District.html

Sadly, Feedlot Beef is to blame for the downhill quality of the meats.... :(

Just wanted to add that the place I said was called Parrilla Al Carbón is actually called El Establo. Their plates say Parrilla Al Carbón Cafe and Bar El Establo. I went back there last night and this time ordered the short ribs as I wanted to try a different cut. Well it wasn't the same thing that you would get in a US restaurant when ordering short ribs that are generally served in a very small portion and they tend to fall right off the bone. Here you get a very generous portion, it was four slabs of ribs. I couldn't finish it all. Ordered it medium rare jugoso. Was served medium / medium well. Probably should have gone for the skirt steak as one would really have to over cook it to screw it up.

Last night in BA tonight. I don't know if I can eat anymore steak but I'll see how the day goes. If I can work up an appetite again will try a different place. Thanks all for the suggestions.

Follow up on my last night in BA. Went back to Desnivel for lunch. Tried to order the flank steak but they didn't have any. Ended up getting beef de chorizo again this time rare. Sadly it was just a little less over cooked than the first time, nowhere near rare and didn't even taste as good as last time.

For dinner I went to La Brigada. I ordered cured ham (prosciutto) for appetizer. It was a bit frozen, otherwise ok. For steak I wanted to order the skirt steak but they were out so I went with the ribeye rare. Finally I received a perfectly cooked steak in BA. It was a bit on the salty side but it was really good. It was a very tender thick lean cut. Definitely doesn't look like what I am used to back home and it did look a bit like the ribeye I got at the Sheraton a few days earlier but in this case it was cooked right. The one thing I read in some of the reviews for La Brigada is that they can cut their meat with a spoon. Well that seems to be their shtick and I guess that's not a bad thing. The table next to me had a party of six. They all ordered the same thing, I think it was the fillet so a large piece of meat was brought over to their table and cut into 6 slices table side with a spoon. Funny thing about it was that 4-5 of the 6 ended up sending their steak back to get it cooked further. From where I was sitting it looked like they were initially served a really nice bloody medium rare.

I think if/when I come back to BA I'll start with La Brigada and try some of their other cuts. While not the best steak I've ever had it was very good.

@Flying Machine Sadly didn't get a chance to go to go to Parrilla Pena but wish I did instead of going to Desnivel for the second time but was in the area of Desnivel already during lunch. Thanks for your recommendation.

Catching up on BA Steak
 

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Since there are pages and pages of posts about parillas (steak houses), I don't want to touch that, but I do want to comment on the OP's question on cigars. I am a woman :) but I probably know more about cigars than at least 75% of most men. :D

Anyway, there are 2 shops that I have not encountered fakes so I will only mention these 2. First the one I do not shop at, although you will find a perfectly good cuban there. La Casa del Habano on Calle San Martin 690. They are certified to be real. The reason I do not shop there is because the sales women there was rude to me more than once, does not really know the product, and would not let me touch the cigar (and if I am buying a $15 (USD stick) I want to touch it. There site is here anyway. http://www.lacasadelhabano.com.ar/

Davidoff (the only place I will shop) is just a few blocks away on Maipu between Cordoba and Paraguay). They know their stuff. They let me touch away. They speak english (they speak spanish to me and english to the friends I bring visiting from the states). The manager has been there for at least the 7 years I have lived here and so has his employee. They have a really nice room downstairs (big leather chairs and couches) they will let you sit and smoke in if you buy a few cigars. They are not open on weekend or late so you have to go business hours. Also, if you are here for a long time and miss a good Dominican cigar (the horrors! but you will get sick of always smoking Cubans and I bring cigars from the States here now), you can get some non-Cubans there too. :)

There is a huge issue with getting proper Cubans in Buenos Aires..... aside from the import restrictions, it must be said that getting proper Cubans from Cuba is also not easy... the top of the line stuff is in very strong demand and the Cubans cant produce enough of the real stuff.

Fakes are all over the place.... btw, most of these are from Cuba, they are just not the real thing.... ;)

Interesting discussion about cigars. ^

I smoke cigarettes and the odd pipe but I've never really got into cigars for some reason....no idea why. I have seen what the shops here offer and it seems they sell more flavoured cigars than the normal variety. :confused:

Yes... out in the sticks I always see the sweet flavoured stuff sold mostly at Gas Stations.... horrible stuff, reminds me of RSJ !!!!! :mad:

The three streak places that I managed to get to while in BA. I really wish that I could have had a few more nights to get past the well known places and down to figuring out which small neighborhood place actually has the best beef. Overall, I was impressed. Very good, everywhere. :)

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-j...0/IMG_3439.JPG

Don Julio: Best bang for the buck, and arguably the best steak we had there.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-g...0/IMG_3223.JPG

Las Cholas: This was one of the nights in the middle where we just wanted more steak, but without the same price as the other places. Pretty good, tasty meat, but not quite as amazing as the other places. The Queso Fundido that we ordered was blah, but everything else was good.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-b...0/IMG_2638.JPG
La Cabrera: More fun than Don Julio (especially when the guy in the cow suit came around to the tables), and actually pretty reasonable. They ended up giving us two bottles of wine to go at the end of the meal. I enjoyed my steak. :)

I think that "Las Cholas" is actually La Cholita, one of our favorite neighborhood places when we stay in Bs As, on Rodriguez Peña next to Cumaná -- I recognize the meat on the wood platter. :)

La Cholita

Unfortunately not, but the next time I am in BA, I will have to check them out. For reference, Las Cholas is located here: http://goo.gl/maps/NpI9F

Very popular for families and it's a big space. It's also a block down from the Antares tap room.