Here is a good article on places to eat in BA.
http://www.theage.com.au/travel/food...204-1afwl.html
http://latinamericacurrentevents.com...-buenos-aires/

Personally, I can think of at lot of restaurants here in town that are better than some on that list ..

I had the same reaction as Scarlett and I probably maybe only know a small fraction of all the places she knows

They mention that one should try mate in the article, but it is maddeningly difficult to find. You cannot get it in any bar or restaruant (after multiple requests). Everyone has it on the streets. Many stores sell the equipment for it, but no mate!

Finally I was at a travel center in Salta and I asked the guy where does one get mate? He replied "You would like some mate?" I said yes. He then went into the back and got his own personal stash that he let us try. Very good!

You are right, now that I think of it.. I have never seen maté on a menu.
Maybe because of the way it is made, time consuming ? Because it is something that is sipped for over a long period of time ?
I tried it twice and hated it ... definitely an acquired taste.
But I did manage to learn to like the taste of Malbec easily ... and Quilmes

Mate was big in Peru -- tried it and hated it! I did love the gourds and straws from which they drank mate. Brought home a lovely one.

"Yerba mate" can be bought in any supermarket or local "almacén".

I can´t stand it, but many Argentines seemingly cannot live without it.

Yerba mate can be bought in stores but we were saying we never see it on a menu .. in a restaurant.
I thought it most resembled the taste of what dirt and water might taste like lol.
Definitely an acquired taste .. one I will skip acquiring.

I find Dan Perlman's reviews on saltshaker.net to be a very good source. You get reviews with photos and you know right away if you are going to like a place he likes and where to avoid. He is resident in BA and food is his livelihood so he doesn't just hit the same spots the travel writers do. Travel writers all seem to take each other's advice!

Having said that, my two favorite restaurants in BA are not on any list and we discovered them by just trying places which looked good, smelled great and were fairly full with other customers.

Would you care to share the name of those two restaurants with this forum's readers, Huentetu?

No way, Avrooster! You will have to pry the fork out of my cold, dead hand!

I agree, Huentetu, Dan does know his stuff when it comes to food and restaurants.

OK, to each his own, Huentetu, but I strongly feel that is NOT what this forum is about.

About those reviews, I disagree, which is MY privilege.

So that anyone else reading this knows what we are talking about .. we are discussing Dan (Saltshaker) and his reviews:
http://www.saltshaker.net/restaurant-reviews

Very handy when trying to decide on a place to eat or as in our case, finding addresses.

This http://www.guiaoleo.com.ar/ and Saltshaker and you should be good to go..

El Federal in downtown BA offers mate...I watched a couple of guys enjoying a mate about 2:30 in the afternoon while I was enjoying a late lunch...

I agree with others, yerba mate is an acquired taste. It tastes a little like alfalfa to me. I have also tried Coca Mate, which I enjoyed...totally different taste.

I made Mate for my friends in France - my goodness, they were polite, but stupefied !

I have not yet acquired a taste for Mate myself, and I love that slightly medicinal Fernet...maybe the coke makes it palatable ?

Well, as they say, variety is the spice....that's the benefit of a Forum such as this.

~Marnie