Cabaña Las Lilas: Meal Review

[Stan Da Man]

My vote has to go to ¨La Cabrerra¨at 5099 Cabrerra.

Best service and presentation for a basic steak house in BA.

Their side-orders flowing off the tables.

Although the ¨cubierto¨may have reached $20.00 pesos by now!

Also, INGRID does NOT wait on you!

How about Lálliance for a close second best?

Shit service, great steaks, massive pork chops and T-Bones!

But that waitress!

TL

I've got to concur with the board here. Perhaps I'll go one step further. La Cabrera had the best steak I've had anywhere in the world. Not on every occasion, mind you. I've been there a half dozen times. I make it a point to try to go once a trip. On one of these occasions, however, I had the most tender, flavorful steak ever -- bife de lomo. I can't say I'm a connossieur, but I can say that I've been to many of the top steak places in the US. -- as well as Cabana Las Lilas in BA. The latter I wouldn't put in the top 20. I've also experienced the same thing with the waiter -- a downsell on the sides. You don't need a bunch extras at that place, and they're not shy about telling you, which is refreshing.

I would also add that TL's place is better than Cabana Las Lilas. What it may lack in atmosphere, it makes up for in bife. In terms of bang for the buck, it's right up there with the best. Haven't been there since the place was rechristened. But, if he's doing the same thing as before, you won't be disappointed.

[TejanoLibre]

Try Estielo Campo, I've been "86'd" for misbehavior but its the best in town.

Exon

My vote has to go to ¨La Cabrerra¨at 5099 Cabrerra.

Best service and presentation for a basic steak house in BA.

Their side-orders flowing off the tables.

Although the ¨cubierto¨may have reached $20.00 pesos by now!

Also, INGRID does NOT wait on you!

How about Lálliance for a close second best?

Shit service, great steaks, massive pork chops and T-Bones!

But that waitress!

TL

[Exon123]

Went to Las Lilas, because I read it is the best steak house in BA. To make a long story short, it isn't. My steak was overcooked and my wife's was undecooked! I had baby beef and is was like a shoe sole! I can make better steaks on my BBQ!

Best steak house in BA for me so far is La Cabrera!

www.parrillalacabrera.com.ar

José Antonio Cabrera 5127

C1414 Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires.

The steak was outstanding, the service great and attentive, and good wine selection!

The waiter even discouraged us from ordering side dishes since the steaks already come with a lot of sides.

Try Estielo Campo, I've been "86'd" for misbehavior but its the best in town.

Exon

[Daddy B]

Went to Las Lilas, because I read it is the best steak house in BA. To make a long story short, it isn't. My steak was overcooked and my wife's was undecooked! I had baby beef and is was like a shoe sole! I can make better steaks on my BBQ!

Best steak house in BA for me so far is La Cabrera!

www.parrillalacabrera.com.ar

José Antonio Cabrera 5127

C1414 Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires.

The steak was outstanding, the service great and attentive, and good wine selection!

The waiter even discouraged us from ordering side dishes since the steaks already come with a lot of sides.

[BadMan]

I've only been to the one in Recoleta La Recova.

Best lomo in BA.

I would have to disagree again. El Mirasol was the place I was referring too in an earlier post. They completely F'd up my order and service was terrible. I went to the Puerto Madero location and haven't tried the others.

[Big Travel Guy]

I've been about 3 times over the course of several years, I think. A place like this can have it's purposes in life. I think Las Lilas is a good steakhouse, with classy atmosphere, for an upscale, showy date, or a spluge once in a blue moon. And I like all these places in Puerto Madero for people watching: you can gaze the ladies strolling by while dining if you can get seated outside on the patio. I would not discourage anyone who wants to go to this restaurant, but Las Lilas is certainly no value proposition. Expect to overpay for whatever virtue you find in any of the above.

El Estilo Campo is almost as good, and at much more reasonable prices, and it's not far from CLL. Almost the same set up.

Never been to El Mirasol.

I've never had a problem with service in either of the Puerto Madero restaurants.

[Quick78]

Best high end Steak House in BA.

El Mirasol.

http://www.elmirasol.com.ar/

They have locations in La Recova Recoleta and Puerto Madero.

I would have to disagree again. El Mirasol was the place I was referring too in an earlier post. They completely F'd up my order and service was terrible. I went to the Puerto Madero location and haven't tried the others.

[BadMan]

Best high end Steak House in BA.

El Mirasol.

http://www.elmirasol.com.ar/

They have locations in La Recova Recoleta and Puerto Madero.

[Exon123]

I don't like the place.

In fact the "Rip Off" restaurants in Recoleta are better quality and lower prices. And if you know your waiter, which I do, better service.

Some how Cabaña Las Lilas has gotten the undeserved reputation of the best Steak House in Argentina, which it is not.

One night maybe 3 years ago I was leaving after a very average over priced expensive meal and a tour bus pulled up unloading 60 people. It was then I realized what a "Clip Joint" the place really was and I haven't been back since.

If your looking for a quality experience in that part of town try Estilo Campo, my favorite Steak House in Buenos Aires.

Exon

[Argento]

I'll try and keep this as short and sweet as possible.

Don't bother going here. I thought I would try 'the best' (haha) steakhouse in BA as I was here, and who knows when I'll return. Was with a lady, I was paying, wanted to splash out as I was only going to do this once.

I ordered the most expensive steak they had, it was 130 pesos just for the friggin thing alone, so my dumb-ass reasoning was 'it's gotta be good, right?'.

WRONG.

I asked for it medium rare, it was overcooked. Not a lot, but ever-so-slightly, and while I could have asked for another, I don't fancy a steak sauted in jizz anytime soon so decided to leave it. It wasn't horrendously overcooked, but it wasn't perfect by a long shot. The quality of the meat, along with the taste, was average. Had I paid 25 pesos, I still wouldn't have thought 'What good value for money', it was an average cut at best.

I wanted a side dish, so we decided to try the 'potato souffle', I was expecting something at least half-fancy (it wasn't cheap) what arrived was literally a plate of chips which had some air blown in them. Kind of stuff you would expect at a fast food restaurant, not somewhere of this supposed calibre / price.

The best thing about the meal (apart from the company) was the wine. Having said that, it was the best bottle of Malbec they had, and was 150 pesos. Needless to say we just had the one.

To be fair, she ordered a steak of some kind (came with a sauce) which was actually nicer than mine and a fair bit cheaper (about 80 pesos)

Service: Good, I guess. Nothing really noticeable, but they stayed out of the way which is more than I can say for a lot of places.

Atmosphere: Worse than many places in BAires. I like restaurants where people show some manners towards the other diners etc, but this place felt like it needed a sh! Tload of antidepressants to wake it up.

If the prices hadn't already been listed on the menu, and had I not been with a native Argentine, I would have thought they were trying to rip me off, as the bill came in at around 570 pesos. I checked it, it was all correct. This is before service was included, so around 630 pesos including service. Of course a meal for 2 here could come in a lot cheaper than this.

630 pesos is, for me, a lot. Especially for a sub-par meal. Had it not been for the company I would have been an unhappy man, but I had nice eye candy haha =)

To sum up, I've had better meals locally for less than 1/10th of the price, and without having to wait 40 minutes for a table.

BP

Are you for real?

If you are even prepared to pay that for a very average meal, God only knows what you fork out for pussy. Best food in Bs As is from the neighborhood local restaurant, which by your post, you already knew.

Incidently, Papas Soufle is a local dish and you got what you ordered. As the lawyer always says, 'Never ask a witness a question that you don't know the answer to'. Same goes for food. Never order a dish that you don't know what it is. And of course you can ask your waiter beforehand what you are proposing to eat for an explanation. Food in Argentina is not sophisticated but is generally 'Fair, average quality'. Papas Soufle is considered sophisticated down here, if you get my point.

Argento

[Jaimito Cartero]

CLL is overrated and too expensive. Lots of better options. Some of the worst scam taxi's hang out in front too. I got one that had both a crooked meter, and tried to switch bills on me.

[Quick78]

I would have to agree to disagree with you on this place.

Almost a year ago, I had the pleasure of mongering in Buenos Aires for the first time, and checked out this place at Puerto Madero recommended by a friend from Buenos Aires.

I thought it was better than most overpriced steakhouses here (in S. Fla and Some in NYC) The service wasn't great, but still pretty good. I've had much worse while down there. Pretty much every other place I ate at in be. A. Had terrible to non existent service.

If you think that place is crap, check out this other steakhouse at Puerto Madero, who's name escapes me at the moment, but if you search under the posts I've written, you'll find it. Its not Siga la Vaca, but another one there.

So yeah, at least I thought it was very good. But then again, a lot can change from year to year. I'll try it out again when I visit in July.

My $0.02

I'll try and keep this as short and sweet as possible.

Don't bother going here. I thought I would try 'the best' (haha) steakhouse in BA as I was here, and who knows when I'll return. Was with a lady, I was paying, wanted to splash out as I was only going to do this once.

I ordered the most expensive steak they had, it was 130 pesos just for the friggin thing alone, so my dumb-ass reasoning was 'it's gotta be good, right?'.

WRONG.

I asked for it medium rare, it was overcooked. Not a lot, but ever-so-slightly, and while I could have asked for another, I don't fancy a steak sauted in jizz anytime soon so decided to leave it. It wasn't horrendously overcooked, but it wasn't perfect by a long shot. The quality of the meat, along with the taste, was average. Had I paid 25 pesos, I still wouldn't have thought 'What good value for money', it was an average cut at best.

I wanted a side dish, so we decided to try the 'potato souffle', I was expecting something at least half-fancy (it wasn't cheap) what arrived was literally a plate of chips which had some air blown in them. Kind of stuff you would expect at a fast food restaurant, not somewhere of this supposed calibre / price.

The best thing about the meal (apart from the company) was the wine. Having said that, it was the best bottle of Malbec they had, and was 150 pesos. Needless to say we just had the one.

To be fair, she ordered a steak of some kind (came with a sauce) which was actually nicer than mine and a fair bit cheaper (about 80 pesos)

Service: Good, I guess. Nothing really noticeable, but they stayed out of the way which is more than I can say for a lot of places.

Atmosphere: Worse than many places in BAires. I like restaurants where people show some manners towards the other diners etc, but this place felt like it needed a sh! Tload of antidepressants to wake it up.

If the prices hadn't already been listed on the menu, and had I not been with a native Argentine, I would have thought they were trying to rip me off, as the bill came in at around 570 pesos. I checked it, it was all correct. This is before service was included, so around 630 pesos including service. Of course a meal for 2 here could come in a lot cheaper than this.

630 pesos is, for me, a lot. Especially for a sub-par meal. Had it not been for the company I would have been an unhappy man, but I had nice eye candy haha =)

To sum up, I've had better meals locally for less than 1/10th of the price, and without having to wait 40 minutes for a table.

BP

[Blindpacemaker]

I'll try and keep this as short and sweet as possible.

Don't bother going here. I thought I would try 'the best' (haha) steakhouse in BA as I was here, and who knows when I'll return. Was with a lady, I was paying, wanted to splash out as I was only going to do this once.

I ordered the most expensive steak they had, it was 130 pesos just for the friggin thing alone, so my dumb-ass reasoning was 'it's gotta be good, right?'.

WRONG.

I asked for it medium rare, it was overcooked. Not a lot, but ever-so-slightly, and while I could have asked for another, I don't fancy a steak sauted in jizz anytime soon so decided to leave it. It wasn't horrendously overcooked, but it wasn't perfect by a long shot. The quality of the meat, along with the taste, was average. Had I paid 25 pesos, I still wouldn't have thought 'What good value for money', it was an average cut at best.

I wanted a side dish, so we decided to try the 'potato souffle', I was expecting something at least half-fancy (it wasn't cheap) what arrived was literally a plate of chips which had some air blown in them. Kind of stuff you would expect at a fast food restaurant, not somewhere of this supposed calibre / price.

The best thing about the meal (apart from the company) was the wine. Having said that, it was the best bottle of Malbec they had, and was 150 pesos. Needless to say we just had the one.

To be fair, she ordered a steak of some kind (came with a sauce) which was actually nicer than mine and a fair bit cheaper (about 80 pesos)

Service: Good, I guess. Nothing really noticeable, but they stayed out of the way which is more than I can say for a lot of places.

Atmosphere: Worse than many places in BAires. I like restaurants where people show some manners towards the other diners etc, but this place felt like it needed a shit load of antidepressants to wake it up.

If the prices hadn't already been listed on the menu, and had I not been with a native Argentine, I would have thought they were trying to rip me off, as the bill came in at around 570 pesos. I checked it, it was all correct. This is before service was included, so around 630 pesos including service. Of course a meal for 2 here could come in a lot cheaper than this.

630 pesos is, for me, a lot. Especially for a sub-par meal. Had it not been for the company I would have been an unhappy man, but I had nice eye candy haha =)

To sum up, I've had better meals locally for less than 1/10th of the price, and without having to wait 40 minutes for a table.

BP