Eat Drink Buenos Aires: Top 10 for Steak, Sushi & Sours

Ever since I left Buenos Aires a little over a year ago, I’ve been promising to write a list of my top restaurants to share with the growing army of friends visiting Argentina for the first time.

It was a tough task, since I truly believe Buenos Aires offers some of the best restaurant choices in the world, but I’ve finally put together a list of my favourites. Click here to see the list.

Ceviche, Sours and Scams in Santiago and Valpo

Chile, the most European country of South America - that's what I'd always read. Isabel Allende, whose books I read as a teenager, had described Santiago as being like London, the people bustling around in business suits, always on time and always polite. So I hardly expect to be scammed the moment I arrive in Santiago, but that's exactly what happens.

It's my first time ever in Chile, after a decade or so of South American stays, so I'm really excited about getting to know a new country. Perhaps it's because of this excitement and false sense of security about Chile that I completely uncharacteristically let my guard down and decide to follow the man who says "Taxi?" as soon as I step out of the arrival gates. There's no sign of the official taxi stand and he is holding an official sign, so I presume it'll be ok. 

As the taxi man leads me out into a car park and makes me wait a moment for a non-standard-looking taxi to pull up beside me, I begin to have my reservations, but I already feel committed. As soon as I'm in the car and listening to the driver 'negotiating' a price with his boss over the phone, I know something is up. But with my lack of confidence with Chilean Spanish and my complete absence of research into a typical taxi price to the centre, I'm powerless to argue. 

We pull up at Hostel Los Andes and he charges me 35,000 pesos. That's about £45. I pay it, because I have to. I then check into the hostel and gingerly ask the staff what a typical fare from the airport would be, and my heart sinks when he tells me it's 12,000 to 18,000 pesos. Not a penny more. That'll certainly teach me...

Hostel Los Andes is a really cool backpackers' hostel on Monjitas, right next to the Bellas Artes subway stop. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Santiago as it's a great place to meet people with a colourful social area and it's five minutes' walk from the main square, Plaza de Armas.

Mural outside Bellas Artes station and opposite Hostel Los Andes

Fortunately, I have a friend in Santiago, so no sooner have I arrived than I am treated to splendid views of the Plaza de Armas from his perfectly located apartment balcony. 

Plaza de Armas from above

Next up, he takes me on a hike up to the top of Cerro San Cristóbal, a big hill 300m above Santiago with views over the entire city. It's the second-highest point in Santiago, after Cerro Renca. Usually, I'm told, it's smoggy and difficult to see the view, but on certain days you can see the mountains. I don't think we've done too badly.

We stop at the top to look at the statue of the Virgin Mary and sup a typical drink called Mote con Huesillo - it's a liquid made of cooked, dried peaches and stewed corn. Very sweet and not exactly my cup of tea, but interesting all the same!

View from the top of Cerro San Cristóbal

After half an hour of people-watching (the top of Cerro San Cristóbal is a great spot for young couples seeking to make out away from their parents' homes!), we take the funicular railcar back down to the bottom of the mountain and head for an evening of pisco sours - the very typical Chilean alcoholic drink (originally from Peru, though the two countries argue over who invented it) made of pisco, lime, syrup and egg whites. In Buenos Aires, they're drunk from a cocktail glass but in Chile, it seems, it's champagne glasses all the way!

On Saturday, I intend to get up early to catch a bus to Valparaíso but in reality end up getting up so late as to have to wait an hour for a coach as the whole of Santiago attempts to decamp to the coast for the weekend. I make friends with a guy from the hostel and we make this trip together, which is handy as I intend to get the last bus back in the evening and could do with some company.

The first shock of Valparaíso - affectionately known as Valpo - is it's COLD. We leave Santiago wearing beach clothes because it's boiling hot, and on the coast it's about 15 degrees colder and everyone is wearing coats. I feel like a tool. 

We go straight to the market on Av. Uruguay con Brasil, as my friend has recommended this for a fish lunch. The market isn't quite what we expected - full of cats and dogs just roaming around and sitting among the fruit and veg (I'm fine with this but thousands wouldn't be!). Upstairs is the restaurant level and we're immediately bombarded with offers from different restaurants for their set-menu lunches.

Inside the market - how many cats can you see?!

We have a very standard, pretty unsatisfying fish lunch and then are wholly and utterly scammed with the price on paying the bill. Once again, I've let my guard down in Chile - the scamming capital of South America, it seems - and I will definitely not do it again!

After about an hour of confusedly walking around a very run-down, dilapidated area of Valparaíso and feeling extremely shortchanged, we eventually take a street-side elevator and wind up in the right part of down, amid beautiful winding streets lined with pretty, colourful houses, cute little coffee shops and views over the city. This part of Valpo is well-worth a visit, but I don't think I'd ever need to spend more than a day here.

Dogs in Valparaíso

Finally, determined to see as much of Chile as possible in two days, the pair of us jump on a rickety bus to Viña del Mar, just up the coast. Again, we don't really know where to go, so we just wander along the beach before settling down for a dinner of ceviche, lemon pie and a few more pisco sours.

My first Chilean ceviche

On my final day back in Santiago, I set out for a bit of exploration and wander around a few of the main tourist attractions - the beautiful Cerro Santa Lucía park, where President Sebastian Piñera is currently doing a speech, so I have to wait an hour to enter, and the Museo de Bellas Artes. 

Cerro Santa Lucía

My final stop is lunch, with a glass of Carmenere wine, before I head to the airport - this time in a pre-booked taxi with the fare agreed in advance. Chile, you will NOT scam me again!

Time for one last pisco sour? Actually, I had a coffee. - bar in Santiago airport

A Long Weekend of Buenos Aires Dining

No sooner have I got settled again in Buenos Aires than my newly-wed couple friends arrive for a 10-day late honeymoon. They are staying with me in Buenos Aires for a few days either side of a trip to Mendoza and a bit of gaucho ranch life, so I set out to show them my favourite dining spots in the capital, plus a few new ones we'll discover together...

Thursday 24 November - Bardot and Soberbia 22 

We kick off at Bardot on Honduras for a pre-dinner cocktail. I've walked past this place many a time with its purple and pink interior and thought it looked like a trendy brothel, but apparently it's a Peruvian-Japanese sushi restaurant. Unfortunately, the restaurant tends to look empty whenever I walk past, so we just sit outside for a cocktail on the street. The Pisco Sour - a cocktail made of pisco liqueur, lemon, angostura and egg white - is simply perfect and refreshing.

Bardot, Honduras - image from http://www.restobardot.com/es/index.html

After the cocktails, we end up at Soberbia 22 because we leave it a bit too late to book and everywhere else is so busy. I really fancy going to Las Cabras on the corner of Fitz Roy and El Salvador, but unfortunately the place is heaving and they can't sit us down until 11pm and my friends - newly arrived from London - are a little too tired for an Argie-late mealtime. So we head to 22, a pretty empty-looking parrilla on Fitz Roy with Guatemala - the only place we can find that's not completely heaving. 

We sit outside on the street and, unfortunately, see a lone cockroach scuttle up the wall right next to our table, but we're not too perturbed since it's not inside the restaurant and it's a hot, hot night - I guess we can't take it out too much on Soberbia 22. The steak is pretty good and my newly arrived travel friends are perfectly happy, so we all go to bed well-fed and well-rested.

Friday 25 November - Cabaña Las Lilas

Friday evening, we head to Cabaña Las Lilas, a famous, touristy steak joint in the popular Puerto Madero port area. I have been here twice before, in 2007 and 2008 - the first time brilliant, the second time disappointing - so am not sure what to expect of it in 2011. One thing's for sure though, the place couldn't fail to disappoint any newcomer to Buenos Aires in terms of its decor and atmosphere - as you walk through from the front entrance of the restaurant on Alicia Moreau de Justo, you can't fail to notice the enormous raw steaks on show in the kitchen, where you can also watch the chefs at work.

A chef at work at Cabana Las Lilas

We barely know where to start with this huge array of steak on offer... Ojo de Bife, Bife de Chorizo, Asado de Tira, or the enormous Bife de Costilla... 

We kick off with the Cabaña Las Lilas house cocktail, consisting of gin, peach pulp and champagne. Then, because we are mad, sun-obsessed English folk, we decide to sit outside on the terrace in the baking evening heat - a decision we later regret.

I've somehow managed to wangle myself a free steak and wine lunch at an Argentine mining company's end-of-year press do, so I can't quite manage another steak and I order the pollo de campo - an absolutely exquisitely grilled free-range chicken, which I cannot fault. The others order steak and are not disappointed in the slightest. The accompaniments are enormous and we're so full we can't quite manage the limoncello and sweet treats that come with our coffees... 

Limoncello at Cabana Las Lilas

I can safely say Cabaña Las Lilas is happily back in my good books. Yes, it is certainly one of the most expensive places to eat in Buenos Aires - as you might expect in one of the most touristy areas - but the food is abundant and can't be faulted, and my guests are well-nourished and delighted.

Saturday 26 November - Osaka Part II

After an afternoon in La Boca, in which we get scammed by a cafe bar that gives us a 50-peso note as change that we only realise is fake when a taxi driver refuses to accept it, the three of us are happy to be back in the comfort and safety of relatively scam-free Palermo Hollywood in time for dinner. I am proud to take my guests to Osaka, and I dare even say the sushi restaurant is even better second time round. We order the usual mix of salmon sashimi, mouth-watering ceviche and a few hot dishes and, of course, the essential Saturday-night pisco sour for good measure.

Sunday 27 November - Olsen and San Telmo Sunday

Lazy Olsen Sunday brunch

We arrive early for brunch at the well-known Scandinavian vodka-bar-come-brunch-spot Olsen (on Gorriti 5870) as I know it's hard to get a table here on Sundays - the place is full by 12:30. The menu is super-simple but it works: think coffee, orange juice and scrambled egg or omelette. We while away a couple of hours in this hip, open-air eatery (though it's a little too early for vodka).

After brunch, we jump in a taxi to San Telmo, the neighbourhood known for its Sunday antique markets, funky gift shops and restaurants. We wind up in an old deli place with a cool interior and ask if we can just order some cheese and bits of ham and salami. The old man on the deli counter looks at us as if we're complete nutters for ordering off-menu, but eventually turns up with an enormous plate of cheese, olives and assorted ham. Seeing our order, a couple at a nearby table asks for the same and, soon enough, we've started a trend and the entire restaurant is chomping away on huge plates of delicatessen items. 

Deli food in San Telmo

Unfortunately, I fail to note the name of the restaurant, so it will just have to be known as the unnamed San Telmo deli...

The unnamed restaurant in San Telmo