My vote is for Argentinean beef too, although I ended up longing for fish last time I was there. So many meat based dinners were making me feel rather "heavy".

I had some great steaks in Puerto Madero but as some of you have noted quality also differs from cut to cut. My best Argentine beef I have had here in Spain in two different restaurants who I know have the same supplier.

Terroir
 

[QUOTE=jwalkabout]I prefer the taste of Argentinian beef over American beef. American beef is more tender because of the marbling. Argentinian beef does not have as much marbling. I wouldn't say one type is "better" or more "superior" to the other, only that i prefer the tase of Agentinian beef over the other.

QUOTE]

I've never eaten Argentine beef, but I notice the same about venison here in the US....I hate to talk about "terroir" in food, without sounding pretentious, but I can really taste a difference. especially when the deer have been eating acorns. It's an indescribable, nutty, spicy taste; and the meat is a much deeper, richer red. Easier to digest. I like the fact that it has no hormones...and since I only shoot does, it's good for the ecology of the Edwards Plateau.

Also agree with your point about how overprocessed US food is. I'll never forget the first time I ate a real-farm fresh egg....it was "eggier" than anything I'd ever had.

Tomatoes. Pineapples. Peaches....all these things just don't have flavor from the grocery store. I think the real reason Americans are so fat is, our food is just not satisfying!

I've also had steaks from all around the world. One thing we should all be able to agree on is that there is no such thing as a great steak in Europe!

The US is a pretty big place and there are all ranges of steakhouses. Some have fabulous cuts, some not. Some are world class, just as in a great place in Argentina or Brazil, some are not.

I've never had a great steak in Asia-Pac. In fact I really don't like the beef in Australia.

Argentina--best by far
 

I live in California, visit Canqda quite a lot and have been to Buenos Aires three times. Without a dout, the steaks to get in Argentina are better by far than anything I can afford in California and certainly better than anything I've ever had in Canada (even at the hights end restaurants in BC). Personally, I'd take the US beef over Canadian anytime and Argentine over US.

Of course the best way to figure this out is to book a quick trip to BA, stay in Recoleta and eat lomo everyday, along with a nice bottle of Malbec.

Buenos Aires........best Argentinian steak, medium rare, a glass of full-bodied red wine........all for less than $10! Can't be beaten! Aaaaaaah! Memories! :)

You know, I was just thinking that it would be really cool if there were a restaurant out there that allowed you to sample different types of beef side-by-side, or at least offered different kinds on their menu. Every restaurant I know of makes the choice for you -- Midwestern grain-fed; hormone, anti-biotic free grass fed; grazed; Argentinian; American; etc. But, hey, for the real connoisseurs among us out there, I think it would be a great thing to have a comparative "tasting" as it were -- let me have a sampler of grain fed, grass fed, Argentinian, American, heck throw in Kobe if you want. I don't care. I think there are a lot of interesting possibilities to explore. It would make comparison a lot easier, and it'd be a heck of a fun thing to do.

A lomo (fillet) or chorizo (sirloin) is going to set you back something like $4-5 even in a good parilla in Buenos Aires and a great bottle of wine can be had for c.$7.

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Please do not make a mistake between "chorizo" and "bife de chorizo" when ordering in Argentina. The meat is Bife de chorizo, while chorizo is like a pork sausage. Anyway you must try both!

cheers from Buenos Aires
Eduardo

As the person who originally posted this question and having just returned from Argentina, I can now answer the question for myself.

I do not like beef from Argentina.

In fact, I will even go so far as to say that I hate beef from Argentina, and here are the reasons:

• I hate the fact that the quality of beef from Argentina, for the most part, surpasses beef from the United States in terms of texture and taste. Beef from the United States will never be quite the same to me ever again.
• I hate that a steak from Argentina, cooked to absolute perfection, is only a fraction of the price of a similar cut of beef from the United States — and few places around the United States offer beef similar in quality and taste to that of Argentina.
• I hate eating that last delectable morsel of a steak from Argentina, as it means that my gastronomic experience has once again come to an end.
• I hate that a real steak from Argentina is so far away from where I live.

I hate beef from Argentina...

Well. Said
 

I grew up in Argentina and I have to say that beef in the US or anywhere else cannot compete to Argentine beef. Even the cheapest steaks which are the short ribs surpass any filet that I have had here in the states. In NYC there is a great restaurant in Jackson Heights and in Seatle there is great parilla. Other than that I have to go to Argentina.

I cannot remember where I read this but the article said that Argentine beef is good for you.

If one wants a great steak in the United States, one usually has to carefully search out a specialty steakhouse where prime beef costs a fortune.

In Argentina — and even in Uruguay — one basically cannot go wrong in choosing any parrilla in which to walk in and order a very good or excellent cut of steak.

I personally had never been disappointed with steaks in Argentina or Uruguay, and I ate in a number of parrillas while I was there...

You know the feeling that you have after you have flown first class and ride in coach?that is how I feel about US beef compared to beef from Argentina,You know what it can be,Every time I buy and cook a filet that I pay good $ for I say to my wife,This does not compare,i am ruined on US beef forever.

I've grown up on American beef, but after having a fair amount of Argentinian beef I agree with most posters - it tastes different, and after the first one or two it definitely tastes better. I believe it took me a while to get used to the "grass-fed" vs. "corn-fed" taste, but once I did, the ballgame was over.

Well, almost over. Then I went to Tokyo and had Wagyu beef at the teppanyaki restaurant on the top floor of the Westin in Ebisu, and now everything else (yes, including Argentinian beef, but especially American beef) reminds me of how good that Wagyu meat was. Tasty, incredibly marbled, and absolutely melt-in-your-mouth. No chewing necessary. (Umm, not exactly, but it sounded good so I added it ...)

D*mn. I'm not scheduled to visit Tokyo again until December, but I'm getting hungry. If I come into some unexpected money, I'll put it aside and see if I can find real Kobe beef in Japan. THAT should be an experience.

Damn. Now you've done it. Now I gotta book another trip down there. :D

Gee, thanks Canarsie for making me really hungry now. I want some Argentinian Beef, NOW!!!! :D

Don't blame me if you spend your retirement savings to fly to/from Cabana las Lilas for lomo. :D