Buenos Aires restaurant recommendations

Later this year we will be in BA for a three weeks with side trips to Mendoza and Iguazu Falls. Neither of us have been in BA before so if any of you have restaurant recommendations we would welcome your ideas.

There’s a Park Hyatt in town. If you exit the hotel and turn left, that street has plenty of places to eat. I can’t find my notes. Sorry.
FYI, while the prices were cheap for meat, I thought some other menu items were pricey. This was 3 years ago.
If you pay your bill in US $Dollars, thanks to the black market conversion rate, some places will give you back more change than you expected.

Cross posting this… but La Cabrera - steak house… money…

I am surprised that not more people have either been to BA or enjoyed a great meal there. We will hit one or two of the closed door restaurants then flip a coin. There are big name restaurants in BA but the reviews are quite mixed. Makes it hard to decide.

A couple years ago I enjoyed a few great steak dinners at Cabaña Las Lilas. Massive wine list and the prices when translated into USD were crazy cheap. Famous place, I assume it is still going strong.

Anyone eat at any of the closed door restaurants in BA? We plan on giving at least one a shot while we are there - La Cocina Discreta owned by Ale Langer. Fixed menu but we are adventurous and I like the idea of a small, more intimate dinner paired with wine of course. We had planned to go to Lo De Fer Y Javi, another closed door restaurant owned by Fernando Dabbah but as luck would have it, he will be in the U.S. when we are in BA.

If anyone has anything to share on closed door restaurants we would like to hear about your experiences. We are pretty new to them. Only done it in NYC so far.

On the closed-door restaurants, I didn’t do it but friends did, and they loved it.

Agree with Mark on La Cabrera. Also, La Brigada is another phenomenal steakhouse in San Telmo.

Some other random tips:

I’m sure you know about the ‘blue’ exchange rate but if you don’t, look it up…

There are tons of really good restaurants in Mendoza. The Italian food there is great! Enjoy the outdoor activities - paragliding off the Andes is one of a kind.

At Iguazu, bring a change of clothing and take the boat ride that brings you right up to the falls. You’ll get soaked but it’s a must-do. They have a few options, but I did the ride that’s only ~8 minutes long.

Still months away but can’t wait. We will definitely exchange at the blue dollar rate and pay cash when we can. I wish I knew if I could pay for the Iguazu Falls hotel with Pesos since I booked from the U.S. And if I can, at what exchange rate since they have an expectation that I would pay in USD. Couldn’t book in Pesos. Makes a difference in how much money I change. Certainly don’t want any left over. Some of the tours only quote in dollars. Can’t blame them.

Will spend 3 nights in Mendoza and will check out the restaurants there. While we are in Mendoza we will be having dinner with a small wine producer Mark Addington and his wife of Lost in the Andes Wines. He is originally from the Dallas area. Might spend the big bucks and see whether 1884 Francis Mallman lives up to its acclaim.

If you staying on the Arg side, your hotel bill will be converted from USD to ARG at checkout at the official rate.
Legally they must charge in pesos.
Hotels normally quote in USD for future stays as the peso will devalue, and since you locked in a rate they can’t raise it.
But you can pay in ARG cash (which you can acquire in the blue market at a significant spread. (actually, really wide right now. Bubblear - News | USA | Entertainment | Lifestyle | Health | Tech | Sports | Money

Don’t pay for anything with a credit card or use an ATM – it goes through at the official rate.

Oh, the restaurant down the street from the Hyatt is Fervor. It is nice, but there are A LOT of good restaurants (and wine) in BA.

We’re also in BA with a few days in Mendoza for a couple of weeks over Thanksgiving. Any recs appreciated. BTW, we were able to use BA Avios points for our internal flights on LAN. 18K points for both of us RT between BA and Mendoza with a fairly decent schedule. We’re booked at the Park Hyatt in Mendoza.

We are staying on the AR side the whole time. Great to know I can pay for the hotel in Pesos even though I booked it from the U.S. The only hotel we are using on the trip is the Sheraton inside the Iguazu Falls park. It is pricy but convenient. I want to pay for it in Peso rather than at the USD rate in my booking. I was concerned that they might not accept the payment at the official exchange rate but that is because I don’t know what the law allows in AR. I could save quite a bit by paying in Pesos that I will acquire at the then blue dollar rate. Given the cost of the hotel in Pesos, I didn’t want to convert more USD than I could actually use.

Jay, looks like you got a better deal than we did using miles for travel within AR. Cost us 12,000 AA miles each for a round trip. We booked round trips AEP/MDZ/AEP and AEP/IGR/AEP. Had to take a very early flight to Mendoza to get the seats. Now that I have been retired for 13 years, I am about out of miles. This trip is going to wipe out most of them. Found some business class seats for a reasonable miles from DFW/CPT and from EZE/DFW. But from now on, it is will be last class.

If you’re staying at the Sheraton, it’s actually in the park - I didn’t stay there but I’m told that if you do, you can kind of hop the gate into the rest of the park after it’s closed or before it’s open (you’re already inside so you’re not skipping out on the entry fee) and it’s supposed to be great. You basically get the whole park to yourself, and it’s kind of an unofficial perk, as long as you’re not too blatant about it. But this is only what I’m told, so YMMV.

Also, check out the lunar cycle for when you’re there. If there’s a full moon, the park will do 3 nights of night-openings. I didn’t know about this and I was there when it was full moon but it was sold out It’s supposed to be amazing, and just a whole different experience than in the day!

Good luck and I hope you have a fantastic experience! I would love to visit again one day.

Thanks for the heads up S L i m. As you say, the Sheraton is in the park itself and it is the only hotel that is which is one of the reasons we were willing to pay the additional cost. At my age, I probably won’t be hopping anything though. Because of the strength of the USD and the blue dollar exchange market, things can be relatively inexpensive in Argentina anyway. We are excited about the trip and seeing the falls. Maybe more excited than about our trip to Mendoza the week before.

While 1884 Francis Mallman is expensive by Argentinian standards, but not at all unreasonable by American standards. While it didn’t blow me away, it was very good. If visiting during the summer months, request a table outside on the patio with the large traditional Argentine BBQ. Enjoy your trip!

Thanks Greg. We do have reservations at the 1884 and we will be there in December. Thanks for the heads up on the patio. I didn’t know about that.

Argentine here. I have not been back in to BA in seven years since we had our honey moon. We love BA. There are a bunch of great restaurants in Palermo Soho (La Cabrera), and Puerto Madero (Las Lilas) . However, if you have time and want to get a true great Argentine meal, just walk to your destination and stop in at the local bars/coffee shops on the way and ask for tostados, empanadas and a milanesa. You will find gems that you would not otherwise try. For example we found the best cappuccino ever at an everyday coffee shop near the Cabildo and across from the treasury building. Also, take a day to put the map away and get lost in Palermo Soho, Recoleta and stroll down Florida street window shopping and exploring.

Thanks J. We will have time to do quite a bit while we are there. We will be in BA for about 11 days of our time in Argentina. Taking excursions to Mendoza and Iguazu Falls which will consume another 10 days. Can’t miss those two places since we will be in Argentina. Rented an apartment in the Palermo District for our home base so easy to get lost there. We also have a porteño friend that lives in the city. She is a lawyer and worked with my wife for many years. We tend to try to frequent the local spots whenever we travel. Places that tourists go don’t provide the local experience. I do understand I will have a difficult time finding beef cooked the way I like it - black & blue or rare.

If you have a friend that lives there, you will be in great shape. I have family in Palermo and I love visiting their place. It’s a great place to walk around, plus at the time of year you are visiting the weather will be perfect.

Yeah, unfortunately most places in BA cook the living %%# out of the meat. Since you like meat cooked the same way I do, if they ask you if you want the meat “al punto” say “no, mucho menos-rojo”. Al punto is a term used to indicate cooked thoroughly (no pink), but still juicy. They can do this in Argentina, because grass feed beef there has flavor and does not rely on fat for its flavor. However, the steak is still to tough to my taste. They will try to convince you all day that “al punto” is the best way… reject such crazy notions! Anyways, enjoy the trip! I am truly jealous!

We have rented an Airbnb apartment on Antonio Beruti in Palermo. Our friend said it was a great location. It is about 4 blocks from Parque Las Heras and 2 blocks from the Jardin Botanico Carlos Thays. It was an amazing bargain so we are keeping it for the 3 weeks were are in AR and using it as our home base. Just have to find a safe blue dollar exchange place but I suspect our friend and her coworkers will want to make the exchange themselves. Our friends are cautiously hopeful about the Oct/Nov elections but sentiment I am picking up is pretty negative. Where do you live now J?