Must-Try Meals in Buenos Aires

In Buenos Aires, a city that blends European and Latin American cultures, dining isn’t only about the food. It’s about the experience: slow-paced meals in the company of friends or family, a glass of wine in hand. Flavors are straightforward, with simple ingredients and an emphasis on perfecting classics rather than offering variety.

Parrilla, a platter of mixed grilled meats, is a classic dish on nearly every Buenos Aires menu. Each establishment does it differently, but it’s likely to be a cornucopian spread of various cuts of beef, as well as ribs, chicken, chorizo, and possibly even morcilla (blood sausage), kidney, and/or intestines. The parilla completada at Las Cabras is as it should be: simply presented, with little in the way of sauces or seasonings—nothing more or less than expertly grilled meat.

Missing out on bife de chorizo (grilled strip steak) in Buenos Aires is akin to going to Paris and skipping the Eiffel Tower. It’s just not done. The best bife de chorizo in the city is a matter of taste, but El Desnivel serves up a melt-in-your-mouth hunk of striploin that cuts like butter and needs no fanfare (luckily, as it comes almost entirely sans accoutrement). This is the steak that dreams are made of.

It’s hard to go wrong with almost any empanada in the nation’s capital, and the popular baked pastry snack is found on practically every corner. At their best, empanadas have a flaky and buttery shell, with flavorful meat, cheese, and/or vegetable fillings—and at tango club La Catedral, they are undoubtedly at their best.