Favorite Restaurants

Current Top Restaurants by Cuisine
(Updated September 19, 2024)
Just to be clear, these are my personal favorites. I’m not promising that you’ll feel the same way, or that you’ll have a great or even good experience at any one of these. I’m not claiming that objectively they’re the best restaurants in town. It’s a combination of food, ambiance, service, price, and most importantly, my own experience. There are more than 6000 restaurants in this city, I haven’t been to all of them, nor do I plan to get to all of them. You can get a feel for what they’re like in my experience by reading the linked reviews. If you want to share your own experience with me, I’m happy to hear about it, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to instantly agree with you, nor change my mind, nor even run right out and try some place anew. You want a different opinion or to counter mine? There are plenty of other blogs to read, or you can write your own. I’m happy to take recommendations, but it just means they go on my list to check out at some point. 

Argentine – Upscale

  1. Aramburu (Recoleta)
  2. Sucre (Belgrano)
  3. Julia (Villa Crespo)

Argentine – Casual

  1. Las Pizarras (Palermo)
  2. El Santa Evita (Palermo)
  3. Albamonte (Chacarita)
  4. El Sanjuanino (Recoleta)
  5. El Viejo Mundo (Paternal)

Parrilla (Steakhouse) – Upscale

  1. La Carnicería (Palermo)
  2. Bestia (San Isidro)
  3. Don Julio (Palermo)
  4. Don Zoilo (Villa Crespo)
  5. Rio Alba (Palermo)

Parrilla (Steakhouse) – Cheap & Cheerful

  1. 1880 (Barracas)
  2. Las Cabras (Palermo)
  3. Marucha Parrilla Familiar (Nuñez)
  4. No Tan Santos (Nuñez)
  5. El Rebenque de Omar (Once)

Seafood

  1. Damblee (Once)
  2. Fervor (Recoleta)
  3. La Mar Cebicheria (Palermo)
  4. La Pescería (Palermo)
  5. José Luis (Recoleta)

Seafood Parrillada (mixed grill)

  1. La Pescadorita (Palermo)
  2. La Parolaccia del Mare (Puerto Madero)
  3. Chipper (Palermo)
  4. Fervor (Recoleta)
  5. El Muelle (Palermo)

Italian – Upscale

  1. La Locanda (Recoleta)
  2. Sottovoce (Recoleta)
  3. A Mi Manera (Villa del Parque)
  4. Massey Familia (Palermo)
  5. Fresca Laboratori di Pasta (Palermo)

Italian – Casual

  1. Trattoria Olivetti (Palermo)
  2. Girardi (San Telmo)
  3. La Tratto Biasatti (Belgrano)
  4. Il Matterello (La Boca)
  5. Maria Fedele Ristorante (Monserrat)

Spanish/Basque

  1. El Burladero (Recoleta)
  2. Casal de Catalunya (San Telmo)
  3. Iñaki (Monserrat)
  4. Le Famiglie (Monserrat)
  5. Betanzos (Monserrat)

French

  1. Roux (Recoleta)
  2. Le Rêve Bistro (Palermo)
  3. Lo del Francés Café-Bistrot (San Telmo)
  4. Les Anciens Combattants (Constitución)

Peruvian – Traditional/Homestyle

  1. Cviche.pe (Palermo)
  2. Miski Wasi (Flores)
  3. Puro Peru (Once)
  4. Casa Andina (Congreso)
  5. Mi Chiclayanita (Paternal)

Peruvian – Fusion/Upscale

  1. Las Palmeras Cañitas (Las Cañitas)
  2. La Mar Cebicheria (Palermo)
  3. Osaka Puerto Madero (Palermo/Puerto Madero)
  4. M Palermo (Palermo)
  5. Lima Estilo Nikkei (Recoleta)

Middle Eastern

  1. Mishiguene (Israeli) (Palermo)
  2. Eretz (Israeli) (Palermo)
  3. Cheff Iusef (Lebanese) (Palermo)
  4. Sarkis (Armenian) (Villa Crespo)

Asian

Southeast-Asian

Japanese

  1. Niji (Nuñez)
  2. Ichisou (Once)
  3. Kitayama (Belgrano)
  4. Tori-Tori (Recoleta)

Sushi

  1. Buri Omakase (Palermo)
  2. Gokana Sushi (Belgrano)
  3. Mutsuhitu Omakase (Palermo)
  4. Mirutaki Ramen & Sushi (Palermo)
  5. Maru Omakase (Palermo)

Ramen

  1. Sintesis (Recoleta)
  2. Fukuro Noodle Bar (Palermo)
  3. Ichisou (Once)
  4. FuraiBo (Monserrat)

Upscale Chinese

  1. Royal Mansion (Belgrano)
  2. Central (Monserrat)
  3. Mango (San Nícolas)

Casual Chinese

  1. Xi Bei Feng (Villa Crespo)
  2. Ma La Tang (Belgrano)
  3. Cinco Corderos (Villa Urquiza)
  4. Ma Yuan (Caballito)

Korean

  1. KU:L (Flores)
  2. Singul Bongul (Floresta)
  3. Mr. Ho (Retiro)
  4. Bonga (Flores)
  5. Fa Song Song (Retiro)

Korean Barbecue

  1. Kyung Mi Jong (Parque Chacabuco)
  2. Boseong (Flores)
  3. Gogiya (Flores)
  4. Yugane (Floresta)
  5. The Kunjip (Floresta)

Korean Fried Chicken

  1. Dagi & Myeoni (Floresta)
  2. Chicken the Pub (Flores)
  3. Maniko (Floresta)

Indian

  1. Taj Mahal (Palermo)
  2. Tandoor (Recoleta)
  3. Delhi Masala (San Telmo)
  4. Mumbai (Palermo)

Vegetarian

  1. Martí (Recoleta)
  2. Mudra (Almagro)
  3. Donnet (Chacarita)
  4. Chui (Villa Crespo)
  5. Bio (Palermo)

Pizza – Italian style

  1. Soler Vino Pizza (Roman/Palermo)
  2. Cosi Mi Piace (Roman/Palermo)
  3. Siamo nel Forno (Neapolitan/Palermo)
  4. The Pizza OTL (Neapolitan/Barracas)
  5. Bravo Pizza Romana (Roman)

Pizza – Argentine style

  1. La Fachada (Palermo)
  2. Piani (Nuñez)
  3. Lamarca (Floresta)
  4. Güerrin (San Nicolas)
  5. El Cedrón (Mataderos)

Pizza – a la parrilla (grilled, super thin crust pizza)

  1. Grappa (Palermo)
  2. Pachi (Palermo)
  3. 1893 Pizza & Pasta (Palermo)
  4. Mil y Pico (Palermo)
  5. Tulio (Villa Ortuzár)

Burgers

  1. The Pony Line (Recoleta)
  2. Fat Broder (Palermo)
  3. La Birra (Boedo)
  4. Tierra de Nadie (Caballito)
  5. Kyopo BA (Floresta)

Tacos

  1. Güey (Belgrano)
  2. Juan Pedro Caballero (Palermo)
  3. Che Taco (San Telmo)
  4. La Fabrica de Tacos (Palermo)

Shawarma

  1. Teamim (Parque Centenario)
  2. Medio Oriente (Palermo)
  3. Eretz (Palermo)
  4. Souriana (Recoleta)
  5. Samer (San Nicolás)

Also check out my listing for empanadas by regional style; sandwiches by type

Cannoli

  1. Café Vespress (Villa Ortúzar)
  2. Cucina Paradiso (Recoleta)
  3. Scrocchia (Palermo)
  4. Al Baccio Caffé (Palermo)
  5. Scrocchiarella (Palermo)

11 thoughts on “Favorite Restaurants”

  2. […] that seems a good stopping point for this time around. I mean, two spots that move into my top five list for Chinese restaurants, after one that moved in on the first round. That’s pretty darned […]

  3. […] Overall? Love the intimacy and feel of the space. Love that they haven’t gone overboard with the menu and have added in some creativity, particularly to the appetizers. Great service – friendly, helpful, competent, cheerful – very boy scouts of them. Pricing is reasonable, particularly given the large portion sizes – appetizers run around 80 pesos each, main courses between 175-190 pesos. [Edit: most recent visit, March 2017, same dishes run roughly 150 and 325-350 pesos.] The food? They need to tone down the smoker a bit, at least for my tastes, but then, my friends disagreed, so maybe it’s just me – but as noted, I found the two smoked dishes to be too much so. [Edit: Further visits, the smoke has been much tamer, so it seems to have been a one-off occurrence.] Loved the rib-eye, not as much of a fan of the tenderloin, but I wouldn’t turn it down. They have a tendency towards a lot of sweetness in the garnishes of both appetizers and main courses – that could be walked back a bit too, but then, locals do like their sweet. For me? The cabbage or the morcilla to start and a rib-eye steak, and I’m a happy camper. And this place, albeit not traditionally Argentine in feel or style, garners itself a spot on my top steakhouse list. […]

  4. […] nice space, friendly  and attentive service, and good food. It doesn’t supplant my top three for Korean BBQ, but it is good, and might be the only daytime Korean BBQ spot over in the Floresta […]

  5. […] in La Boca. I’ve been back a few times over the years, and it has stayed steadfastly one of my favorite Italian spots in the city. A year or two ago they opened a second location in Palermo, at Gorriti 5110, corner of […]

  6. […] Turning towards the savory, I finally got Henry to accompany me to Mishiguene, Lafinur 3368 in Palermo, which I wrote up not all that long ago. He’s not overly adventurous when it comes to trying cuisines he’s not familiar with, and modern Israeli is certainly something new for him. He liked what he ate, though was (justifiably I think) disappointed that the fatoush, which was supposed to be a salad of pickled onions, cheese, olives, and “a variety of different tomatoes”, only had cherry tomatoes, even if some of them were cut in half. And he found the braised lamb over couscous to be made up of spice combinations he’d never tried before and while it was delicious, he wasn’t so sure he’d want to try it again. On the other hand, I was brought near to tears by an appetizer of a whole cauliflower roasted to golden brown in parchment and then served up with spicy tomato sauce, yogurt, and tahini for dipping. It’s massive as a one person appetizer, but, as I said to the chef when he popped out to visit that I could just come in for that and a glass of wine and be supremely happy (he says that sometimes that’s exactly what he has for dinner). I also finally tried their much touted pastrami, which is slow cooked “sous vide” for something like 18 hours and is easily, far and away, the best pastrami I’ve had in Buenos Aires. There’s also something kind of different and special about have a slab of pastrami served up like it’s a steak. This place remains at the top of my Middle Eastern favorites in the city. […]

  9. […] that touch of wood smoke from a real wood burning oven. And it doesn’t quite supplant any of the five spots on my list of favorite Italian style pizzerias here, but if you knocked out Partenope for being outside of the […]

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