Graziella5b

I visit often Buenos Aires for personal reasons , for this reason I feel things are changing lately.
First of all everything is getting more expensive in Buenos Aires, including of course eating out.
I feel that to-day it is better in many cases to order at la carte instead of falling for those executive or set menus for a fix price.
Now the price for this set menu lunches in most places is around $45 +pesos per person, for this money they give you a main dish no choice here , nothing exciting most of the time, and they add a soda, and sometimes a coffee, or a dessert and if you are lucky both. But not any dessert there is a simple choice between two simple deserts.
Yesterday we were in Barrio Norte , we bumped into a nicely decorate place, and people obviously were having lunch, so we sat down. The lunch choice was a
vegetable tarta, that is a vegetable quiche, with a salad, a soda, coffee and some dessert
this was $50. Several tourist were having lunch.
WE walked a few meters and chose a formal restaurant called Melo at Pacheco de Melo 1833, at the end of the day we spent a bit more,$139 pesos for both to be exact that is less than $ 4 us more per person.
But this is what we had, and it was very well done,
- a half bottle of Norton wine excellent from Mendoza 50 ml
-a half bottle of Mineral Water Villavicencio 50 ml
-one abadejo, excellent fish, grilled with boiled vegetables, including asparagus
-a >Suprema Maryland, which in case you have not tried it Buenos Aires, consist of a huge breast of chicken a la milanesa, grilled bacon, a fried banana a la Cuban, fried
potatoes and cream corn, this is a Buenos Aires classic. Huge and good.
one coffee, cortadito. That is it.

Again and again we had lately disappointing experiences whenever we asked for the set price menu, so I recommend to eat what you really like and at the end of the day
you will be happier spending only a few more bucks.

Things have changed In Buenos Aires in only a few years.

MarnieWDC

Graziella, I agree that restaurant prices have gone up, and I definitely agree that Melo is a good restaurant.

However, we had several executive lunches that were fullsome (even more food than we could eat) reasonable and with a few good choices on each course.

So, I think it is a matter of checking the menu. Sometimes, especially if this is not one's main meal of the day, it is more lucrative and sensible to order à la carte. Otherwise, an Executive Menu at lunch could be both a bargain and a way to try a more expensive restaurant.

Chao,
~MarnieWDC

Scarlett

Melo is one of our favorite restaurants.
We never ever order executive/set lunches or meals anywhere.
First of all, we are not big eaters and there is no way I would sit down to a few course meal in the middle of the day. There are so many good places to eat that are not expensive here.
I often eat salads or just appetizers, you don't have to spend a lot of money on eating out here. Thank goodness :- )

Graziella5b

HI Scarlet, I am glad you agree with me. I understand what MArnie , my advice to tourists is
do not think that always the executive menu is going to be a better deal than a la carte.
Speaking of great place money wise, in San Isidro there is a classic place called La Legua,
this place is packed at lunch and very pleasant. They have an exceptional salad buffer, really
excellent quality and variety, they offer parrila, excellent , grilled fish, and pasta too.
For instance the half fillet mignon which is huge, and delicious , plus the salad bar is only
43 pesos, idem for the trucha patagonica very good too. Bon appetit.

Graziella5b

Correction, I made a mistake, the name of the restaurant in San Isidro is La Portena, located
in Fondo de la Legua 290, this place is not far from the Hipodromo de San Isidro.

avrooster

It is highly unlikely that a tourist would visit La Porteña, as it is located about 20 miles out of town, near the Pan American highway, but it is a reasonably good choice.

http://www.restaurantlaporteña.com.ar/

They are getting so-so reviews lately: http://www.guiaoleo.com.ar/restaurantes/La-Portenia-528

When I did my "The REAL Buenos Aires" tour, which involved riding the train to San Isidro, we went there for dinner. http://www.fodors.com/community/sout...enos-aires.cfm

Graziella5b

I agree with avrooster it is unlikely that tourists would visit La Portena because it is located in San Isidro, (Lomas de San Isidro, I believe) ,..... if avorooster took his guests to have dinner there it speaks well of this place.
I believe it is an excellent place money wise. I lunched twice lately and was always pleased.
In comparison I paid 43 pesos for a very nice sandwich at lunch at Syrop Follie in Barrio Norte
( salmon and brie) and 43 pesos +8 of cubierto at La Portena for a filet mignon and unlimited
fresh and delicious salad bar,...no comparison to me and shows the difference between downtown and the real buenos aires like avrooster calls the shots.
Of course this should not surprise us it is the same all over the world.

avrooster

I decided to try Melo yesterday, with DW and DD, in spite of the fact that its latest reviews on Guía Oleo are only so-so.

http://www.guiaoleo.com.ar/restaurantes/Melo-2135

I was extremely disappointed and DW and DD agreed, so it wasn´t just me. In fact, DD left most of her "milanesa", indicating it seemed to have been fried in oil which had seen better days. Complaining to the waiter got no reaction.

However, the owner's father welcomed us very nicely and was helpful in general, but didn´t help with the food.

I would give the place 2 stars out of 5 and most certainly will not return. Rodi Bar is much better, except for the ambiance.

MarnieWDC

Avrooster, hola,

I am disappointed to hear about Melo, one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants when we stay in Recoleta. We did not get there this year, and this suggests that we will not bother next year.

Rodi bar has an interesting atmosphere for those of us used to more conventional restaurants - and the service is sometimes comical in its style. Not like home cooking, but really good !

~Marnie

avrooster

Hi, Marnie!

Every once in a while, we go into town to have dinner with DD.

She said last night she would prefer the Rodi Bar for our next dinner with her.

yestravel

Okay, we have eaten at Rodi Bar in past trips and loved it. This trip, not so much. 3 of the 4 of us did not like our food. Only the milanesa pleased. We did all love the waiter -- he was very entertaining. My feeling is that most restaurants can only do so many dishes really well, Rodi Bar has a huge menu, so I think it can be hit or miss. Just the opinion of one visitor

avrooster

"most restaurants can only do so many dishes really well".

I most certainly agree.

MarnieWDC

I agree, you cannot expect every dish to be super, but Rodi Bar's steaks and Maryland chicken have been consistently good, in my and DH's meals. And their calabasa is quite good too - that and a bottle of Malbec and.......

But I know my friends have been disappointed in their meals there, so I think it must depend on the choices or the 'hit or miss' of the beef given the trend toward more feedlots.

Oh well,what I wouldn't give to be able to join those roosters there for dinner.
~Marnie

avrooster

Well, Marnie, you could leave DH in "rainy, dreary and cold" DC and join us here!

It won't last forever, but the weather has been absolutely wonderful in BA during these last few days!

Scarlett

They make two dishes at the Rodi Bar that are just great .. one is fish stuffed with leaks and some kind of cheese.. delicious every time and the other is their Fusilli Putanesca .. nice bite to it with the tang of anchovies..
I am taking a break from eating out .. we had dinner out almost every day and most lunches for the past 2 weeks and I was actually looking forward to salads and sandwiches and plain food again.
It won't last long though
Marnie, we had dinner at Hermanns the other night. When the waiter took the dishes away, I said something you taught me .. it worked ..

MarnieWDC

Oh, Scarlett, I am such a Castillano maven. You taught me one of my favorite expressions: I speak menu ! So we are even.

Youall are thinking gloves and boots these days as we are thinking sandles and suntan cream --- and still wearing gloves and boots ! Drat ! The best antidote to this lingering winter...is apartment hunting for BsAs in the austral winter of 2012

Best,
~Marnie

yestravel

Sure wish we had your recs when we were there. As a matter of fact, one person actually said, "What does Scarlett eat here?!?"

Graziella5b

For those of you knowing Spanish, I believe it goes, " cada baile como bailado"
, we had a good lunch at Melo the other day and talking about Rudi a place I have known
for some 40 years or so, our last meal was totally horrible. As MARNIE rightly
points out it depends a lot of what you order and who is cooking that day.
If you wish to know what was horrible and why I can tell you because although
a couple of months have elapsed I remember, actually they were two main courses you problably do not care much about, but my husband and I wrongly believed at the time that they shoud be good in a place like Rodi, the matter in fact I had tried them before and they were fine.
The were" sesos a la milanesa" and" polenta con carne a la cacerola", both were
really unacceptable, we had to turned them back.
I also like the ambiance of places like RODI and others that have disapeared
as time goes by.
One of them , may be Avroosters knows about it was located in Callao or EntreRios and
was favored by actors and professional singers," puchero" was great and much more.
Restorants like those had a lot of history, same for marvelous cafes like one at the corner of Callao and Santa Fe,I forgot the name and many more.
Long gone as many more....good or bad they have been replaced by the new places in the re invented Palermos......and Puerto Madero.
Have fun and bon appetit.
palermos

Graziella5b

I wish to clarify that long ago some cafes in Buenos Aires used to be upgraded to Confiterias,
women generally did not go to Cafes but they did go to Confiterias. The one in Callao and
Santa Fe which was magnificent was called Confiteria Aguila.
To give you and idea how conservative the Buenos Aires society was as early as the nineteen thirties I recall reading an essay of Victorio Ocampo , stating that in the 30-40 or may be later
women alone in a confiteria were not allowed to smoke....!!!
Another thing which been Uruguayan and a tennis player always shocked me: up to very recently
( and it might very well been in effect today) in the Jockey Club if women were playing tennis,
and men wished to play women had to leave the court upon their demand.
Historically Uruguay was more ready and able to advance regarding women rights, like the right to divorce. For decades
Argentine crossed the River Plate to obtain divorces.

avrooster

A factor you don´t mention, Graziella5b:

The Jockey Club has only male members.