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A note on the puertas cerradas (or “closed door” restaurants) that abound in BA. They don’t like to give out their addresses as a rule until you get a reservation from them. Try emailing first, then calling. Much better if you get someone wbo speaks Spanish to do it for you. But these are great spots and very much worth the effort.)
ALDO’S VINOTECA
Moreno 364, Buenos Aires, 54 11 4334-8890
CUISINE: Argentinean
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Breakfast, Brunch, Late night
PRICE RANGE: $$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Monserrat
Located in the heart of the city in the Moreno Hotel, this restaurant offers and elegant dining experience. Nice menu and perhaps the most impressive wine list in town (over 40 pages) with mostly Argentine wines but some Spanish and Italian labels. Nice choice for Sunday brunch.
ALMACÉN SECRETO CLUB
Aguirre 1242, Cdad. Autónoma de Buenos Aires, +54 11 4775-1271
www.almacensecretoclub.blogspot.com
CUISINE: Argentinian
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Dinner, Late Night
PRICE RANGE: $$$$
One of Buenos Aires’ lovely “closed door” eateries which mean you can’t get in without a reservation. Wonderful ambience (unlike some of these places, this one is very lively) and a menu that features food from the North, South, and East regions of Argentina. Menu changes frequently but they serve a great selection of meats, poultry, and fish.
ARAMBURU
Salta 1050, Buenos Aires, +54 11 4305-0439
http://www.gonzaloaramburu.com/
CUISINE: Argentinian / International
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$$$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Constitucion
Raw brick walls greet you as you enter. The eye drifts to the clear glass window that lets you look into the kitchen. Known as one of the top five restaurants in Buenos Aires and like most of the finer restaurants a reservation is a must. The menu is in courses (last time I was there we had 16 courses all paired with wine for less than $100) but they offer many delicious dishes like White Salmon and Filet Mignon. Great selection of wines. If they are jammed (and they usually are), opt for the less formal place across the street, Aramburu Bis, owned by the same chef.
ASTOR BISTRO
Cd. de la Paz 353, Buenos Aires, +54 11 4554-0802
CUISINE: Argentinean / French
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Dinner; closed Mon & Sun
PRICE RANGE: $$$
This place is for serious foodies who want a memorable meal. Small menu as they only offer 3 appetizers, 3 main courses, and a selection of desserts. Great dishes like calamari and Venison. They are very big on veggies here, so expect delicious items pulled from the farm they have outside the city where they grow up to 25 varieties of tomatoes, ranging in color from bright yellow to deep luscious red. A sample item: watermelon skin, sliced thin julienne style and then sautéed in butter. Or chunks of lamb tossed with tiny carrots and little eggplants. This will be one of the culinary highlights of your visit, because you never know what they’ll come up with next.
BOULEVARD SAENZ PENA
Saenz Pena 1400 | Tigre, Buenos Aires, 54 11 5197 4776
www.boulevardsaenzpena.com.ar/
CUISINE: Argentinian
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$$$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Capital Federal
This unique eatery offers a pre-fix menu by Chef Juliana Lopez May, one of the top chefs in Argentina. This place also sells art, antiques, and gifts, so it’s a lot more than a restaurant. It’s like a shop that serves excellent food. (You can even buy the plate you eat from.) Menu favorites include: Pasta with Butternut Squash and Rucola Salad with pear and blue cheese.
CAFÉ LA BIELA
Avenida Quintana 600, Buenos Aires, 54 11 4804-0449
CUISINE: Cafeteria
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Recoleta
This traditional Argentine café, originally a meeting place for racecar drivers, is one of the oldest cafés in BA, going back 150 years. You’ll see the walls inside this place lined with racecar memorabilia, lots of photos of famous drivers—most now long dead—look down from the walls. Though it’s a bit of a tourist trap in the way Sloppy Joe’s is in Key West, it’s still worth visiting. I prefer inside where you get the dark wood paneling, the ceiling fans and the charm. I don’t fancy the plastic chairs outside, but in good weather it’s a really nice spot. Extensive menu serving large portions. Jorge Luis Borges, probab;ly the m,ost famous writer NOT awarded the Nobel Prize, lived just a short walk from here, and used to visit often.
CASA FELIX
Address given with reservation, 011 4555 1882
CUISINE: Argentinean
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$$$
NEIGHBORHOOD: El Centro
Closed Door Restaurant. This place only seats 12 guests for a private five-course tasting menu three times a week. Menu changes with each seating but the dishes are creative and tasty. Long wait for reservations.
CAFÉ SAN JUAN
Chile 474, Buenos Aires, 54 11 4300-9344
No Website
CUISINE: Italian/Spanish
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $
NEIGHBORHOOD: San Telmo
This tiny place is popular with locals and tourists, this small restaurant (the kitchen is in full view where you can see the owner slaving away cooking his meat-centric dishes) offers a menu with a distinct Argentine influence. Try the rabbit stew, it’s a favorite.
CANTINA PIERINO
Lavalle 3499, Buenos Aires, 54 11-4864-5715
No Website
CUISINE: Italian
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Almagro
If you don’t want to learn the tango, the next best thing is to come to this Italian-style cantina because it’s filled with loads of tango memorabilia. The food is homemade Italian cuisine. Actually, there’s really not a menu, they just bring you food and everything is cooked fresh. This place is always packed.
CHEZ PAULINE
Juncal 1695, Buenos Aires, 54 11 4816-9988
Website down at press time
CUISINE: Bar/tea shop
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Recoleta
This is a French style teashop that offers a variety of teas and sweet French pastries. Excellent place to start the day with morning coffee and pastries. Tea tastings.
CHOCHAN
672 Piedras, Buenos Aires, +54 11 4307-3661
No Website
CUISINE: Signature Cuisine
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Dinner – Lunch Fri - Sun
PRICE RANGE: $$$
NEIGHBORHOOD: San Telmo (near the outdoor flea market)
Another closed door restaurant where reservations are needed. Interesting menu and a unique dining experience in a bucolic setting (butcher’s paper covers the tables, has a chalkboard menu, that sort of look). Menu favorites include: Pulled pork sammie with peanut butter and Ribs. Wait staff eager to make suggestions if you cannot read the menu.
CROQUE MADAME
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF DECORATIVE ART
Av Callao 1569, Buenos Aires, 54 11 4812-0777
CUISINE: Tea Room/Coffee Shop
DRINKS: Beer & Wine
SERVING: Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$$$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Palermo
Located in the Museum of Decorative Art, this café/restaurant is a great stop for an afternoon snack or coffee after touring the museum. (I stop in the morning for café con leche before touring the museum—get the homemade scones.) It’s actually out in a courtyard where you’ll love the sound of the wind rustling through the tall shade trees and listen to the splashing fountains. Menu offers a variety of sandwiches, pizzas, pastas and sweet treats, and of course the signature Croques.
DON JULIO
Guatemala 4691, Buenos Aires, +54 11 4831-9564
CUISINE: Steakhouse
DRINKS: Beer & Wine Only
SERVING: Lunch & Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$$
Rustic steakhouse with a costumed maître d’ greeting guests. Great place for meat lovers with an extensive wine list. Try the grilled provolone with tomato as an appetizer and you can’t go wrong ordering one of their steaks. But instead of the usual sirloin, tenderloin or delicious skirt steak, I’d try their sweetbreads, delectable morsels expertly prepared. Seating upstairs and down.
EL POBRE LUIS
Arribeños 2393, Buenos Aires, 11-4780-5847
CUISINE: Argentinian
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$$$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Capital Federal
A favorite restaurant among the locals for their house specialty, Pamplona – Beef, Chicken or Pork rolled with ham, cheese and red peppers and then grilled. Still, I prefer the veal sweetbreads or the ojo de bife (rib eye). This place has an open parrilla (grill), making it easy to watch the cooks slinging all that meat around. A great spectacle. (Closed Sundays).
DELFIN DEL MUNDO
Honduras 5673, Buenos Aires, 54 11 4852-6661
CUISINE: Argentine
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$$$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Palermo
This trendy restaurant, with a lovely interior, offers five and six course meals with wine pairings. Here their specialty seems to be steak served several ways. Nice wine list.
FERVOR
Posadas 1519, Buenos Aires, 54 11 4804-4944
CUISINE: Argentinian
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Recoleta
This trendy restaurant is a favorite of locals and tourists. Menu favorites include: Ojo de bife (rib-eye steak) and Tortilla de papas (fried potato omelet). The seafood is top-notch here as well.
FLORERÍA ATLÁNTICO
Arroyo 872, Buenos Aires, 54-11-4313-6093
CUISINE: Tapas; excellent cocktail selection
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Retiro
www.floreriaatlantico.com.ar
This is a hot little place you just have to make time to visit. Inspired by speakeasies, it hidden beneath a flower shop. You gain entrance by passing through a
huge refrigerator door and then you move downstairs. Though the food is top notch, you’ll come here for the creative cocktails divided on the menu by the nationalities that inspired them: Inglaterra (for those gin martinis), French, Italian, Polish. The subterranean cavern is decorated with paintings of fearsome sea monsters. As I said, the food is tasty: superior blood sausages (everybody freaks out when I eat these in the States), frogs legs, octopus, beef tongue.
FLORIDA GARDEN
Florida 899, Buenos Aires, 54 11 4312-7902
No website
CUISINE: Coffee Shop
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $
NEIGHBORHOOD: Capital Federal
This place is oozing with old-world charm. Great standup coffee bar for afternoon coffee, cookies, or pastries. A local’s hangout and a favorite among the artsy set.
HERNAN GIPPONI RESTAURANTE
FIERRO HOTEL BOUTIQUE
Soler 5862, Buenos Aires, 54 11 3220-6820
CUISINE: Argentinean, Mediterranean
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Brunch, Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Palermo
Located in the Fierro Hotel, the chef at this popular eatery offers a creative menu. Recommended is the daily changing 9-course chef’s tasting menu. The chef is particularly adept at preparing seafood. Great happy hour. Impressive wine list.
I LATINA
Murillo, 725, Buenos Aires, 54 11 4857-9095
CUISINE: Latin American / Colombian
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$$$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Villa Crespo / Palermo Queens
Two brothers and a sister from Colombia have made this one of the trendy go-to places not just in this part of town, but all of BA. (It’s certainly one of the best restaurants in town.) They have a 7-course tasting menu I’d recommend, paired with excellent Argentine wines. (The tasting menu changes with each season.) Look for the white-corn arepas with a touch of anise, accompanied by avocado and pork cracklings, or the succulent prawns caramelized in a coconut sauce and served over pineapple and fennel. Though pricey for BA, this meal would set you back 2 or 3 times the cost in the U.S.
LA BOURGOGNE
Alvear Palace Hotel, Ayacucho 2023, Buenos Aires, +54 11 4805-3857
www.alvearpalace.com/v3/eng/la-bourgogne.php
CUISINE: French
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Late Night; closed Sundays
PRICE RANGE: $$$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Recoleta
Located in the lower level of the Alvear Palace is this upscale French eatery with a bit of pretense but the food is top-notch. The chef brags that he offers the best French cuisine in Buenos Aires, and I have to admit I think he’s right. Nice tasting menus and selection of wines. If you come here, by all means I suggest you do the wine pairings they offer. A great introduction to the excellent local wines to be had.
LA BRIGADA
Estados Unidos 465, Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, 54 11 4361–5557
CUISINE: Steakhouse
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$$$
NEIGHBORHOOD: San Telmo
The décor is a bit elaborate mixed with soccer mementos but this is one of the best parrillas in San Telmo. Menu favorites include: Asado (short rib roast) and Lomo (sirloin steak, prepared with a mushroom or pepper sauce).
LA CABANA
Av Alicia Moreau de Justo 380, Buenos Aires, 54 11 4314-3710
CUISINE: Steakhouse
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Puerto Madero
The third incarnation of the legendary eatery, this place specializes in beef but the menu also includes chicken, fish, and a large variety of salads. You can get pieces of beef served as large as 2.2 pounds. But I’d go for the filet mignon with noisette potatoes.
LA CABRERA
Cabrera 5099, Buenos Aires, 011 4831 7002
CUISINE: Steakhouse
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$$$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Palermo Viejo
Housed in a former general store, this eatery offers a menu that celebrates steak. Here the portions are large and they serve delicious sweetbreads. Side dishes include pumpkin purée and eggplant salad.
LA CARNICERIA
2317 Thames, Buenos Aires, +54 11 2071-7199
https://www.facebook.com/xlacarniceriax
CUISINE: Argentinean / Steakhouse
DRINKS: Beer & Wine Only
SERVING: Dinner; Open for lunch Sat & Sun
PRICE RANGE: $$
Just a couple of blocks off the Avenida Santa Fe is this casual place (butcher block tables), a favorite for meat eaters, but they do offer a fish special daily. (Don’t order it—stick with the meat.) The grass-fed beef served here comes from the owner’s ranch in the Pampas. Get the asado de tira (smoked short ribs). Try to grab one of the handful of seats at the bar which faces the grill. Small menu and small bar selection but they are pros at preparing and serving Argentine beef. The restaurant is small and usually packed with two seatings.
LA COCINA DISCRETA
Loyola 600, 1414 CABA, +54 11 4772-3803
CUISINE: Specialty Food
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Dinner & Late Night
PRICE RANGE: $$$
A somewhat snobby closed door art restaurant – where reservations are essential—with an ever-changing menu of contemporary Argentine cuisine influenced by international flavors (salmon over squid ink risotto). The space multitasks as an art gallery, which can make it fun if the art is halfway decent. Popular among the film and cultural community. Nice selection of wines. Cash only.
LA ESPERANZA DE LOS ASCURRA
Aguirre 526, Buenos Aires, 54 11 2058-8313
CUISINE: Tapas
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Villa Crespo
This popular little tapas eatery offers a creative menu. Menu favorites include: Prawns in garlic and Beef testicles (mollejas). Get away from the Malbec wine you’ve been drinking everywhere else and order negronis.
LA ESQUINA DE LA FLORES
Guatemala 4730, Buenos Aires, 54 11 4832-8422
CUISINE: Organic/Vegetarian
DRINKS: No Booze
SERVING: Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Almagro
Surprising to find a great vegetarian restaurant in a country known for beef. This restaurant offers a nice menu that’s both healthy and delicious. Menu favorites include: Empanadas and Brown rice, lentil and vegetables dish. Here you can also get pizzas, pastas, and great desserts like home-style bread pudding.
LA RAMBLA
Posadas 1602, Buenos Aires, 54 11 4804-6958
No Website
CUISINE: Sandwiches
DRINKS: No Booze
SERVING: Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $
NEIGHBORHOOD: Capital Federal
This extremely casual café is a sandwich place offering a great variety on their menu. Menu favorites include: Perfectly cooked steak sandwich with tomato on French bread. Delivery service available.
LA VINERIA DE GUAITERIO BOLIVAR
Bolivar 865, Buenos Aires, 54 11 4361-4709
www.lavineriadegualteriobolivar.com
CUISINE: Seafood
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$$
NEIGHBORHOOD: San Telmo
Run by Chef Alejandro Digilio, called a chef to watch by Food & Wine magazine, this tiny seafood restaurant offers an open view of the kitchen. Menu favorites include: Pizza topped with fish and spices and Octopus with potatoes. Dishes are paired with fine Argentine wines or delicious palate-cleansing cocktails. Save room for the delicious rich desserts.
LE GRILL
Av. Alicia Moreau de Justo 876, +54 11 4331-0454
CUISINE: Steakhouse / BBQ
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Lunch & Dinner – Dinner only on Saturdays
PRICE RANGE: $$$$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Puerto Madero
This upscale eatery with its high glass walls and chairs covered in leather offers a unique dining experience from the entrance, to the bar, to the dining room. Excellent menu of steaks cooked to perfection. These are cuts that used to be exported. Now you can get them here. I suggest the rib eye (what they’d call the ojo de bife), a slice of beef that’s an inch thick and aged for 27 days. They have 7 different sides of potatoes that come with this streak, and once I sampled all 7 of them. (The gratin with Reblochon cheese was my favorite. Delicious.) With over 3,000 labels, the wine list here stands out from the crowd.
LO DE JOAQUIN DE ALBERDI
Jorge Luis Borges 1772, Buenos Aires, 54 11 4832-5329
CUISINE: Wine Bar
DRINKS: Full Bar
PRICE RANGE: $$$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Palermo
Great selection of Argentine wines served at this popular wine bar. While you’re tasting wines (and they’ll do a personalized tasting flight for you if you like), you can snack on plates of cheese and excellent ham. A perfect place to get away from the street after a busy day of shopping.
LOS SALONES DEL PIANO NOBILE
@PARK HYATT
Av. Alvear 1661, Buenos Aires, 54 11 5171-1234
www.buenosaires.park.hyatt.com
CUISINE: French
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$$$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Recoleta
Located at the Palace, this lovely restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, dinner, elegant snacks and afternoon tea. Menu favorites include: Pappardelle with Veal Ragu and Lamb Burger with fried egg and arugula.
MALVON CONFITERIA
Serrano 789, Buenos Aires, 54 11 4774-2563
CUISINE: Coffee Shop/Cafeteria
DRINKS: No Booze
SERVING: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Capital Federal
This popular coffee shop/cafeteria offers an ever-changing variety of foods from around the globe. They serve all day, everything from breakfast to tapas. This place is also a bakery with a variety of sweets to eat with coffee or take home.
MAZZO
Gurruchaga 707, Buenos Aires, 54-11 4772-8390
CUISINE: Latin American / Colombian
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$ / Cash only
NEIGHBORHOOD: Villa Crespo / Palermo Queens
In an industrial setting you sit at wooden tables or outside. Good place in this trendy area for a quick bite, but not much more.
MIRAMAR
Avenida San Juan 1999, Buenos Aires, 011 4304 4261
No Website
CUISINE: Argentinean/Spanish
DRINKS: Wine
SERVING: Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$$
NEIGHBORHOOD: El Centro
This restaurant serves typical Spanish fare. Menu offers dishes like Tortillas, Rabbita and Frog Legs. Well stocked wine cellar.
NUCHA CAFE
Salguero 2587, Buenos Aires, 48021615
CUISINE: Argentinean/Confection Shop
DRINKS: No Booze
SERVING: Breakfast
PRICE RANGE: $
NEIGHBORHOOD:
This confection shop offers a great selection of pastries and cakes to enjoy with coffee or tea (nice variety). It’s all made here on the premises. (They even make their own chocolates.) Get the tortas favi, which is layer cake with chocolate mousse & cream crowned by a slab of light-as-air Italian meringue. The chocolate truffles aren't bad, either.
OLSEN
Gorriti 5870, Buenos Aires, 54 11 4776-7677
No Website
CUISINE: Scandianvian
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Capital Federal / Palermo
Famous for their seafood heavy Scandinavian menu, this place is charming with an outdoor garden lush with ivy clinging the walls as well as a stark interior that throws off a completely different vibe. This is a hot spot that’s always busy. I like to show up just as they’re opening so I can grab a seat at the inside bar. Menu favorites include: Salmon, Caviar, and Crab Spring Rolls. Reservations recommended. Great Sunday brunch. Closed Monday.
OSAKA
Soler 5608, Buenos Aires, 54 11 4775–6964
CUISINE: Japanese Fusion
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$$$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Palermo
This innovative restaurant blends Peruvian and Asian cuisines to the delight of their guests who keep the place packed. Menu favorite: Misoudado, an amazing red-curry grouper. Upstairs and downstairs dining.
OVIEDO
Antonio Beruti 2602, Buenos Aires, 54 11 4822-5415
CUISINE: Argentinean/Spanish
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$$$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Capital Federal/ Recoleta
This very upscale Spanish-style restaurant offers a menu that includes everything from classics to new and modern creations. Excellent cheeses. Daily fish specials are a favorite but their meats are primo as well. Impressive wine list.
PALADAR
Camargo, Buenos Aires, +54 9 11 5797-7267
CUISINE: Signature Cuisine (well, they said it, not me)
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Dinner & Late Night
PRICE RANGE: $$$$
With quite a few options to the “closed door” scene in Buenos Aires, this is a lovely choice where reservations are made online and they send you the address. Creative menu is most filled with traditional but innovative Argentinian dishes. The owners speak English and welcome all for a lovely dining experience.
PARAJE AREVALO
Arevalo 1502, Buenos Aires, 54 11 4775-7759
CUISINE: International
DRINKS: Beer & Wine
SERVING: Lunch, Dinner, Closed Mondays
PRICE RANGE: $$$$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Palermo
This small comfortable eatery (on the slightly still edgy side of Palermo) with its chalkboard menu offers a simple lunch menu during the day. At night (Thurs-Sat) they offer two tasting menus with wine pairings of local Argentinian labels. Reservations recommended, as they attract a very hip crowd.
PATAGONIA SUR
Rocha 801, Buenos Aires, 54 11 4303-5917
www.restaurantepatagoniasur.com
CUISINE: Argentinean
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$$$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Boca/Capital Federal
Run by Francis Mallman, chef and author, who offers an impressive menu of Argentinean fare that showcases local produce. Menu favorites include: 7 hour Lamb and Beef tenderloin with bacon. Very impressive wine cellar. Reservations necessary.
SALGADO ALIMENTOS
Juan Ramírez de Velazco, Buenos Aires, 54 11 4854-1336
CUISINE: Italian/Pasta
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $
NEIGHBORHOOD: Villa Crespo / Palermo Queens
This popular Italian eatery offers a menu with a variety of homemade pastas and sauces. Unlike some of the trendier new arrivals to this recently hot area, this place has been around for many years. Try the
Pumpkin Ravioli or the pork shoulder ravioli. An old favorite here is the “provoleta,” or grilled provolone. Just add a little salt and you’re in heaven. Outdoor seating. Delivery available.
TARQUINO NUEVA
Rodríguez Peña 1967, Buenos Aires, 5411 6091-2160
www.tarquinorestaurante.com.ar
CUISINE: Argentinean
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Lunch, Dinner, Closed Sundays
PRICE RANGE: $$$$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Recoleta
Argentine cuisine in this popular innovative eatery. Menu favorites include: Beef cheek and Ravioli & Rabbit. He has a tasting menu called, rather grandly, Secuencia de la Vaca (procession of the cow). You begin with cow brains cooked sous vide and then fried up and served with chimichurri, but then goes on to give you a taste treat featuring every part of the animal. Tarquino is named after the original Shorthorn bull imported to the Pampas by an English owner in the 19th Century. All the great beef that Argentina is now famous for is descended from that great bull. (And that’s no bull.) Wine list includes more than 200 labels. This place has only seats 40 so reservations are recommended.
TEGUI
Costa Rica 5852, Buenos Aires, 54 11 5291-3333
CUISINE: Eclectic
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Lunch, Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$$$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Palermo
Local culinary bigwig German Martitegue opened Tegui in 2009 and has been serving crowds ever since. Very stylish eatery with an open-air kitchen in the rear. (You go through a large display of wine bottles up front, then pass through an atrium with palm trees, before getting to the rear.) Very handsome staff, right out of some modeling agency. The menu is prix-fixe with four choices for starters, entrees, and desserts. Menu favorites include: Cow-brain pie with prosciutto and shallot cream sauce and Rabbit-stuffed ravioli. But menu changes every week. Extensive wine list. I’d advise reservations. Restaurant magazine dubbed this the 9th best restaurant among the top 50 in all of Latin America.
UCO
Soler 5862, Buenos Aires, +54 11 3220-6820
CUISINE: Argentinean
DRINKS: Full Bar
SERVING: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
PRICE RANGE: $$
NEIGHBORHOOD: Palermo Hollywood
Located in Hotel Fierro is this hip eatery helmed by a talented chef who offers a menu of fresh, farm-to-kitchen cuisine. It’s got a great look that makes you feel like you’re in some barn out in the country. Wood paneled walls, leather banquettes. Menu includes variety of items all prepared in-house like ice-creams, patés, breads, chutneys, cured bacon and smoked trout. Choose from the 7 course tasting menu or order a la carte. Hopefully, the night you’re there they’ll have my favorite, the roasted Patagonian lamb shoulder (serves 2 or even 3 persons). Slow cooked for 12 hours. Impressive wine list. Try the tasty apple tart with dulce de leche.
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