My Restaurant Reviews

mjake

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Hey guys, I will write some reviews on restaurants I've eaten at in this thread.
I won't include every one I visit but rather express my opinion of the more famous ones and I'll inform you about the exceptional ones I may stumble upon.


I'll be completely honest as I have no interest in promoting any of these restaurants. I also don't have to write reviews for a commercial (maybe biased/influenced) website/blog or stand under pressure to deliver a variety of good and bad reviews as some of the reviewers of those sites are.

As for my taste, so you might be able to relate better to me:

I'm from Switzerland and I'm used to Western food. I love meat and vegetables. I eat very little sugar so desserts will rarely be reviewed.
I have a very fine taste.


JUANA M

http://www.juanam.com/centro/index.html

Atmosphere: Great location in gorgeous Recoleta. Super cool atmosphere with life music (laid-back rock, when I was there). Young, friendly and beautiful waitresses (and waiters). It got really busy after 9:30

Food: The bread was fresh and still warm and tasty. But the only served some sort of mustard with it and no butter. (no biggie as you can get sauces at the salad bar) If you order a steak for more than $44 you get unlimited access to the salad buffet. The salad buffet is amazing, you find lots of sauces, vegetables, eggs, and other goodies I have no clue what it was but it tasted great.
The meat: I had a rump steak (bite de cuadril), medium rare. The meat was tough and no delight. It wasn't tenderized nor juicy.

$: With free salad a gogo and cheap rel. meat prices you can really eat an inexpensive meal.

Conclusion: I loved the salad bar and the vibe so much that I'm gonna go back regardless of the disappointment with the meat. Maybe I was just unlucky. If the meat is not better the second time, I will not recommend this restaurant.


LA CABRERA

http://www.parrillalacabrera.com.ar/

Atmosphere: Location is decent in Palermo. It's a bit hectic and there is not enough space to the next table. I was seated outside which I found better than inside which I experienced as dark and noisy. My waiter was old and nice but not charming. The processes in this restaurant a prefect and thought through to the tiniest detail! My bag was unsolicitedly attached to my chair with a cable binder so I wouldn't have to worry about it. When I finished my main course the waiter quickly cleared the table and put a new sheet of paper over the dirty paper on the table. Then he brought the dessert menu. The sauces are all served in little pots and jars. Some of them directly from the cast iron pans. The meat was served on a hot plate so it would stay warm. The waiter was always looking out for me and I was never left waiting needlessly.
With the bill you get a choosing from an array of lollipops and a postcard and a business card of the restaurant and the option to review it. I didn't care about this things but it just shows again how meticulous they are in planning through every step.

The food: I ordered a sirloin steak with olive oil, vinegar and vegetable marinade. No side-dish. I got 600grams of meat. And he came by with several side-dishes for me to choose from. I took a salad with an egg on it, peppers and raisins, beans, spinach with parmesan and cheese, cream sauce, mashed pumpkin, mashed potatoes, sweet chestnut+garlic dish, quail egg, and tons more.
This would have been enough food for two people. I was by myself and yep I finished all. :D But I was more or less fasted for about 24 hours when I entered the resto.
The meat was great! The VARIETY of the side dishes was a delight esp because I didn't expect to get that many. However you could taste that they weren't made up freshly but just kept warm and probably served from a big pot. It was still good but not amazing.
For some reason the eggs were disgusting.

$: It's fairly expensive the main course alone was like $150.

Conclusion: I'd go there again but only with a guest to show them the variety of side dishes and because of the meat. I recommend splitting a meal as you get tons of food.
 
For people to take a review seriously, it would help if you "had a clue" what it was you were eating.

Really, its not that hard to ask.

If I went to Switzerland, and started reviewing the restaurants there, without doing any research on what I was ordering, or even if it was animal, vegetable, or mineral, I dont think many people would find the reviews very informative.
 
Ries said:
For people to take a review seriously, it would help if you "had a clue" what it was you were eating.

Really, its not that hard to ask.

If I went to Switzerland, and started reviewing the restaurants there, without doing any research on what I was ordering, or even if it was animal, vegetable, or mineral, I dont think many people would find the reviews very informative.

can you be more specific with your feedback, how can I make it clearer?
what gave you the impression i had no clue about what I was eating?

I write these reviews with no other intention than providing my honest thoughts on MY dining experiences. i'm also not going to a restaurant with the intention to review it, LOL. I just eat and afterwards if I have thoughts about it I type it down. it may be helpful for people who want to get some additional information on some restaurant. personally i like writing about it and will probably look back on this thread for personal infos.

I don't want to make this into a recommendations thread in the first line as I don't feel comfortable recommending something after 1 meal only. if i can truly vouch for something, don't worry i'll let you know.
 
and other goodies I have no clue what it was but it tasted great

I suspect this is what you may have been referring to.
LOL! wow, I write 2 pages of reviews and explain the main dishes to the detail of how I had the meat cooked and you manage to focus on the ultra-mini detail of 2 petty salad BUFFET side dishes I didn't specify on? what the hell is wrong with you?
 
mjake said:
I suspect this is what you may have been referring to.
LOL! wow, I write 2 pages of reviews and explain the main dishes to the detail of how I had the meat cooked and you manage to focus on the ultra-mini detail of 2 petty salad BUFFET side dishes I didn't specify on? what the hell is wrong with you?


I enjoyed the reviews! Don't let this guy rain on your parade. He is obviously hating life. This board can be a little HARSH I'm finding.
 
mjake said:
I suspect this is what you may have been referring to.
LOL! wow, I write 2 pages of reviews and explain the main dishes to the detail of how I had the meat cooked and you manage to focus on the ultra-mini detail of 2 petty salad BUFFET side dishes I didn't specify on? what the hell is wrong with you?


I think this probably all boils down to use of language. In an earlier post you say that you speak perfect English - and I'm sure you do. I'm also sure you understand that English is more than vocabulary and grammar: it has nuances and layers of subtlety and understanding which can be exasperating for non-native speakers! Your most recent posts show that you had simply wanted to share your discoveries with other people - which is great - and that explains why you felt hurt when your first post in this thread wasn't received that way.

So how was your first post received? I can only speak for myself when I say I felt that you wrote that first message with the air and authority of an experienced restaurant critic but because the content was really just that of a nice guy trying to be helpful, it didn't deliver what it promised.

What's happening is that the 'restaurant critic' is being criticised because he doesn't know his job: what ought to be happening is that we should be thanking the ordinary, average, amateur food enthusiast for taking the trouble to share. So may I do that now? Thank you!
 
elhombresinnombre said:
What's happening is that the 'restaurant critic' is being criticised because he doesn't know his job: what ought to be happening is that we should be thanking the ordinary, average, amateur food enthusiast for taking the trouble to share. So may I do that now? Thank you!

My pleasure entirely.

Yeah, I'm not sure why anybody would expect anything but a friendly, subjective amateur review.
I wouldn't have written this review much different even if I were a world renowned restaurant critic --and this is kind of the point of this thread.

The advantages of my reviews here, compared to the comments on a review website, are that you a) know my background; e.g. a person used to an an Asian diet would have a different taste for the foods b) you know my motivation of posting a review; I have 0 emotional involvement to any of these restaurants and there are no strings attached and c) you can interact with me.

Just take what you like and leave the rest. I'm sorry to anybody who was looking for professional reviews and I mislead with this thread.

Now, these were my last comments on this matter; I'm here to write reviews, not to defend and explain my style.
 
DON JULIO

Guatemala 4699 in Palermo, no website

I've visited this restaurant for the second time today.

Atmosphere: Fairly nice interior, a bit dark. It's an ordinary restaurant and they are not trying to make a different impression.The tables are covered with huge leather cloths which gives the restaurant a very south American vibe.
I stumbled upon this restaurant by accident the first time around but it must be mentioned in some major tourist guide book as it is frequented by a decent number of tourists, mainly the annoying kind with backpacks and their maps and big cameras. It didn't bother me but I know there are people who are hyper sensitive to this kind of stuff so I mention it.
The waiters are taking good care of you -- to the degree that they'll mix your salad (you choose your dressing and he will mix it up at the table for you) and if you order ribs he will cut the meat for you.


Food: The bread is really good here and served oven-fresh with butter and salsa criolla and chimichurri. We finished the sauces pretty quickly so the waiter brought us more without us having to request it.

The first time, I ordered a sirloin steak with a salad called greens (which is a huge mixture of various kinds of veggies and lettuce). For some reasons this salad is only listed in the English menu.
I was completely happy with my order. The meat was juicy -- and here medium rare really means medium rare, leaning towards the rare side.

The second time, I tried the rib eye with a vegetable plate. The meat gratified me de nouveau. It was very juicy, tender and had this nice grilled-over-wood taste. The veggie plate, an assortment of potato, pumpkin, carrots, green beans, corn, spinach and some other minor additions, was also tasty, esp in combination with one of the sauces, as it is served dry.

$: Prices are in the mid range with steaks ranging from 55-100 and the side dishes from 30-50 approximately.

Conclusion: I have nothing but good words for this restaurant and left as an all around satisfied customer both times I was there. With some outlook and setup changes this restaurant could enter the fantastic range.
 
Thanks for the reviews! I have been to La Cabrera about 10 times and my husband and I as do all our guests, LOVE it! Never had a bad experience, and we always make a reservation so we have never waited. Plus they know us by now so anyways we get some priority..The meat is always good and every portion is made to share. When we go it's either 2-8 people and we always get 1 large portion for 2 people. It may be a pit pricey but for the quality and all the sides I find it very very reasonable. At top restaurants like Parillas you pay about the same for one portion and no sides at all.
At this place you get the best bang for your peso.
 
LAS NAZARENAS

http://www.lasnazarenas.com.ar

Atmosphere: Normal restaurant ambiance. A little bit of a sports bar vibe at least on the lower floor. Nice and bright. Lots of foreigners. You can see the different grills they have including the one with the fire in the middle and the meat on sticks circled around the heat. Contrary to some place I've seen in Palermo they only burn wood here, not the wood in the plastic package as they decided to do at the other place. (Imagine the kind of smoke your meat gets exposed to!)
Waiter was ok. I ordered soup and meat and my soup was served way later than the meat so I was already half finished with the meat when the soup arrived. That was annoying.

Food: Amazing! The meat was fantastic!! I'd dare to say better than at La Cabrera but it's difficult to judge as I ordered a different cut here. Meat was definitely great although I ordered one of the cheapest option: It's simply called Beef Steak.
Vegetabel soup with it was more potato than vegetables but it was quite tasty. Nothing special though.

$: It's expensive with the cheapest piece of meat at 75 pesos.

Conclusion: Thumbs up on the meat. Best meat I've had so far.
 
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