Tiny Urban Kitchen

Exploring Food from Boston to Hong Kong and Beyond

  • About
    • About Me
    • Tiny Urban Kitchen’s Favorite Equipment
    • Press
  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index
    • Asian
      • Chinese
      • Taiwanese
      • Thai
      • Malaysian
      • Japanese
      • Korean
    • Appetizers
    • Soups
    • Salad
    • Pasta
    • Noodles
    • Rice
    • Vegetarian
    • Meat
    • Sweets
      • Baking
      • Ice cream
      • Cookies
    • Misc
    • Kawaii (Cute)
  • Travel / Restaurants
    • United States
      • Boston
        • Jen’s Picks
        • Boston
          • Allston
          • Back Bay
          • Brighton
          • North End
          • South End
        • Cambridge
          • Kendall Square
          • Inman Square
          • Central Square
          • Harvard Square
          • Porter Square
          • North Cambridge
        • Somerville
          • Davis Square
          • Union Square
        • Greater Boston
          • Brookline
          • Arlington
          • Belmont
          • Watertown
          • Newton
          • Lexington
          • Concord
          • Burlington
          • Natick
        • Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Berkshires
      • Vermont
      • Maine
      • New York
      • Washington DC
      • Philadelphia
      • Orlando
      • Chicago
      • Las Vegas
      • California
        • Los Angeles
        • San Francisco
        • Napa
        • Sonoma
      • Seattle
      • Hawaii
    • Canada
      • Montreal
      • Canadian Rockies
      • Toronto
    • Argentina
    • Europe
      • United Kingdom
        • London
        • Oxford
      • Italy
        • Rome
        • Piedmont
      • France
        • Paris
        • Bordeaux
      • Spain
        • Madrid
        • Barcelona
        • Catalonia / San Sebastian / Girona
      • Germany
      • Belgium
        • Brussels
      • Switzerland
      • Greece
      • Finland
      • Norway
      • Denmark
    • Japan
      • Japan Guide
      • Tokyo
      • Osaka
      • Kyoto
    • China (Mainland)
      • Beijing
      • Chengdu
      • Shanghai
      • Shaanxi
      • Shenzhen
      • Xiamen
      • Yunnan
    • Singapore
    • Hong Kong
    • Malaysia
    • Taiwan
    • Thailand
    • Australia/New Zealand
  • Michelin
    • Formerly had a star
    • Michelin Recommended
    • 1 Star
    • 2 Stars
    • 3 Stars
  • Jen’s Eating Guides!
    • Boston Restaurants
    • Boston Dishes
    • Tokyo
    • Hong Kong
    • Las Vegas
    • Napa / Sonoma
    • Taiwan (night markets)
    • Taiwanese (casual eats)
    • Street Foods of Bangkok (Part I)
    • Street Foods of Bangkok (Part II)
    • Kitchen Equipment
  • Trip Reports
    • All trip reports
    • Around the World Trip Report
    • New England
    • New York
    • Washington DC
    • Las Vegas
    • California
    • Canada
    • Europe
    • Florida
    • Japan
    • China

Cabana Las Lilas (Argentina steak)

May 4, 2014 by Jennifer Che 4 Comments

_DSC6245
This is the fifth post in the Hello Argentina Series detailing my week-long trip in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Other posts include Hello Argentina, La Cabrera, La Rambla,Empanadas, Tamales, and Beer, Oh My!, and Buenos Aires Three Most Famous Ice Cream Shops.

“Who has the best steak in Buenos Aires?”

You can try your hardest to search as much as possible on this subject, and you’ll soon realize that there’s no real agreement.

Sure, there are the obvious famous ones, like La Cabrera, which not only can be found in every single guide book, it’s also listed on prestigious lists such as the S. Pellegrino Latin American Top 50 Restaurants list.

But there are always naysayers to these popular destinations, saying that they are “over-hyped” and not as good as people think. It gets overwhelming and confusing pretty fast.
_DSC6241
I knew I had limited time in Buenos Aires and, more importantly, a limited number of meals. Just like every food-obsessed tourist before me, I tried my best to choose my restaurants wisely.

Part of me knew I had to try La Cabrera, since most sources still cited it as one of the best. However, I was intrigued by the many people who would often point to other steak parillas (grill places) as being better than La Cabrera.

Were they right? Was I missing out?

And if I were to pick one, which one should I choose?

It was a hard and agonizing decision. I finally sought the advice of my food friend and food blogger, Cindy, from Chubby Chinese Girl. Cindy grew up in Argentina and was just back there a few years ago.
_DSC6246
Cindy gave me tons of advice. She personally preferred Cabanas Las Lilas over La Cabrera, which she found underwhelming.

Cindy told me to make sure to get the sweetbreads, which were amazing.

At the end of the day, I decided I trusted Cindy a lot more than the mixed messages I was getting from all these food forums, so Bryan and I booked dinner at Cabanas Las Lilas our very first night in Buenos Aires.
_DSC6484
Cabana Las Lilas is located in the modern Puerto Madero neighborhood, a beautiful riverside area that’s lined with shops and restaurants. Some people say it’s the safest neighborhood in Buenos Aires.

Though the neighborhood is a bit further from some of the sites, it’s a beautiful place to walk around at night. It’s also where our hotel was located, which made it an easy place to visit on our first night in a new foreign city.
_DSC6248
If the weather’s nice, diners can sit outside with lovely views of the river.
_DSC6244
The minute you walk in Cabanas Las Lilas, you feel like you are in a restaurant that’s serious about its steak.
_DSC6243
We walked by multiple huge grills as well as saw all different cuts of meat laid out. It was pretty incredible.
_DSC6221

It’s a bit sneaky, but without asking, they bring you a plate full of antipasti soon after you sit down. It consists of tomato and mozzarella salad, prosciutto, grilled zucchini, and smoked salmon. It’s nice to get food immediately if you’re super hungry, though they do charge you for it.
In general, we found the starting antipasto to be ordinary and nothing special. Part of me wished I hadn’t used up so much stomach space eating it, though it was nice to get some food right away.
_DSC6219
Now the accompanying (unlimited) cheese bread, on the other hand, was a completely different story. This bread reminded me of the Brazilian cheese bread that I love so much. I popped these like candy, and happily accepted a second helping when they came around and asked.
_DSC6224
In general the service was good, despite the fact that the restaurant is HUGE and there is a ton of activity going on. Each table got a fun pretzel shaped bread (I believe it was rosemary flavored?) which we split between us.
_DSC6225
Totally due to Cindy’s recommendation, we knew we had to order the sweetbreads. These were indeed fantastic. They were beautifully grilled and delectably juicy.
_DSC6226
These sweetbreads do have a bit of that liver-like offal flavor, so if you’re not a big fan of liver or similar types of offal, you may not love this. 
_DSC6227
Our server highly recommended this 2009 Black Tears malbec as one of his favorites, and it was good and pretty reasonably priced (around $50 USD?) though most wine in Argentina’s restaurants will feel cheaper than wine in the US. 
_DSC6230
Sides are all ordered a la carte. Although simple grilled vegetables may not have been our first choice, our server highly recommended this side, so we got it. It was good – nicely grilled zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes, and mushrooms.
_DSC6229
The server also recommended that we get the sauteed mushrooms in butter, which were pretty tasty. You can see him serving them to Bryan here straight out of the copper pot.
_DSC6231
And then finally, finally, our steaks came. I decided to get hangar steak since it was a bit smaller and I’d heard that they are really flavorful. The steak was very good. I had to cut the steak sideways (not the way you would expect) in order to cut against the grain. Cutting this way made the steak much more tender.
_DSC6235
Bryan got the ribeye (ojo de bife), his favorite cut of meat. He loved the smoky flavor that came from the high heat charcoal grill. The steak was also very flavorful and much less fatty than American beef. Most Argentinian beef is grass fed, and you can definitely tell. 
Bryan realized after tasting this lean, grass-fed beef that he actually preferred fatty beef, like American style corn-fed beef or especially Japanese A5 Wagyu beef.
_DSC6236
At the end of the meal, they brought over two pretty large bottles of complimentary after-dinner dessert drinks: limoncello and grappa. 
_DSC6237
Bryan much preferred the grappa and finished the entire bottle (!!). 
_DSC6238
For dessert, we ordered my favorite – flan. I’d had it at Spanish restaurants but this was my first time trying it in Argentina.
_DSC6239
One major difference between Argentinian flan and Spanish flan is that Argentinians are obsessed with dulce de leche, a caramel made from milk and sugar cooked at low temperatures for hours. EVERYTHING seems to have dulce de leche as an accompaniment, including this flan.
The dulce de leche was delicious, so I was not complaining at all.
_DSC6247
All in all, we had a really great meal at Cabana Las Lilas our first night in Buenos Aires. The ambiance is definitely more casual than that of La Cabrera (which felt more like a nice steakhouse), though we found the service to be fine. In general we thought the sides and other dishes were executed with more finesse and higher quality at at La Cabrera. However, we both preferred the steak at Cabanas Las Lilas. Consistent with what Cindy recommended, their sweetbreads are indeed fantastic. 
All in all, it probably wasn’t worth stressing so much over which restaurants to choose. We ended up enjoying every steak we had in Argentina. After all, steaks are inherently pretty tasty over there. Between Cabana Las Lilas and La Cabrera, you won’t go wrong.
©2009-2014 Tiny Urban Kitchen
All Rights Reserved

Filed Under: Argentina, Restaurant, Review, World Travel Tagged With: Argentinian, Steak

« 31 Posts in 31 Days – My Personal May Challenge
Sushi Taku (Tokyo, Michelin) »

Recent Posts

  • Mono Hong Kong May 23, 2022
  • Summer Palace Iconic Wine Lunch – Hong Kong April 29, 2022
  • Lucciola – Italian food at The Hari Hotel in Wan Chai March 22, 2022
  • Studio City by Cali-Mex Causeway Bay Hong Kong March 17, 2022
  • Petrus Hong Kong March 8, 2022
  • Ichiran Tonkotsu Ramen Hong Kong March 6, 2022
  • James Suckling Wine Central – Hong Kong March 2, 2022
  • Birthday at Roganic Hong Kong February 23, 2022

Latest Chinese recipes!

Comments

  1. Megan says

    May 5, 2014 at 6:46 pm

    This looks like such a fantastic meal. That’s interesting how they bring you the antipasto but then charge you for it. I would love to go to Argentina and sample all the beef and Malbec!

    Log in to Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Happy New Year - A Look Back at 2014 says:
    February 28, 2015 at 12:38 pm

    […] explored all sorts of dining. We tasted Argentina’s famous steak from two of the most famous steak houses in the city; had great Malbec (at a great price!) along with a gorgeous tasting menu from […]

    Log in to Reply
  2. Alain Ducasse London says:
    May 11, 2016 at 2:27 pm

    […] inside I still couldn’t stop thinking about the best cheese bread I’ve ever had (from a steakhouse in Argentina). We had our choice between a huge spread of bread (always a fun choice at these high end […]

    Log in to Reply
  3. Uma Nota Hong Kong - Modern Brazilian Japanese - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
    February 27, 2020 at 11:27 am

    […] Disclaimer: I was invited to Uma Nota and did not pay for the meal. I was not paid to write this post. All opinions are my own.Jen’s Eating Guide to Hong KongMiss Lee Vegetarian Modern Chinese FoodOvo Cafe Wan Chai (vegetarian)Tiny Urban Kitchen Vegetarian RecipesCabana Las Lilas (Steak in Buenos Aires) […]

    Log in to Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Welcome to Tiny Urban Kitchen!

JenChe

Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am a Boston to Hong Kong transplant, born and raised in Ohio with parents from Taiwan. Feel free to head on over to the About page if you want to learn more about me, or just explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Archives

Categories

Awards

Saveur
PFB

BostonGlobe

Most Recent Posts

Mono HK

Mono Hong Kong

Summer Palace Hong Kong Iconic Wine Lunch

Summer Palace Iconic Wine Lunch – Hong Kong

Lucciola The Hari Wan Chai

Lucciola – Italian food at The Hari Hotel in Wan Chai

beef quesadilla

Studio City by Cali-Mex Causeway Bay Hong Kong

Petrus Hong Kong

Petrus Hong Kong

Ichiran Hong Kong Ramen

Ichiran Tonkotsu Ramen Hong Kong

James Suckling Wine Central Hong Kong

James Suckling Wine Central – Hong Kong

Roganic Hong Kong

Birthday at Roganic Hong Kong

Caprice Hong Kong

Caprice Hong Kong – Four Seasons

Majordomo Los Angeles – David Chang’s Foray into the West Coast

France!

Restaurant Le George Paris
Yam'Tcha Paris
David Toutain Paris
Divellec Paris
Breizh Cafe Paris

Kawaii! (Cute)

Norway!

logo
Food Advertisements by

Chinese Recipes

Okra with Chicken
logo
Food Advertisements by

Shop & Support us!

Spain!

Girona Spain
Amelia San Sebastian

Japan!

Bulgari Il Ristorante Luca Fantin
Sukiyaki Imafuku Tokyo
Sushi Ishimaya Tokyo
Disney Sea Tokyo
Tempura Fukamachi Tokyo
Shinjuku Gyoen

Cambridge restaurants

logo
Food Advertisements by
Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress