2004 Restaurant Reports

[Andres]

Otto:

Depends on what kind of food and what time to go.

I would recommend:

- For Italian food, La Parolaccia in Belgrano (Libertador Ave. and Sucre St). Somewhat close to Nuevo Estilo. Very good Italian food, moderate prices (ar$50 each).

- For Spaniard food, El Imperial or El Globo (H Yrigoyen St and Salta St), at the hearth of the Spaniard community cultural center. Both restaurants are superb, moderately priced (unless you ask for seafood, which is expensive now in BA since much of it comes from Chile). El Globo serves an awesome puchero (Spaniard style boiled meat with vegetables) and El Imperial has very good paellas of chicken (ar$50 each, ar$70 with seafood).

- Syrian-Libanese food at the Restaurante del Club Sirio-Libanés, located at Ayacucho St and Pacheco de Melo St, 5 blocks from the meeting place). Very affordable for the quelity of the food (ar$30-40 each).

La Brigada at Peña is good for small groups. For 15+ people, becomes a little stretchy.

I have other recommendations, such as Vietnamese food ("Sudestada" in Palermo Hollywood). Let me know.

Hope this helps.

Andres

[OttoGraham]

Exon, I'm thinking about a suggestion that our next Tuesday night AMA meeting (March 2) dinner be at that exact restaurant. You're right, we had a terrific group dinner there last year. What do you fellows think?

-Uncle Otto

[Exon123]

Capt Dave --- Mickey Mouse and I discovered a place called La Brigada at Pena 2475, their phone number is 4800-1110/1284 --- It was recomended to me by an Argentine couple who learned of it threw a British Airlines pilot --- Moreover Otto Graham likes it --- And if Otto like it you know its good --- Exon

[LA Larry]

Otto & Dave-

Thanks for the reviews. Will return the favor next week.

LA LARRY

[Capt Dave]

Hey guys

I´d like to cast my vote for the BSBA (Best steak in BsAs), hoping that someone can outdo me and come up with a better one.
I´ve been to most of the restaurants and parillas mentioned here, and for sure some are very good, but I want to find the BEST!

So far, after some research, my vote goes to....

(the envelope, please......)

Cabana las Lilas, in Puerto Madero

They raise their own beef on a farm up north, and they are GOOD!
It is the first place I have found an American-cut T Bone, and when I asked for it rare it came out RARE!

If anyone thinks they know a better place (or even as good), let´s go find out!

David

[OttoGraham]

Sorrento

At the recommendation of my friend Knuckhead I had lunch at the Recova (intersection of 9 de Julio and Posadas, opposite the oft-reviewed El Mirasol and Piegari) branch of this restaurant (it has three branches in town, including another at Puerto Madero).

I had a salmon carpaccio which while presented wonderfully, was surprisingly flavorless. I followed this with ham sorrentinos (rather like ravioli in a cream sauce). I think these were inferior to the exact dish which I have enjoyed across the street at Piegari.

I think my mistake in this dinner was that I did not follow Sexplorer's recommendation to have the prix fixe meal. Fish is also a big specialty, but beyond the carpaccio I did not have a chance to try it.

Overall grade: Incomplete. I will try it again, and will focus on the house specialty of fish.

-Uncle Otto

[OttoGraham]

Estilo Campo and El Mirasol

I have previously reviewed these restaurants at length in this thread. These restaurants are two of the best parrillas in Buenos Aires.

During this week I dined at each of them again. New for me at Estilo Campo were some outstanding pork chops. The only down side was that, unfortunately, the tomato salad was not up to par. Indeed, everywhere I went during recent days suggests that good, ripe tomatoes are hard to find in the Argentine summer. Everything else in Estilo Campo (Puerto Madero, address is Avenida de Justo 1840, tel. 4312-4546) was superb.

El Mirasol has three branches in BsAs. As per my usual I dined at the Recova branch, which is at the intersection of 9 de Julio and Posadas (tel. 4326-7322). Terrific.

Each place ran in the vicinity of 50-60 pesos per person for a multi-course dinner with wine. Both places are ideal introductions to upscale Argentine steakhouses.

-Uncle Otto

[OttoGraham]

Sucre

Sucre is located in Belgrano Chico, address is Sucre 646, tel. 4782-9082.

Run by the same company as the also-reviewed Gran Bar Danzon, Sucre is a contemporary Argentine restaurant. Like its sister it has an industrial motif with exposed catwalks and ventilation shafts.

I had an excellent risotto, my companions beef dishes different from the common "parrilla-style" grilled steaks. Though we did not try them, the fish dishes I saw at the neighboring table appeared to be quite tasty as well. Our dinners were paired with a bottle of wine and two courses of appetizers, totalling 190 pesos.

Highly recommended, especially for those who want to get out of the Centro/Recoleta dining scene.

-Uncle Otto

[OttoGraham]

Gran Bar Danzon

I will second Amantelondres' recommendation of this combination bar/restaurant. It's on Libertad between Santa Fe and Arenales. It is upstairs through a very non-descript door which you may miss unless you know exactly where you are going.

It was packed to the gills on a Wednesday night with all the beautiful people of BsAs. In fact, I think the ratio was 2 ladies for every gentlemen, skewing to a 30ish crowd. NOT a mongering joint, but if you are a suave and handsome as I am, you might just get lucky!

It is loud, and is arranged in what the mood is an industrial space.

I had an excellent sushi combination, my companions an excellent rack of lamb and a tenderloin in phyllo dough in a manner reminiscent of Beef Wellington. With 3 or 4 glasses of wine mixed in, the tab came to about 120 pesos for the three of us. We all thought our dishes were excellent.

Recommended for a high-energy dinner, but beware that it is too loud for a romantic evening. You should make reservations.

-Uncle Otto

[OttoGraham]

Posta Recoleta

In the center of Recoleta Restaurant Row, just a few doors down from New Port Pub and the corner of Vicente Lopez and Junin, Posta Recoleta is a parrilla that is notable for its fire with rotating racks of lamb and pork aligned vertically in the front window. It has a brick interior.

I had a good lunch here this week, terrific sweetbreads and an excellent steak (called a t-bone on the menu, but in U.S. terms I think it would be called a porterhouse). The filet mignon side was butter tender unlike many Argentine filets, and the sirloin side was of course tougher but just as flavorful. Salad and a drink, I think it came to 55 pesos.

Recommended.

-Uncle Otto

[Sky Ryder]

Happy New Year to all,

My novia and I tried a jazz bar and restaurant that Roxana had recomended and as usual it was wonderful. The name of the place is Uno y MeDIO, Suipacha 1025, BsAs, phone 4313-0255.

The show started at 9:00 pm and was 5 or 10 pesos per person and included a glass of wine. It was a trio that played somewhat progressive jazz, but nothing too far out and was a very good show. They played for about 90 mins and was well worth the money and time. It is interesting hearing other musicians play a uniquely American style of music and I really enoyed it. It is a small venue, about 30-50 chairs or so.
We decided to dine at the restaurant and it was good as well, nothing off the charts, but a good meal at at reasonable price and the service was good. I had a pork dish that was well prepared and we shared an appitizer of cold cuts and cheeses.
Roxana constanly amazes me with her knowledge of this great town and I have yet to go wrong with one of her recommendations. This is no different. If you want to try something off the beaten path, I would give it a whirl, it was a fun evening!

[Jackson]

Thread Starter.