Back in Buenos Aires I felt relieved. As I hinted in the Sao Paulo blogpost, I feel very much at ease in big cities. You can imagine I was more than happy to spend a little over a week in Argentina's capital. And indeed, I wasn't disappointed. BA is a fantastic city, maybe the best we visited so far. The city has a distinctive European atmosphere; with Parisian boulevards and airy plazas. But once again, I am not here to bore you with 'been there, done that'. I have many stories to tell about BA, certainly one blogspot is not enough. So I have to be selective, and I will talk about our gastronomic adventures in the steak capital of the world.
When visiting a country which is famous for a certain type of food, one might find oneself in a risky situation. Say Italy and pizza, for example. A tourist visiting Italy might be led to believe that the most glorious pizza can be found on every street corner. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The tourist industry has been exploiting culinary exports for ages to promote the international image of a country; with the result that pavement cafes are more likely to serve a dreadful pizza than a good one, thinking tourists don't know better. Steaks in BA meet the same fate. Strolling down Avenida Florida, the main touristy thoroughfare, a passerby is bombarded by hawkers handing out leaflets.... parrillada, tango show, gaucho show and so on. With the risk that the gullible tourist might soon find himself chewing on a piece of old boot, surrounded by tour bus groups. So, how would one find a decent steak in Argentina's capital?
In my experience, I believe two tools to be particularly useful. The first one is research. Scan guidebooks and search the net, look at blogs and forums, and see what comes up. NEVER EVER follow the hawkers. An establishment which has to resort to paying individuals for attracting clients surely won't offer good fare. Doesn't matter if they have parrillada libre for 30 pesos and free wine, chances are quality will be very poor. The second secret is asking around. For example, a restaurant who has been revered on the net may change hands the week previous to one's visit and become bad. Asking around prevents from falling into this trap. We were lucky enough to be given good advice, and found two great restaurants.
Funnily enough, the first one was on Lavalle, very close to Florida, proof that good restaurants can be found even in touristy areas. Besides the tip off, two signs were promising; the absence of hawkers and the fact that the restaurant has been open since 1962. The name is La Estancia, the address Lavalle 941. The main room is very touristy, with lambs on spits, open-air barbecue and gaucho clad waiters. The fare was simply outstanding. We all had meat; I shared a 1.5kg T-bone steak with Dad, whilst Mum had fillet. The T-bone was delicious, grilled jugoso (rare) just as I like it. The barbecue gave it a nice crust on either side, the middle was melt-in-the-mouth and flavoursome. Nick had the star dish of Argentinean steakhouses: the parrillada, essentially a mixed grill of pretty much anything. There was beef, pork, lamb, chicken, sausage and morcilla (black pudding). What caught my attention was that offal was also offered on the parrillada; sweetbreads, liver and chinchulines (intestines). Given the size of the servings, any side dish would have been absolutely redundant. The service was old-school, that type of service that is becoming a rarity in Europe and Australia. Waiters were middle-aged, all men, and really knew what they were doing. A good change from the scores of teenagers on gap-year and working holidays.
The second restaurant I would like to suggest is La Cabrera, on Cabrera 5099 in the leafy neighbourhood of Palermo. The atmosphere is completely different from la Estancia; the room is dark with candles on tables, service more discrete and the clientele was mainly local. Under suggestion from the waiter we ordered only one steak to share. Excellent advice, as the steaks weigh in excess of 500g and come with a variety of side dishes to share. We chose the bife de chorizo, a huge hunk of sirloin which was more than enough for two. The meat was, once again, memorable. It was slightly tougher than the steak at La Estancia, but more flavoursome. The side dishes were also a perfect accompaniment, coming in small servings to provide respite from all that meat. I can remember sundried tomatoes, beetroots, roasted butternut squash, corn and potato salad, plus a variety of sauces. And even better, we were given a bottle of wine for free!
I could be here forever talking about a secret dinner in Recoleta, our day trip to Uruguay or the gaucho fair Feria de Mataderos. However, we have to move on to Ecuador, where many more adventures await us. Unless you are interested in knowing more about BA.... let me know, and I'll be happy to oblige.
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