We went to two parrilla (Spanish word for 'grill') restaurants while in Buenos Aires. The first one, Cabanas Las Lilas (review can be read here) and the second one El Mirasol. Cabanas Las Lilas had always been popular in Buenos Aires and the king went there on his first trip. He had such a good time he wanted to take me there. Even though the more up-to-date reviews of this restaurant claim that the standards have slipped and the quality of the food isn't as stellar, I can't say I have any complaints whatsoever about my meal there... between Cabana Las Lilas and El Mirasol, it's hard to pick a favorite. The quality 
of meat at Cabana Las Lilas was absolutely amazing! I cannot say I have had a better piece of rib eye where every mouthful of meat was perfectly marbled. Absolutely orgasmic, I kid you not! The meat was also extremely good at El Mirasol... the service at was much friendlier, less stuffy and I think I can safely say I had the best appetizers of my entire trip here. The empanadas here... yummy spicy ground beef. Hmmm... curry puff LOL! Sorry I digress... it's a Singaporean trait when it comes to food. Oh, and the bbq sausages with the chimichurri... wow!!Believe it or not, while food is usually the highlight of our trip, I believe the weather was more exceptional. It certainly was nice to get out of the Memphis heat to fly into cool wintery Buenos Aires. Can't say I wouldn't do it again. I know we could have flown over to Australia where we wouldn't have to pay for hotel but ummm... Argentina is so much more exotic :)
Speaking of exotic, we even went to the oldest cafe in Buenos Aires HAHAHA! Cafe Tortoni. OK, not exactly my kind of scene (at all) but hey, I get to say we did the touristy thingy :) Plus I had a churros and the husband had an alfajor (right) and we were out of the huge cafe quicker then it took us to be in line to gain entry lol. Just get me a bloody mocha frapaccino for crying out loud! Speaking of which, Starbucks will soon make her entry into the Argentina market this year.
If you want a nice meal, go to Sucre. This would be my favorite restaurant amongst all the places we went to eat in this city. I enjoyed every dish we had here. From the salmon ceviche (we also got the Peruvian style ceviche), jamon y queso croquettes (it sounds so fancy but it's just ham and cheese croquettes lol), to the very simple but super delicious and garlicky orechietti pasta with pancetta and brocolli - I can't say I have had a better pasta dish to date!! ...to the best coconut tart dessert I have ever had with a scoop of rich mango sorbet (it was so rich it tasted like ice cream). The food was simply spot on and service was absolutely excellent as well! I'm not giving Sucre justice by not writing a piece just on them but there is just too much going on right now to do so. I have procrastinated and now, a day before my cousin arrives, I'm doing laundry past 10 o'clock in the pm lol. Shame on me! :(
Who is she? Well, she walked out of her family bakery just as we were walking by and she offered us samples of their pastries. Full sized samples! None of that cut a bloody pastry into forty-two pieces like they do here, if you're even that lucky lol! Of course after having a fresh warm cinnamon roll in the cool crisp morning air, we marched right in and got us more pastries we certainly didn't need lol. They get my vote for best coquitos - coconut macaroons - I have ever had! Hmmm... there seems to be this pattern of yummy coconut desserts here...?!?
Our last 'meal' in Buenos Aires consisted of the most awesome combination of ice-cream from Freddo. Despite the locals complaining about the cold weather - it really wasn't that cold with the high humidity; even though the recorded temperature was only in the 30s. It still wasn't too cold to eat ice-cream (it never is!) in the Galaria. It was hot and stuffy in there. So we took the opportunity to have us a little Freddo. YUM! Talk about the perfect blend of flavors we picked!!! The bitterness of the mocha ice cream (with coffee beans) together with the white chocolate'y flavor adding to the rich sweetness of the dulce de leche ice cream and the crunchiness texture of the very generous serving of almonds... OMFG!!! I'm salivating right now just thinking about it :)Sorry the writing on this piece sucks lol. I know it... the flow... yuks the flow. But I want this out today or there really wouldn't be time until we return from our trip next week ;) Yup, we're heading out again soon.
One last thing before I go. The drink of my choice when I next go to Buenos Aires... diet pomelo soda! A slight bitterness to it (just like the pomelo fruit) added to what-tastes-like a semi-sweet carbonated lemonade. YUM! We walked into Disco (not the disco dance lol but the grocery stores ol) and browsed to see what their stores were like. I had to try this. I love this drink!! If you're interested, you can see more pics of our trip to Argentina here.
Time to get the morning started.
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