Description: As soon as I arrived in Buenos Aires, I heard talk of La Cabrera as one of THE go-to steakhouses in the city. It took us awhile to get there, but we finally went last week with a group of co-workers.
We arrived without a reservation at about 10:30pm -- there were nine of us, so we had to wait a little while for a table. There are actually two buildings housing this restaurant -- the first, on one side of the street, is rather small. As La Cabrera became more popular, they added the second location across the street. That is where we got our table after about 15 minutes.
The atmosphere is casual, but the waitstaff add a formal flare. They are prompt and polite, and take their job seriously -- sad to say, that's not always common in Buenos Aires!
We enjoyed a few appetizers -- the chorizo was fantastic, as was this other thing. Sorry, wish I could tell you a bit more, but I have no idea what it was. Someone else ordered it for all of us to share, and I never got around to finding the name. It was covered in cheese, and there was chorizo and tomato in there. A+.
The cheese sticks were so-so. If you're a fan of mozzarella sticks, you will be disappointed -- because I don't think it was mozzarella. It tasted good -- it might have been provolone -- but when I bite into a cheese stick, I'm expecting it to goo and ooze with flavor. These didn't do that. You could make a straight cut with your fork right through the cheese and none of it stuck to your fork. Major let-down.
The main menu has more cuts of beef than you knew existed, as well as some salads and pastas. Everyone ordered something a little different, and everyone was happy. The highlight at the table was the beef that was rolled around sundried tomatoes and cheese -- absolutely fantastic. Again, I don't know what it's called, but you could request it by description and the waiters would be able to help you out.
I had to leave before the desserts arrived, but I did get to glance at the menu -- nothing too out-of-the-ordinary, kind of what you expect on your basic Buenos Aires dessert list: ice cream, chocolate mousse, etc. My co-workers raved about them the next day, though.
The drawback: it's expensive. Quite expensive. The bill that night -- with drinks (just water, soda, and a couple of beers that we shared), six appetizers, seven pieces of meat, a couple of salads, and four or five desserts -- came to about AR$300-400 per person. For a big chunk of meat, you can definitely find a better value elsewhere in the city. The atmosphere is cool, but to me it's not worth a return visit. There is plenty of steak in Argentina, and I don't believe that the steak at La Cabrera is so much better than what you could find at another steakhouse.
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