Best Carne Restaurants

[perry]

I cant speak for Australia. But I can say that, given the brave efforts of the Olive Garden and similar restaurants, the USA is every bit as full of shitty faux "italian" food as any country on earth. And the vast US is full of Food Deserts where there is NOTHING worth eating for a hundred miles.

I dont care much for broad generalisations- I know that, if I do a bit of searching, I can get good Italian food in BA, as well as lots of other great food. And I also know that, meaninglessly and anecdotally, I have gone a week in Utah without a single decent meal.

Anything good, anywhere, requires some work to find.

That is the point why should good food be so difficult to find and why should someone have to travel many miles to be able to access good quality ingredients . This is a problem in Argentina but it is improving with more fresh food markets and more variety of foods . Saying that it has a long way to go . Sushi is a prime example its 99% salmon ( from toxic Chilean salmon farms) Where are the other varieties of fish ? Argentina has a incredible coastline and noone can supply any other fish but salmon in sushi restaurants .

In Peru you have incredible food markets in large cities like Lima . Arequipa, Cusco, or Iquitos . The best food market I saw in South America was in Iquitos Peru with a tremendous array of fruits, vegetables, meats, fishes from the river, local delicacies and much more . It is actually the largest outdoor market in South America in the Belen district . There one can eat incredible fresh flavoursome meals for just 8 soles.

This can also be done in Buenos Aires and there is a huge market for this as witnessed by the Buenos Aires food markets held in different parks every few weeks .

 

[garryl]

If you ask 5 different Argentines this you'll get 5 different answers, so there isn't really a best, however my favorite is Don Julio in Palermo. La Hormiga is high quality too. If you want the best value for the money, go to Estilo Campo in Puerto Madero, still world class quality but often half the price as the more famous ones. Many though are just overpriced tourist traps, stay away from ones like Cabana Las Lilas. I've found you can judge general overall quality by testing their chimichuri, so I normally ask to try it first to see if it's up to code when trying a new place. Bad chimichuri will normally mean poorly prepared meat, if they can get a complicated sauce like chimichuri right though it means they're educated meat men. When purchasing more exotic beefs like Kobe I would also recommend to ask to see the raw meat first to verify authenticity and ask about it's source, I've seen them passing off normal meat as Kobe before.

Outside of the meat the food in Argentina is horrible though.

Expensive places

 

[Stevied]

Wow, lots of haters out there on Argentine food traditions! Well, first, for the OP - I really like Solomila in Nunez, as well as La Escondida, and Besares - these are all relatively mid-range but good parrillas. I second El Mirasol in Recova for a higher prices parrilla.

On Argentine cooking - my wife is Argentine, and I love the food her and her family prepare at home. All of it is made with love. Their homemade gnocchi is amazing - and I’ve never been able to replicate it. Why? Because there is no “recipe” - it’s made by feel - the amounts will depend on the humidity, the type of potato, etc. Whether it’s a simple vegetable tarta, or something more elaborate - all delicious and made with love based on how they saw their mothers and grandmothers made it.

Yes the pizza is a bit different in the restaurants - different but good. And my sister in law made me the most amazing arugala and roquefort pizza - I still crave it - on cheap pans that have been seasoned for the last 20 years.

Once again - I think its not accurate to generalize like this.

 

[garryl]

My favorite is Don Julio but the lines are crazy so make sure you have a reservation.

Every time I call an expat friend in BA and suggest to have steak, they would say Don Julio (recently won some award as one of top restaurants in the world). I am so tired of that. There are endless places you can have a good meat. For locals, they like to go to more affordable places and order a big platter of mix crap with intestines and kidneys (which make me puke), but they have a good time. Usually you find good steak there too. The difference between the steak at Don Julio and of a popular place for local people is less than 1% if you are a Yankee/Gringo. The price difference is 50%, you do the math. I hate Don Julio, could not stand the time to wait in the line. It costs about 100 dollars for a normal meal of two, 1.5 years ago. What a sh*t deal, you can have same quality of dish in Paris for less than that, or $30 for a nice dinner of two at best restaurant in Athens, or a group of six people at the best restaurant in Kiev with nice wines and steak for 3 hours of dinning, or dinner for 10 people at Sofia Bulgaria for a good time. Argentinians are really ripped off by the things they are offered.

 

[perry]

Every time I call an expat friend in BA and suggest to have steak, they would say Don Julio (recently won some award as one of top restaurants in the world). I am so tired of that. There are endless places you can have a good meat. For locals, they like to go to more affordable places and order a big platter of mix crap with intestines and kidneys (which make me puke), but they have a good time. Usually you find good steak there too. The difference between the steak at Don Julio and of a popular place for local people is less than 1% if you are a Yankee/Gringo. The price difference is 50%, you do the math. I hate Don Julio, could not stand the time to wait in the line. It costs about 100 dollars for a normal meal of two, 1.5 years ago. What a sh*t deal, you can have same quality of dish in Paris for less than that, or $30 for a nice dinner of two at best restaurant in Athens, or a group of six people at the best restaurant in Kiev with nice wines and steak for 3 hours of dinning, or dinner for 10 at Sofia Bulgaria for a good time. Argentinians are really ripped off by the things they are offered.

Garyl the price for two people today at Don Julio is US$ 50 and is imho a excellent restaurant hard to beat for its high quality ingredients , ambience , and pricepoint for quality offered . Restaurant prices in dollar have come down with the devaluation but the tourist restaurants are putting their prices up faster now with the influx of tourists of late . Buenos Aires definetely has great restaurants and some great dishes that are unique to the city . I find tortilla espanola, tarta de acelga, espinaca a la crema, empanadas de tucuman y salta, and their mollejas amongst the best of the world . I wanted to balance my comments about the italian food which while very good in some restaurants and pasta places is not the best in the world imho .

Argentina can be exceptional for simple dishes using high quality ingredients . their tartas and empanadas are the best in South America , their chocolate and deserts are also exceptional and are superior to anywhere else in South America . Peru for example while having terrific food is not known for great cake and pastry shops . Icecream is also the worlds best in Argentina and there are a few icecream stores that are exceptional and world class . . My favourite is the famous original Jauja in El Bolson on Avenida San Martin and in Capital Federal the exceptional Toufic on Guatemala and Armenia . They make superb icecream

 

[Daniel82]

Speaking of food- I got an email reminder that it’s Food Week till Wednesday, with set lunch menus costing 330 pesos and dinner menus for 550 pesos.

Kinda wish I were in BA these days!

 

[perry]

Speaking of food- I got an email reminder that it’s Food Week till Wednesday, with set lunch menus costing 330 pesos and dinner menus for 550 pesos.

Kinda wish I were in BA these days!

Yes magnificient deal and for less than 10 dollars you can have a superb meal . I went to the top notch inmigrante restaurante on Cabrera and Malabia today with a friend and had their lunch special for 330 pesos . From the magnificient bread basket , to the croquetas de acelga con salsa de curry, pork ribs, and crema catalana it was a exceptional meal . This would have cost anywhere in the world triple for the quality and ambience of this excellent restaurant .

 

[Ceviche]

Can we start a thread for fav restaurants and price range for 2 including drinks or wine.

 

[Daniel82]

Happening in Puerto Madero usually offers an excellent set menu during these weeks, considering they are one of the most famous ‘local’ places (this is usually the place porteños opt for in Madero in lieu of Las Lilas) and also normally expensive.

But it’s definitely worth it. And at 550 during this promo a steal.

Amado Budou used to eat there every night.

 

[Ceviche]

I was at Hilton lobby bar tonight. excellent cocktail menu. Really delicious. At approximate 280 per cocktails including all taxes etc. I found it well priced, well worth it.