Thanks for the recommendations for Le Sud. I haven't eaten there for lack of a trustworthy personal recommendation and the fact that the dining room seems a little cold. And often empty. I'd love to join a crowd of expats there, especially if a deal can be arranged.
And I agree with you,
French jurist, about Anciens Combattantes. I went only once and didn't get it.
I second the nominations for Crizia, a personal hangout of mine for a couple years now. My only slight negative is that the food was even better before the last working chef left about a year ago, leaving the kitchen to the chef-owner, who's not always around. Regarding the wine markups, they seem to be fairly consistent in peso value, rather than percentage, so the higher end of the list doesn't seem so overpriced. Bartender Juan is a gem, however, so I often have just a cocktail and maybe a single [ridiculously overpriced] glass of wine.
I don't agree with the proponents of La Bourgogne. Two dinners there were totally ordinary despite the prices. It seems to me the kind of "French" restaurant that fortunately disappeared from France about 30 years ago. Unless invited on someone's expense account, I'll leave it to the tourists staying at the hotel.
Nor do I agree with the naysayers about Chila. Their desgustacions have probably been the most interesting dinners I've had in this city. I agree that ordering 2 plates is not so exciting as the degustacion, which shows the range of the kitchen and is usually organized for great contrast. With wine pairings, the degustacion costs $590, which is about 1/4 the price of a dinner like this in any comparable restaurant outside Argentina. If Michelin covered Buenos Aires, Chila would be starred, possibly with 2 rosettes.
Someone mentioned Marcelo, in the Puerto, which is also a favorite of mine. It doesn't play in the same league as most of the places mentioned thus far in this thread, but the food is consistently delicious in a more familiar way. Huge, sharable portions and always top-quality produce. Prices are high for a BsAs Italian restaurant, but if 3 or 4 people share one
Fritto Mixto de Mare and one
Rigatoni gratinati con ragu, you'll probably still ask the waiter to package leftovers.
No one has mentioned the Casa Cruz, which I usually find the most satisfying kitchen in the city, although the service occasionally annoys me. The food at Tegui, the chef's downscale resto in P. Hollywood, can rise almost to the same level, and the place is generally more fun.
Although the menu could use an update, Thymus still satisfies, sometimes brilliantly.
If the Peruana-Asiático thing gets to you as it does to me at times, Osaka can be amazing. More traditional, the Pozo Santo is a gorgeous and comforting place to enjoy comida peruana moderna.
And a surprise recommendation - Prodeo, a newish "gastro lounge" on Gorritti between the San Martín tracks and Godoy Cruz, where a Dutch chef serves up delightful surprises on menus of 3 - 11 dishes. And the place is a hoot, with concrete tables inset with LEDs, odd-shaped booths, and even an indoor swimming pool!