South America, Day 8: Buenos Aires, Argentina (Part 3)

The last post had not nearly enough food pictures in it. Lest anyone doubt what the true mission of this trip is, it's time to rectify that. For dinner, I decided to go to La Cabrera steakhouse in Palermo, at the suggestion of my friend Elvira. Sadly, when I got there, they said there would be a 45 minute wait, and I was already hungry. So, I had time to kill and a stomach to fill. I went around the block to La Fabrica del Taco, and picked up a carne asada taco for 10 pesos ($2.50). Pretty good, and pretty big for the price. The salsa they provided gave the lie to my ideas about spicy food in Argentina: it was marked only 1 star of 4 on the spiciness scale, but had a definite kick. Really good!

I was so hungry I ate half before remembering to take a picture.

 After the taco, I went back to La Cabrera, and it turned out "45 minutes" actually meant "25 minutes", because I was promptly seated. So far on this trip, every restaurant I've been to has served bread, but none have provided any butter (often, there's nothing; occasionally, mayo (???)). Also, oftentimes the bread has been pretty awful. Here, the bread was excellent, and it came with a tray of three condiments: butter, a mustard with olives (very strange), and ... ROASTED GARLIC. Score.

Who needs butter?

 Shortly thereafter came my salad. First fresh vegetables I've had on this trip that didn't come between two pieces of bread, I'm pretty sure. An ensalada mixta around here means "lettuce, tomato, onion". The tomatos were pretty good, though.

When I ordered my main course, it didn't specify any sides, so I assumed that, like the other parrillas I'd been to, it would come with just the meat. But here, things were different! My 400g (14oz) rib-eye steak (ojo de bife) came with a wide variety of small sides, vaguely reminding me of a Korean restaurant. After I took this picture, the waiter came by with more options, but I had to decline, given the sheer quantity of food already on my table.

From top left, in columns: roasted garlic, pumpkin puree, pickled broccoli, sweet potato and beet puree, roasted potatoes, whole olives, mashed potatoes, spinach and smoked cheese, steak, dijon mustard and cream sauce.

The standard for steak here is a punto, or medium-rare, and it's very nice. The steak was tasty and filling, though perhaps not the finest steak I've ever had. I should perhaps have tried the sirloin, as the ribeye was a bit too much on the lean side. My mistake, or theirs? Who can say. Good dinner.

A punto