Food and Restaurants

This classy restaurant is part of the Alvear Palace hotel and is one of the best in Buenos Aires. A French chef presides over the kitchen with skill and aplomb and there is a wide selection of dishes on offer. You can also try the excellent grilled meat on the rotisserie.

This is a nice place to take your partner for some good food and classy enjoyment. The thin crust pizzas are famously excellent since they are baked in a brick-oven. They also serve many other dishes including seafood, salads and pasta. Cuisine: Italian Address: Av. Puyerredon 2501 Telephone: 4804 0055

An extremely upscale but proportionately (if surprisingly) comfortable place to eat. The specialty here is the steak and it’s not without reason that it is reputedly the ‘best place in Buenos Aires to eat steak’. The steaks are enormous, succulent, and must be tasted to be believed. They also have an extensive list of Argentine and international wines.

A complete restaurant offering the highest quality meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In the late hours, it is also a cocktail bar. The atmosphere is comfortable and the wait staff is quiet and efficient; this is the place to while away a whole day.

Go here to get the flavor of what a typical porteño likes to eat. There are large portions, lots of meat and some Spanish and Italian influences thrown in. The taste and quality of the food in El Farol is always superb and the staff tends to be jovial and talkative.

If you are getting tired of all the meat on offer, don’t fret as there are some carefully hidden vegetarian places in Buenos Aires too! In the Palermo Viejo district, this little haven of home-cooked food is relief to find. Simple dishes, organic ingredients and polite and attentive waitstaff make this restaurant always a pleasure to eat at.

This is part of the Bo Bo hotel and a warm, inviting place to go for a relaxed dinner or lunch. Some Argentinian dishes are on offer, as well as some middle-eastern delights. Food is well prepared and delicious.

Renovated from an old pharmacy, this restaurant is just the right combination of perfect atmosphere and perfect food. They prepare an excellent pizza but the vibe is such that you feel able to drop in anytime for a coffee or a glass of wine. They also have salad and pasta dishes available and outdoor seating. Cuisine: Pizzaria Address: Charcas 3494 (@ Vidt) Telephone: 4823 0861

La Vieja Rotisería is the best place for cheap authentic Argentinian meat. The parilla café is very popular so be prepared to wade between the ranks of hungry porteños at lunchtime. Cuisine: Argentinian Address: Defensa 963, San Telmo Telephone: 4362 5660

When you are exploring the city, you’ll realize there are many al paso (walk through) restaurants where your meal is meant to be eaten quick, standing up or at a bar. This is good if you are travelling on your own and are more interested in Buenos Aires experiences other than food. There are a few meal options: hot-dogs (panchos), are quick and familiar, beef sausages (chorizos, or its sandwich version choripán), delicious but take a little getting used to, the humble pizzas, or milanesas (breaded fried cutlets) for the adventurous.

The food courts in shopping malls can also be a cheap place to eat. At the Galerías Pacífico, you can find your everyday fast food, burgers, chicken and Asian food, but also some parilla places.

Only open for dinner Club Eros is the sparsest you can get in the area. The venue is a place for sports practices in the daytime but at around 8:00pm the tables are set out. There is little in terms of decoration but there is plenty of ambience when it fills up with hungry, noisy people. The food, although simple, is well cooked and flavoured, and most importantly, you can get a lot of it for a little.

This is a middle-eastern restaurant with a quiet and charming interior in the las Canitas barrio. It specializes in takeaway, mostly, kebabs, falafel etc. the food is good and the staff are polite and friendly. Perfect for catching a quick meal on the go. Cuisine: Middle-Eastern/Lebanese Address: San Benito de Palermo 1683 Telephone: 4771 3785

An Indian restaurant with delicious food from all parts of India. Go here to get some spiciness into your Buenos Aires diet.

A middle-eastern restaurant inspired by Ancient Egyptian art and décor. Located in the San Telmo barrio, it makes excellent lunch and dinners.

Offers fresh ingredients, no alcohol, the best patisserie in Palermo, and home style cooking. Open Tuesday to Saturday 9:00am to 9:00pm; Sun 10:30am to 9:00pm