Chances are you will have a positive dining experience in any restaurant you visit in Buenos Aires. But if your priority is to go to the best restaurants the city has to offer, let me point you to some authoritative sources:
Arguably the most respected restaurant guide is Vidal Buzzi (in Spanish). Their top ranked restaurants include:
- Le Mistral – Contemporary Mediterranean, including tapas, at the Four Seasons Hotel.
Posadas 1086, Barrio Norte Tel: 4321-1730
- Tomo 1 – Contemporary Argentine, with excellent wine list, at the Panamericano Hotel
Carlos Pellegrini 521, San Nicolas Tel: 4326-6695
(It’s also my mom’s favorite restaurant in Buenos Aires)
- Oviedo – Award winning Spanish cuisine, Beruti 2602, Recoleta Teléfono: 4821-3741
Guia Oleo (in Spanish) offers a very complete restaurant guide. Some restaurants at the top of their rating lists are:
- Casa Coupage – Wine tastings, individual attention and New Argentine cuisine in an intimate setting. Reservations required.
Güemes 4382 1st floor, Palermo Tel: 4833-6354 - Nectarine – Superior French restaurant
Vicente López 1661, Recoleta Tel: 4813-6993
- La Bourgogne – French cuisine in the beautiful Alvear Palace Hotel
Ayacucho 2027, Recoleta Tel: 4808-2100/4805-3857 - El Baqueano – Exotic Argentinean meats and fish, including llama, boar and cayman
Chile 495 and Bolivar, San Telmo Tel: 4342-0802
Metropolis recommends that you try:
- La Mas Querida – Pizzas with a modern twist
Echeverría y Montañeses, Belgrano Tel: 4788-1455 - Hippopotamus – New Argentine cuisine
Junin 1789, Recoleta Tel: 4802-0500 - Fernet Bistrot – Spanish/Argentine in a romantic setting
Juan Bautista de Lasalle 447 San Isidro Tel: 4732-0539
My recommendation:
I had a delicious, memorable meal at Patagonia Sur, established by Argentina’s most famous chef, Francis Mallman. Steakhouse and northern and southern Argentinean cuisine. Rocha 803 and Pedro de Mendoza, La Boca Tel: 4303 5917
What’s Hot:
Peruvian food and Peruvian/Fusion cuisine are currently all the rage. The Argentine Post has more details and recommendations, including the popular and highly rated Astrid Y Gaston – Lafinur 3222, Palermo Tel: 4802-2991
Good deals and great eats:
The Taxi Gourmet hops in a cab and asks the driver to take her to his/her favorite restaurant which she then reviews. On her top 10 list for 2008 :
- Marta Corsico’s Former Gas Station Café – Argentinean comfort food. Viamonte 1363 and Talcahuano, Retiro
- La Tranquerita – traditional stews, fare – Boyacá 996 – Flores, Tel: 4584 1441
- El Litoral – steakhouse Moreno 2201 and Pasco, Balvanera, Tel. 4953 2438
Other resources:
Born in Argentina, Paula Crerar moved to the United States as a child. She continued to visit Argentinean relatives every year in Buenos Aires, Patagonia, Córdoba and Salta. With the seasons reversed in the Southern Hemisphere, most of her stints in Argentina were spent in Patagonia skiing, and soon her shelf space was filled with ski racing trophies.
She has also lived and traveled extensively in the Caribbean and Latin American countries. Paula is currently a marketing executive in the technology industry and lives in Boston.
