The Travel Chica

Live Simple. Consume Less. Experience More.

Steak Extravaganza: Restaurant Review – Cervantes II vs Club Eros

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I told you about my experience at the medium-end steak restaurants.  Next I tried the lower-end “locals” establishments.

How low you can go and still get a good steak in Buenos Aires?

Cervantes II

Chance from BA LOCAL introduced me to this place.   We were starving and wanted something fast, cheap, and filling.

Cervantes is one of the traditional, no-frills locals restaurants where the portions are huge and the prices are affordable.  Nobody is here for the ambience or good wine.

The Meal

We split a bife de chorizo, an order of fries, a liter of wine, and a sifón (fizzy water).

This was my first properly-cooked and well-seasoned steak in Buenos Aires.  Pretty fantastic for the price and definitely big enough to share.

And one order of fries could feed an army.

Photo of bife de chorizo

When you order the “house” liter of wine and it only costs 11 pesos (US$2.75), you know it is not going to be good.

But that’s okay. You do what the locals do.

You mix the sifón with your wine, and it is drinkable.

Photo of wine and sifon

The one thing I would avoid at Cervantes is the chimichurri.

It looks radioactive, and it tastes like it too.
Photo of radioactive chimichurri

Cost

At 70 pesos ($US17.50) to split a huge steak, order of fries, liter of wine, and two sifones during peak dinner hours (that would be midnight), this is a cheap but good steak dinner.

Club Eros

Club Eros is actually a social and sport club.  Since it is located in Palermo just a few blocks from where I lived, I had to check it out.

The Meal

I went with Chance and Christina Sunae. We each had our own 1/2 bife de chorizo and split a ridiculously large order of fries and a bottle of cheap wine.

The steak was quite flavorful, although a bit tough and slightly overcooked.

Photo of Bife de Chorizo

While the portion of fries was huge, they were tasteless and grease-soaked.

This may be the only time I have salted my food in Buenos Aires.

Photo of greasy fries

As you know, I love chimichurri, and I like to spread it on bread while I’m waiting for my meal.

This stuff was pretty nasty.

It came out of a store-bought bottle. It is not supposed to be this color or consistency.

Photo of gross chimichurri

Cost

This was my cheapest steak dinner at 50 pesos (US$13.50).

The Verdict

Cervantes II is the winner.

It is well worth the few extra bucks.  I will never eat at Club Eros again… even if you offered to buy my meal.

Do you know of any great cheap steak restaurants in Buenos Aires?

Comments

  1. I’m sure we all appreciate your taking one for the team and checking these places out. While the first steak looks pretty decent, these don’t really seem to compare to yesterdays restaurants. I guess you really do get what you pay for.
    Hoping the high-end places are amazing!
    Steve recently posted..Rawhide Western Town – The Shotgun Wedding

    • Anything I can do to help out fellow travelers :-)

      I feel like the cheap steak restaurants are for when it’s late-night, you’ve had a few drinks, and you need to get something filling but not fast food. I would prefer to cook a steak at home and have a real salad or vegetables with it if I’m trying to save money (which I have done several times in Buenos Aires).
      The Travel Chica recently posted..My Biggest Fear: Dental Work in the Third World

  2. I agree with Steve. Thank you for taking one for the team so that we didn’t have to go through your ordeal. Note to self: When in Buenos Aires don’t always do what the locals do when it comes to food.

    I’m glad you put up a post. I was actual on your site to look for your email address because there is an article from about.com’s Australia guide that has all the wine regions in Australia listed with links and info to go with it. I was going to email it to you but I’ll include it with this comment. It is here: http://goaustralia.about.com/od/wines/tp/australian-wine-regions.htm?nl=1 . I think you’ll find it extremely useful. If only I could find one for beer :)

    In Melbourne we have a medium end pizza chain called La Porchetta that serves the best pizza in Australia. Their flagship Lygon Street store is a must during any visit to Melbourne. Prices are very reasonable for the quality you get and the store that I mentioned is only a few minutes from the city centre in one of the best food districts in town.

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