What's a good price for a dinner?

[YOenBA]

I feel like tourists, students, long-term vacationers ans expats all have a very different idea of what is an affordable or decently priced meal. I am curious, how much would you consider worth it for a good meal?

 

[citygirl]

Honestly, are those prices you listed for a full meal? App/entree/glass of wine/dessert? Because entrees alone are running 60+ pesos (and that's not at the fancy places).

Oh and FWIW - for a great meal - I don't care about how much it is. I just rarely find anyplace that serves truly great food. The closed door restaurants here have been the places where I had the greatest meals along with a handful of regular restaurants.

 

[perry]

I prefer to pay a high price and have an outstanding meal and pay 120 pesos and have a mediocre meal . There are a few great restaurants that are worth the price and they are all over 200 pesos per person.

Crizia Palermo the best oysters fullstop , Palacio Dahau Recoleta the best buffet in Buenos Aires, Oviedo the best suckling pig in Argentina, Sipan for excellent inovative Peruvian food.

 

[CarverFan]

In UK it can be excessively expensive a la carte, but they also have some great lunch deals even at top places and special dine-out offers with newspapers etc...

 

[citygirl]

Carver - absolutely true about the lunch specials, etc. Here as well, you can usually find an executive menu for lunch.

I assumed the OP was talking about a meal at dinner. For those who are choosing anything under 100 - would love to know any good (not even great) restaurants where you can get a full meal for that price. Clearly I'm missing out on some bargains!

 

[PhilipDT]

Good price depends on the meal.

Excellent food doesn't really have a price. I paid over 1000 pesos for a dinner for 2 the other night and left incredibly happy. I paid 250 for 2 a week before and left incredibly disappointed.

On the other had 5 peso choripans and 20 peso lomitos on the costanera. Slam Dunk!

 

[salgueiro]

This is a trick question. I'm willing to pay all of these amounts but with each price increment I expect a proportionate quality increment.

FWIW I will share a development that I've been experiencing in my dining out lifetime. Bear in mind that I am a senior and have been eating at restaurants frequently for over 50 years mainly in New York, San Francisco, and Bs As, pretty good eating towns. I have even published a couple of restaurant reviews for the Herald among other rags. I am in the fortunate position of being able to afford event dining occasionally... BUT

The older I get the less I feel paying exhorbitantly for "fine dining" is worth it. I prefer the camaredire of friends sharing an asado over fois grois and "foamed" lobster any day. It wasn't always the case. Maybe I am getting stingy in my old age or maybe my tastebuds are just wearing out. Whatever the cause, I would prefer to allocate my disposable income (and it's sufficient to dine expensively should I choose) on things other than high priced restaurants - the increment that I spoke of is no longer sufficiently great to propel me to do it more than infrequently these days. A dish of matambre al verdeo with a glass of Vasco Viejo and "soda" for 50 pesos at Bar Norte makes me more happy than a 400 peso meal at a fancy place.

 

[John.St]

I have spent quite a lot of time finding small, family-owned restaurants (lesson learned while living in the south of France). Some are not worth a second visit, but when they are good, they are good - and usually cheaper than the fancy ones providing the same quality.

 

[Ashley]

I'd also be willing to pay all of these amounts but, yes, would obviously expect the quality of the food to increase with each price level...which is very often not the case.
I am also finding myself more willing to spend money on dining out given the inflation on supermarket-bought food. Yesterday, I found myself with an armful of bits for a picada at the wrong end of a half-hour (at least) queue. After tallying the total in my head (just over 100 pesos for 1 meal and beer for 2 with, probably, minimum leftovers), I dumped my stuff and headed out to Las Cabras, where we had a similar quality meal (1 veggie fajitas with chips and salad, 1 grilled chicken with salad, 2 cokes) for 96 pesos. While there, I also noticed a nice-looking place over the road offering a picada + jug of beer for 70-something pesos.
A couple of years ago, I would've got the same picada at the super for about 30/40 pesos. Now I eat in only to have better quality food (pizza, pasta, cakes, soups, curries, etc) than is available at restaurants and not to save money. Unless I've made a reservation or plan to eat somewhere (cocina sunae, for example), I mostly eat out when I'm tired and can't be bothered to slave away at the stove when I could be paying the same price (at a Garbis or Las Cabras-level restaurant) for someone else to do all the work!

 

[jb5]

We've had less success with closed door restaurants. The 2 we tried were just OK. One less than OK really. Which are the good ones?

We like a full range of places from street choripans to the better restaurants. We're always looking for more good ones at any price point. Willing and anxious actually to know of some good neighborhood restaurants outside of Palermo and Recoleta if anyone has suggestions.