parkhill24

Trip Report: Impressions of BA II

BA steaks are touted as the best in the world. We ate tenderloin (bifo de lomo) four out of seven nights, all at well-recommended spots. We shared each time; the portions are enormous. At Juana M, just off Avenida 9 de Julio, we were served two pieces, one chewy, the other very good. We had been told by the waiter we could get one salad bar trip. When we were charged for two, we demurred. When you share the steak, they said, you get no salad. Excuse me? We were given a polite but hard time, with the dispute being settled in our favor.

At La Caballeriza in Puerto Madero, a big, busy place with families, we erred by ordering "medium well." A good steak, but could have been better. Our fault. At La Estancia, on Av. Lavalle in the Microcentro, we ordered it medium but it came out medium-well. Good, should have been better. At Las Nazarenas, in the Microcentro near the Marriott, we finally got it right, ordering medium with some pink. Great steaks. As good as we get at Central Market in Fort Worth and cook at home -- a sincere compliment.

Frankly, our best meal in BA was ravioli at the Sorrento de Puerto in Puerto Madero. Outstanding.

As for prices -- keeping in mind that we shared one huge steak -- an "expensive" full meal with a half-bottle of wine, a couple of beers and the tip came to less than $35. In most places, forget about having to wait until 11 p.m. to eat. If you go about 8 you probably don't even need a reservation. (Of course you might be dining with the staff.) We found good wine everywhere -- usually sold in restaurants by the bottle or half-bottle -- and the Argentine beers are cold and refreshing, especially Quilmes. We chide ourselves for not trying some of the smaller parillos, but the hour, our location, where we found ourselves when hungry and what we could locate conspired against us.

We stayed at the Hilton in Puerto Madero. Excellent hotel, fine room, super-friendly service. Not cheap. We really had no complaints. Our bill contained a few errors, but they were addressed to our satisfaction on the spot. Note that each international call carries a $3 hotel phone charge, even though we used the hotel operator only to connect using the Hablemas card, available at most kiosks in the city. It gives you about 70 minutes of international calling for just 10 pesos. A great deal.

The Hilton's Puerto Madero location has two faces: The noise there is much less than in the Microcentro, the air is much cleaner, and excellent restaurants are a short and pleasant stroll along the water. On the other hand, it's about a 10-minute walk, crossing three traffic-clogged major streets, to get to Calle Florida, the pedestrian shopping street.

The Marriott Plaza, where we earlier had reservations, has an excellent location at the foot of Calle Florida. We switched because it had been getting less-than-enthusiastic reviews. Don't know whether it was the right decision or not. We liked the Hilton, but it's harder to duck back there anytime you might like to change clothes or rest -- not that rest is a priority in BA. More to come...

Orlando_Vic

Thanks for mentioning Juana M. We went there (twice) and also had the bife de lomo. It was superb! With the salad bar thrown in, it was a steal at 27 pesos (9 U.S. dollars). I think their house malbec was 4-5 pesos a glass, and very good.

By the way, their menu did state that the salad bar was free only with full (not split or shared) entrees.

mikemo

I too would recommend Juana M, but for about US$18. for two steaks (look like Rib eyes, but called equiv of NY strips), overwhelming salad bar trips and a bottle of Malbec, HOW CHEAP CAN YOU GET????
M

marigold

I surely agree with your point, Mikemo.

drdawggy

parkhill,

As a current resident of the great state of Texas and as one who loves Argentina...a comment or two about steaks...order steaks jugoso in Argentina if you want medium or a punto if you want medium plus.....

Texas steaks are good, but the free range steaks in Argentina are tastier (in my opinion) and healthier since they are devoid of the hormones and grains we use in the USA to plump up our cattle.

Try La Cabrera in Palermo on your next trip..or El Establo downtown...or El Mirasol in Retiro....or just find a corner parrilla.....

Glad you enjoyed yourself....

mikemo

I lived in Dallas for 25 years and stopped buying TX beef decades ago.
The beef in Mexico, Panama and Argentina is way better and healthier as dd mentioned.
M (SMdA, Gto.)

mikemo

Forgot to mention today's NYT's article on US beef.
Mexican free range (no hormone, no antibiotic) beef filet (mignon) is about US $7.50 a kg (2.2 lbs).
M

lenugent

parkhill, i did a double take when you mentioned central market in fw where my wife currently has a permanently designated parking spot. would like to talk to you more about your trip before we go in the fall.

parkhill24

lenugent, I thought I had posted a reply earlier but it hasn't appeared. Suggestion: Post your email address and I will reply, or leave a note to parkhill24 at the Central Market front desk -- whatever you think best.

lenugent

Our e-mail address is [email protected].
Looking forward to hearing more about your trip. KPN