All in all I use the guiaoleo.com.ar as a good resource.

My wife and I were in Buenos Aires from October 4-8 and I wanted to provide an overview of the restaurants where we dined. Overall, we had great experiences with both food and service. I thought it would be fun to use a “stars” system to rate the experience. 5 stars will be the best and 1 star will be the worst, even though we never had anything below a two star experience.

We rented an apartment in Palermo Hollywood and were next door to a wonderful bakery. Therefore, we do not have any breakfast experiences to share because we went to the bakery every morning and ate on our balcony.

I have also included what we had and how much we paid for those who are curious. Please note that all of the costs are in Argentine Pesos. Hope you enjoy our food tour and review!

Day 1 (10/4/07)

Lunch at Olsen in Palermo.

It was a fixed menu and the hostess was wonderful. The menu was all in Spanish and since we are not fluent, she translated the entire menu verbally. She also gave us maps of Palermo’s shopping districts and made suggestions for places to buy shoes since this was one of our few shopping goals.

-We shared a “taster” sampler for an appetizer and each had a glass of white wine and a bottle of water.

-My lunch was pastrami and cabbage with French fries and a Waldorf salad.

-My wife had tomatoes over ricotta cheese with some type of flaky pastry and zucchini. She also had French fries and a Waldorf salad.

-Olsen gets **** and our total cost was $74AR with tip and everything

Dinner at Social Paraiso in Palermo was amazing.

This is wonderful, quaint, somewhat eccentric little bistro. The atmosphere feels like you are in the front dining room of a large apartment. You definitely want to call ahead for this restaurant because I would estimate their total seating capacity would be less than 25. Our waitress was outstanding and attentive all night and I even walked back to the tiny kitchen to give a thumbs up to the crew…they all seemed to be having a great time and smiled and waved.

-Bottle of Weinert Malbec recommended by the waitress – excellent wine!

-Appetizer was stir-fry mushrooms w/ mozzarella and tomatoes. Very, very good.

-I had a provolone and ham stuffed chicken breast with a salad.

-My wife had a pork loin with a berries sauce and deviled potatoes and a salad.

-Social Paraiso gets ***** and our meal was $130AR with tip and everything.

After dinner drinks at an organic café called Bio.

Bio is a very “cute” little place but this was not a good experience. We only wanted to order drinks, which should have been no big deal. We both ordered pear and apple juice with vodka (not something we would normally order but it sounded good). Well, it took about 20 minutes to even bring the drinks. Then, when we got the drinks it was just the juice and no vodka. We didn’t mind and were just going to drink the juice, pay and leave. But then about 5 minutes after that and when we were half way done with the juice, the vodka is brought out in a separate glass. It was an odd experience and maybe there were some language barriers at play but we thought the whole affair seemed quite disorganized.

-Bio gets *** and I don’t remember the cost.

Day 2 (10/5/07)

Lunch at Café Tortoni

It was pouring down rain and we expected this touristy place to be packed with not just tourists but also with people trying to escape the downpour. To our surprise, there were several open tables and we made ourselves comfortable for quite some time hoping the rain would pass (it did not). We found Café Tortoni to be charming and not touristy in the sense I expected. It seemed authentic and well preserved, even though there is small t-shirt and souvenir area in the corner. There was, however, what looked to be a documentary film crew inside filming at one point. I guess you can’t exemplify tourism more than that, can you?

-We both had a ham and cheese croissant with a bottle of water and I had a Pepsi with lunch.

-Café Tortoni gets **** and we paid $31AR with tip and everything.

El Querandi (322 Peru) for the dinner and tango show.

Hmmm…not my cup of tea. I thought it was the touristy thing we did in BA and I felt like I was at the Epcot Center watching an “Argentine” song and dance routine. It was also incredibly expensive with mediocre food. Our waiter was quite intense about reminding me that “tip was not included” so as to make sure he got his cut. The other thing he did, which I felt was dishonest, was immediately hand us a wine list and have us order a bottle of wine. What we did not realize until the other wine was uncorked was that a house wine was included with the fixed price meal. He should have told us this and it seemed to me that he knew what he was doing. He spoke English very well and could have easily reminded us that the wine we were ordering was separate. Oh, well….

I do not recommend this place to other visitors but some may enjoy it, especially those who are passionate about dance and theatre.

-(Unnecessary) Bottle of Norton Malbec, 2005

-I had an appetizer of green salad with prosciutto and dinner was pork chops with potato.

-My wife had an appetizer of “devil salad” with beef and then spaghetti with tomato and ham.

-We each had flan for dessert (worst flan we had during our 10 days in Argentina)

-El Querandi gets ** and (are you ready for this) the cost was $577AR with tip and everything. It was not worth it!

Day 3 (10/6/07)

Day trip to Tigre

Lunch at Paseo Victoria

It was a gorgeous day in Tigre…spring was in the air and the sun was shining brightly. Paseo Victoria has a large patio right on the water. It is a nice restaurant that obviously caters to weekend tourists. We had a nice, relaxing time here and thought the food and service was good, not great.

-$10AR table service – FYI

-Bottle of Finca La Linda Viognier

-Bottle of water for the table

-Appetizer of blue cheese, avocado and tomatoes (great for two people to split)

-I had the crab ravioli and my wife had a spinach crepe

-We split a tiramisu for dessert that was really good

-Paseo Victoria gets **** and we paid $177AR with tip and everything.

Dinner at Gran Bar Dazon

I had read on in our guide book that this place was bit trendy and stuffy. I did not find this to be the case. The atmosphere was definitely “hip” but everyone was friendly and our waiter was one of the nicest people we met in BA. His name was Alex and maybe you should ask for him if you go. We were interested in going to hear some live music afterwards and Alex told be would be right back. He returned with a handwritten list of jazz clubs with names and addresses. It was so nice and he also stopped by our table just to chat several times.

The menu is very creative and some of the ideas their chef has developed were very, very good. We did not have the sushi but it is very popular here.

-Finally had a Fernet and Cola. It was great!

-Appetizers at Gran Bar Dazon are incredible. We had the veal roll stuffed with crab and cream cheese and covered in gazpacho and almonds. We also had the beef spring rolls, which were also great.

-After two appetizers, we decided to split the Rib Eye with yucca and cheese. This was pretty good but not as good as the appetizers.

-Gran Bar Dazon gets **** and we paid $280AR with tip and everything. We tipped Alex $50AR because he was so nice and helpful and because he waited on us for over two hours.

After dinner drinks at Thelonious Jazz Club.

This is a cool jazz club and we saw two great, unique bands. This was a neat place in Palermo and I would recommend checking it out.

Day 4 (10/7/07)

Lunch at Parrilla 1880 in San Telmo

This highly recommended restaurant is a pretty far walk from the antique market on Sundays but was well worth it. One of the neat aspects that I liked was that when you walk in, the kitchen is visible and you can see all the wonderful, different meats grilling to perfection. A word of warning to those with normal appetites…the portions here are huge. Two people can easily share an entrée. The décor of the restaurant is antiquated and interesting, with a lot of old advertisements and interesting artwork on the wall. Our waiter did not speak any English but the menu was in English and was a wide variety of delicious options. I highly recommend this restaurant for anyone in San Telmo.

-We shared a bottle of Chardonnay and two bottles of water

-Beef empanadas were our appetizer and they were incredibly tasty

-I had the lasagna and it was a huge portion and very, very good. I wish we had split this because it was so good.

-My wife had the ravioli with pesto and said it was good.

-Parrilla 1880 gets ***** and we paid $78AR with tip and everything.

Dinner at La Brigada in La Boca

Our experience at La Brigada was a good one and it could have been an amazing one if we had been lucky enough to have a good waiter. First of all, be sure to call ahead and make reservations if you want to be sure to get a table. When we arrived for a 9pm reservation, there were several people outside who were waiting for a table and due to the size of the restaurant; they were not permitted to wait inside. The section of La Boca where La Brigada is located is a little bit on the shady side and is a bit run down. It was nice to get out of the cab, give our name and go right to our table. The restaurant is adorned with soccer memorabilia and general sports items. There are a lot of photos on the walls of various beef cattle and soccer players. You definitely feel like you are in a place where locals like to go for a nice meal. The owner of the restaurant is visible and goes around from table to table chatting with his regular customers (or perhaps neighbors). After observing some of the other waiters, it is obvious that La Brigada is run and operated by real professionals who are committed to providing a great experience. They are very proud of their menu and steaks and will help you make a decision based on what you like. There are a lot of steak options and it was hard for us to decide because we wanted to make sure we ordered correctly. Our waiter did give us steak suggestions but was far from attentive the rest of the evening. He actually forgot part of our order, which ended up coming out to the table when we were almost finished. He did not seem like he cared for some reason, but the other waiters were dashing around and really doting over their guests. The food at La Brigada is incredible and I highly recommend going if you want a real “Argentine steak house” experience.

-For appetizers, we had ham and cheese empanadas that were delicious as well as a caprese salad and a house salad. All was great and well prepared.

-My wife and I both had excellent steaks. We noticed that at all of the other tables, the waiters made a big show of bringing out the steaks and cutting them for the guests by using the edge of a spoon to demonstrate the tenderness. Our waiter simply came out and put out steaks in front of us and walked away. It was strange.

-We ordered French fries with parsley that would have been a great accompaniment to the steaks but they were brought out about 30 minutes after the steaks. I wanted to send them back and have them removed from the bill but I didn’t feel like having a difficult discussion.

-The best part was the dessert (even though the steaks were excellent). Our eyes were rolling back from how good the dessert was and the only reason we ordered it was because the table next to us had it and it looked so good. The dessert is listed on the menu as “dulce pancakes” and they should be ordered with ice cream. They are torched caramel crepes with ice cream and they are one of the best things we had the whole time we were there.

-La Brigada gets **** but could have had five if we had a different waiter. Our total bill was $260AR with tip and everything.

For anyone who actually read this far, thanks for reading and happy dining in the wonderful city of Buenos Aires.

Jason Kimbell

Atlanta, GA

USA

"Broccolino" -- Oh my gosh!!!! It's not fancy, but the food was fantastico!!!!!!

Broccolino

Esmeralda 776 (at Cordoba)

ph. 4322-7652

This restaurant's specialty is Italian - and it is know for it's wonderful selection of sauces for pasta. Most of us (party of 5) ordered pasta -- and were very happy with our dinners. BUT, my sister ordered PEPPER STEAK --- this was wonderful - it was by far the best steak any of us had tasted the whole 2 weeks we were in Argentina (Mendoza and BA). It was melt in your mouth tender, and served with a light white sauce, infused with black pepper (no green peppers).

Also, the calamari appetizer was the most tender calamari I've ever had -- and the serving(s) were hugely generous!

There is a small restaurant in San Fernando Pcia Buenos Aires, this is 20 km north from Buenos Aires City, nice place and excellent food, it is not clasical argentinian food but the chef Marta Ramirez knows how to prepear very nice and tasty dishes from all parts of the world. take a look at the web page, only problem it is not in english, hope they translate it soon.

www.captaincook.com.ar

It is a place I would go back in my next trip to Argentina ,a very nice taxi driver call Carlos, by the way he speaks perfect english, was very kind with us and took us arround and shows us new places out from the traditional touristic places. It was this way we could discover this nice restaurant with excellent food and very good prices

Wondering if Club 647 is still popular. Where is it located? What would you wear going there for dinner? We will be in BA the end of this month of January 2008. I've been wondering if just a shirt and khakis is going to be okay anywhere we go at night. Will it be cool enough for a sweater? Thanks.

French Resto Lounge

French 2220, between Azcuenaga and Uriburu (5 blocks from Recoleta cemetary in a residential neighborhood)

4825-3603

Restaurant recommended by concierge at hotel in Recoleta neighborhood. Located on quiet street. Place reminded my wife and I of New York bistro. Nice, friendly ambience with music. Owner is very friendly and speaks English (owing to his 20+ years running restaurants in New York). The food was excellent and nicely presented. Returned there a couple of days later for lunch, which offers a (very reasonable) fixed price menu (as well as a menu with low cal./low fat ingredients.) Really a nice place for lunch or dinner.

We would recommend the fish - fresh with a lemon sauce; lomo with mix of sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes, and the pasta (big spaghettis) with a rose sauce. Also, try the flan casero with cream or dulce de leche - excellent! Price for 2 people without alcohol drinks was about 60 pesos ($20 dollars). Wine list is good - I tried the house red wine and it was good.

We're just back from 5 days in BA and another 5 in Santiago, returning on the overnight flight last night. I'm pretty groggy right now but did want to mention a couple of restaurants, actually three, that we enjoyed a lot that I haven't seen in any of the guidebooks.

La Retirada is in Palermo Hollywood, a block off Plaza Serrano next door to Sullivan's. Wonderful dinner in a lovely patio behind the restaurant, attentive service. We had a good bottle of Malbec, a good lomo, a really good pappardelle con funghi, all for 180 pesos. Wow.

We stayed at the Art Hotel 1-1/2 blocks off Santa Fe in Barrio Norte, 20 minute walk to Recoleta Cemetery. We ate at two neighborhood restaurants that were very good and had no US tourists whatsoever (except us!).

Los Pinos on Azcuenaga near Arenales was so good we went twice. Dinner and wine - 80 pesos. Very tasty steaks and pasta.

Celleto is an Italian restaurant around the corner. Again, the food was terrific, service friendly and the cost less than 100 pesos for dinner with wine.

More when I'm not groggy. Buenos Aires is 'bueno' indeed. And Santiago ain't bad either.

A very good steak restaurant is

El Mirasol, Posadas 1032 - Tel: 4326-7322/23

(www.elmirasol.com.ar)

a sushi restaurant that is also good is

Lizzie´s, Cavia 3090 - Tel: 4803-8454 (y Castex)

(www.lizzies.com.ar)

and finally, a restaurant that has american syle food (with good meat as well) is

Kansas, Av. Libertador 4625 - Tel. 47764100

La Cabrera in Palermo is a Buenos Aires eating experience. This is a meat restaurant to beat all meating eating resturants in SA. The presentation and accompaniments to the meat, as well as the portions, are eye-popping. Just remember to not order more than 1 meat portion for 2 people. Add a salad to the order and you are good to go. Enjoy!