Happy Hour Buenos Aires Steak Dinner

All the meat and more to spend on Malbec

Last night I finally made my way to La Cabrera restaurant in Viejo Palermo. Regarded as one of the top beef restaurants in Buenos Aires it must be worth a visit. The main advantage of La Cabrera though is every weekday evening between the hours of 7pm and 8pm they have half price happy hour, half price on the full menu including drinks. The drinks part sure makes the evening go quickly as they have bottle of Argentinian Malbec starting at $8 so when halving that comes to $4 for a bottle. My head is still spinning after last night !

As to the logistics. Firstly La Cabrera is actually 2 restaurants about 50 metres apart and the happy hour can be at either of them. Make sure you arrive just before 7pm as places fill up very quickly and if you get there by ten past the chances are the tables will have all gone. You will either need to spot which restaurant the queue is at or ask one of the many staff to make sure you are in the right queue. The staff hand out menus whilst you are queuing, but be aware that all the tables used for happy hour are inside, not the ones on the pavement.

Once you are seated it is a bit chaotic, as they have to serve 40 or so people in an hour. You have to leave by 8:30 when the normal seating is done at full price. So make sure you know what you want and order it as soon as you can. If you linger over the menu you may find your steak has to wait for 30 other steaks to be cooked leaving you sitting there watching everyone else eat whilst you get 5 minutes to eat yours ! Don’t expect fantastic service as they are busy busy busy.

What to go for. I tried a rare rib eye steak which was pretty rare but quite a fatty piece and I have to say it was quite hard work cutting it up even with the steak knife. My girlfriend had a medium sirloin steak which seemed better than mine, quite juicy and the fat around the edge. Each steak comes with lots of tiny sides and a bread basket which is all you really need. The sides are guacamole, garlic, potato salads etc. Not a lot but enough. If you need more than get some fries perhaps.

Our meal of two 400g steaks and an $15 bottle of Malbec with water came to 160 pesos altogether, around $35. Tips are not included and they stamp this on the receipt in English.

All in all a good night except too much wine in the girlfriend ! Make sure you pick a close by hotel in Palermo. I don’t think it would be worth the full price of $70 but then I assume the service would be much better in the evening when they are less rushed.

Tags : argentina

Written : 2012-01-27