Middle Argentina

Rosario

A lovely and lovely town. I really like Buenos Aires, however this town seems to have more going on if that’s possible. I didn’t find a whole lot of activities to do here. There are a few museums and some pretty architecture in the squares and the churches; I found the food scene and the young hip vibe to be the attraction here. There are tons of restaurants and bars along the river front and in the city itself. Just cool looking places you wanted to go and sit for a while. Just didn’t have the same feel in Buenos Aires except maybe in the Palermo area just not to this scale.

Bar El Cairo: spent a rainy afternoon here with a bottle of wine. I mean for $250-300AP Por que, no? It’s a very old bar/restaurant that apparently everyone reveres as it was packed when I sat down around 2:45pm. Both things I had to eat the steak sandwich that came with fries and the dessert were both well prepared and tasty. Total damage ran $650AP

Restaurant Bruno: walked quite a ways to get to this place because I had read a couple of reviews that it was good Italian. The wine was good, of course, the lasagna was good just not great. The bread pudding cane highly recommended just know their bread pudding isn’t bread pudding like in the states. I enjoyed it; probably would have been more appropriate to have the flan or tiramisu though. The service was on point and the atmosphere was muy bueno. A classic Italian place atmosphere with wait staff to boot. I forgot what I had for a starter the entire meal with a bottle of wine ran 7-900AP.

Rock n’ Feller’s: an Argentinian style Hard Rock Cafe. I’m told by everyone at the bar it’s the same crowd daily from 6-10 for their happy hour and supposedly the food is good. I would have to imagine it’s better than The Hard Rock since that food is awful from the word go. Had a couple of beers around the horseshoe shaped bar looking out on the boulevard. Place was crowded and reservations are recommended.

Chinchibira: a really nice establishment with superb service. Right on a busy corner with big picturesque windows and a nice bar. The wine selection was good and the steak had the best flavor of anywhere in Argentina to date. Steak came with potatoes and I think I had 2 glasses of wine with a salad all for $805AP. Pretty good price for the caliber of restaurant and service.

Cordoba:

I would say the same description as the Rosario one above, just perhaps a step down from Rosario. This is a pretty town and seems relatively safe. I would say Rosario has a bit more happening, however Córdoba definitely has its own scene going on as well. The thing I love about Argentina is that everything happens so late. Happy hours start around 8 and no one even thinks about dinner til 9. In fact, the restaurant La Mamma described below didn’t open until 9. When I arrived at 9:15 there was only 1 other table eating. By the time I left around 11:30 it was packed and whole families with young kids were piling in between 11-12. Kind of a strange sight to be honest.

Alcorta carnes & vinos: a semi formal restaurant with a formal wait staff. Had the best wine I’ve had in Argentina so far here. Of course, I paid a little more for it as well. Started with an empanada and bell pepper in olive oil. The empanada was tasty; there are better in this city though. The pepper needed some salt fairly bland even after the addition. Had the cream spinach and a ribeye both were well prepared to order. The steak was tender, juicy and flavorful. Tasty just not quite as tasty as the one I had at Chinchibira in Rosario the night before. Service was impeccable as was the bread and warm eggplant and carrots they brought out to start. Total damage came to about $2100AP though. That’s two appetizers, a ribeye and a side with a pretty nice bottle of wine.

La Cocina: stopped in here just passing by and got 2 empanadas (1 beef and 1 spicy beef) for $60AP. I waited while they warmed them in the pizza oven. Excellent flavor and perfect empanada dough. Highly recommend stopping in to try even more than I did.

Pugliese: rooftop in Guemes; just a glass of wine here. $60AP. Nice rooftop and interior overlooking the street vendors that really is more like an old garage sale. Guemes is definitely a place to check out.

La Mamma: an absolute pleasure. So happy I decided to hit up this place. Wow. Elegant atmosphere with windows looking out on the boulevard with the stream running through town. White tablecloths and nice wine glasses. Very formal yet personal staff. I arrived at 9:15pm and no one was in the restaurant. I wondered if I had made a mistake or if the reviews were wrong. Bread and a light appetizer of bread and diced tomatoes were brought out. I took my time browsing the menu. No one rushed me all the waiters were so patient; that’s why I knew to get comfortable and buckle up it’s gonna be a great meal. I ordered a bottle of nice Malbec and a light appetizer. I kept the menu and decided to order after the appetizer. People started to flood in and by 10:30 the restaurant was buzzing. I really like the idea and the practice of eating late; just when traveling alone there isn’t much to do besides drink until late while waiting for the restaurant to open. The waiter recommended a mushroom gravy steak. I enquirer about the lasagna and he lit up and quickly pointed out that the chicken and spinach lasagna was. Amazing. I had another glass of wine to contemplate what I would choose. Ultimately I told Luis to choose. He brought out the lasagna with a huge bowl of fresh Parmesan and a cream sauce. Wow! Really excellent. The whole experience from the wait staff to the wine to the atmosphere to the food was excellent. A class act of a restaurant. Halfway through the main course I knew I would order dessert. I let Luis choose again, he brought out La paneke la mamma de manzana (empanada bread on a plate with caramelized sugar and apples with a huge scoop of ice cream and berries with a cup of expresso. I’m not a huge coffee drinker however it all went together like peas and carrots. Still had 1/3 of bottle of wine that I had to finish that I took time while drinking to write this review. Definitely worth a stop if you’re in Cordoba.