Best of Buenos Aires Eats: food roundup
#1 best meal: The steak here is all it's cracked up to be. Everyone says that Argentina is all about the beef, and beef is truly the one meal that stands out the most.
Upon recommendation from my hostel, and one of my hostel roommates, I went to El Desnivel on Defensa 855 in San Telmo. My roommate had the bife de lobo (tenderloin), and said the cow must have been fed grapes and given massages it was so melt-in-your-mouth great. Well, someone told me the same thing about kobe beef, and when I tried it at the the Bellagio in Las Vegas, I was so disappointed.
Not this time. It truly melted in my moth. And it was just so simple. The waiter brought out the steak on a metal platter, forked it onto my plate and poured the leftover juices over it. That was it. I was also too naive to know that salad and fries and other accompaniments were a la carte! But those probably would have distracted from such a pure steak experience, enhanced by a little pepper garnish on the side. Price was AR$30 (about $8.38) for the steak itself.
#2. I got off the boat from my Colonia day trip, and was really exhausted and thirsty. I popped into the first cafe that looked like it had a lot of people in it, La Casona, and ordered a flan and a licuado (fruit blended with either water or milk). I don't think I've ever been more refreshed and rejuvenated than after I drank a few sips of my licuado - strawberries blended with water. I was so sad when I finished the glass.
#3-5: the first empanadas I had at La Continental, the cafe con leche with all of its accompaniments at London City, and the mate at Cumana.
Worst meal in Buenos Aires: pizza at Kentucky. I had been walking for a really long time in Palermo feeling like I needed a break, and was about to get on the train when I passed by a restaurant full of people. It was called Kentucky, and looked really old school, and so I felt obligated to try it. Pizza is very common in BA, and I hadn't tried it yet, so I got the Kentucky special pizza. Could they have not thought of more ingredients to pile on?? Hard boiled egg, ham, sardine, heart of palm,... I was surprised to see on one of my later walks that there's more than one Kentucky pizza store in town.
