KenScale: 8.25/10…read more After our wonderful trip to Patagonia, my wife Jun and I returned to Buenos Aires. We had one last night to spend in the city so I needed to figure out where to dine. Buenos Aires has no shortage of restaurants worth visiting but one restaurant that caught my eye was Proper, which was only five minutes away from the hotel we were staying at. I was certainly intrigued by the setting of the restaurant, located inside what was formerly a mechanic's workshop to supposedly give that Brooklyn-like industrial vibe, with most of the dishes coming from the giant oven at the kitchen. While I heard the restaurant doesn't take reservations, knowing that Argentinians tend to have dinner pretty late, I didn't think we would need to wait for a table. How wrong I was! When we got to the restaurant, there was already a huge line of both locals and tourists waiting for the door to open. When the restaurant finally opened, we couldn't slide into the first group and therefore had to wait over 90 minutes. Unlike New York City where you can leave your name down for text message, you actually have to be physically present at the entrance or risk losing your spot. Many of the people who were waitlisted stuck around near the entrance, ordering a glass of wine or a bottle of beer to socialize with their companions. I guess that's the charm of dining experience in Argentina; for impatient New Yorkers like Jun (who was already not feeling well after she got back from Ushuaia) and I, the wait was quite a painful experience. So was Proper worth all that trouble? There is no denying that the food at Proper is quite good. Due to the aforementioned oven, many of the kitchens coming out from the kitchen have attractively smoky flavor. For appetizer, the roasted beans puree with sesame and fried fruits was a good dish to start, particularly as spread for sourdough bread you have to separately order. The shishito peppers with salt flower were also decent. My favorite dish at Proper was definitely the pork flank with onion, preserved lemon and spring onion. The texture of the pork was impeccable and the flavor was not too juiced up. The meat was even better, however, thanks to the side dish that we ordered. At the time of our meal, I couldn't think of a combo as good as the pork flank with tomatoes (with extra virgin olive oil, burnt onion and oregano on top); the citrusy flavor of the tomato worked beautifully with the smoky pork that I felt bad that Jun was not able to enjoy this because of her condition. Having talked about all the delicious dishes coming from the restaurant, in my mind the waiting experience at Proper still weighed on our experience. I really wished there were a reservation system at the restaurant that could've saved our trouble. If we were twenty-somethings who had all the energy in the world, we might've been able to take the waiting experience better, but we had recently made a pact that we will not kill ourselves over waiting for unbearable amount of time at a restaurant. The wine list at Proper is another strength at the restaurant, with a bottle of Malbec from Mendoza that nicely complemented the pork I mentioned above. The dark, industrial décor of the restaurant is another charming element of the dining experience here, although the noise could get a little out of control during the peak hours. Proper has a lot of elements that Jun and I would've normally liked, but it also confirmed that comfort has increasingly become a key element in our dining experience these days. I recommend checking out the restaurant if you are willing to risk potentially long wait time if you don't get there 30 minutes before its opening.

I am so surprised by the poor rating this restaurant has received. It has to be one of the best…read moreplaces I've eaten on my trip to BA. The cons - arrive early and even then be prepared to wait at least an hour. The place can also get a bit smoky and you will definitely leave smelling like smoke (wood fire smoke, not cigarettes). The pros - the food is A-mazing!!! To start we had the most delicious sourdough bread I have ever eaten and cottage cheese dip with flavors perfectly blended together. Next we had calamari with broccoli and an aioli sauce that tasted like pretzels - weird but delicious nonetheless. Next we had a chicken dish that was mouth watering good - the chicken was so tender and juicy with bold flavor and paired with a refreshing salad (sorry no picture it was so good I forgot to take one). Finally, by a strong recommendation from the waiter we had the flan. Now I am not usually a big flan person but SHUT THE FRONT DOOR - that is the best thing I have ever eaten. Delicious would be an understatement. The flan is definitely a must try. In addition to the food the service was also good. The hostess served us drinks while we waited for our table and the wait staff was friendly, helpful and attentive. I would definitely go back here for another great meal!

Hidden gem. We have been there like 4 times in our short two week visit.. Reasonably price wine,…read moresteaks and parrilla. Friendly service and great tasting tenderloin steak. One downsize is that street parking is impossible to find and private garage costs 90 pesos/hour ~usd$3

Small place, not touristy with good steaks and wines, nice tortilla de papa, very attentive…read morewaiters, affordable. Definitely will go back again. Recommended.

We were looking for an early dinner and we hadn't tried any steak in Argentina yet so after…read moresearching on Google we picked Minga. Sadly, that was a mistake. We ordered a ribeye, a salad to start and the pumpkin. The salad was delivered with the main course, a pet peeve of mine. The salad itself consisted of wilted and boarder line rotten greens and spinach that we had to pick our way around. As for the ribeye, we were served a short rib, not a ribeye. We later realized, after looking at another restaurant, that this was due to a translation error on their menu. Although the portion was enormous, even though we ordered the "half" portion, the meat was extremely sinuous and difficult to eat. We also ordered a salmon ravioli which was reasonably good. Suffered generously with salmon. The star of the meal was the pumpkin, actually squash. It was baked in its skin and the skin was blackened making for a very nice presentation and just an ever so slight charred flavour. Overall I would not recommend Minga. It is difficult to overlook a steak house that has translation errors on their steak offerings and the quality of the cut and preparation of the short ribs were just not up to par.

Fantastic food and service. Lively environment adjacent to a park in Palermo. Highly recommended…read morestop in Buenos Aires.

Great food, authentic Argentinian Their lamb is delicious,…read morewith some potatoes on the side. Service was great, very attentive and nice

We came with no reservation (at about 8:45pm) on Sunday and had no wait to get seated, but it had…read moredefinitely filled up by the time we were done. I ordered the Ojo de Bife (ribeye) and asked for it Rare (Vuelta y Vuelta) and the pescetarian g/f ordered the Spinach and Ricotta Raviolis with Cream Sauce. Rare is not too common an order in Argentina so the waiter asked and re-asked (coming back maybe 4 different times) to confirm my desired doneness "Vuelta y vuelta?" while making quick hissing noises showing how little time the steak would be grilled. His level of concern was cute. The steak comes with a bounty of sides including small whole potatoes, chimichurri sauce, a tired looking pile of lettuce, and a grilled egg - I wondered about this while reading the menu and it turned out to be in a bell pepper which was then grilled (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/miranda-parrilla-buenos-aires?select=GBt1hNgmpLGsjO-xpUq2Tw#xXY-ZlV7Y3dnN9F-f_TDYA). The steak was perfectly cooked (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/miranda-parrilla-buenos-aires?select=GBt1hNgmpLGsjO-xpUq2Tw#g1Lovy0FL5b7PxO3i3pQhQ) and delicious. The grilled egg also was nicely cooked with a runny yolk. The chimichurri was flavorful and just mildly spicy. The pile of lettuce was a little wilty in spots. The g/f was not as wowed by the raviolis (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/miranda-parrilla-buenos-aires?select=GBt1hNgmpLGsjO-xpUq2Tw#loDF4MMjon5IauaAPTvNlg). Both the filling and the sauce were underseasoned and there were no condiments on the table except for grated cheese (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/miranda-parrilla-buenos-aires?select=GBt1hNgmpLGsjO-xpUq2Tw#Y3qX7sDL6hyzwXYIPUMG7w). We saw another table get the grilled salmon and that may have been a better pescetarian option for her. Big salads with grilled meats looked like another popular option here. Steak: 5 stars Ravioli: 3 stars

Food took too long. But I was really good, the ambiance as well its very beautiful insideread more

Food completely avarage... terrible service. Nice ambience. If possible would try another place.read more

Highly recommend Las Cabras for authentic Argentinian food. Their menu is massive. The space is…read morerustic and allows for sunlight to permeate in as the doors are wide open. The staff is incredibly kind and attentive. We asked whether the ice cubes were filtered or not but they couldn't confirm. They got us a bucket of ice to put or Diet Coke in. They were vey patient to answer any questions we had. The portions are insane. It was so much food, we skipped dinner that day. I got the local fish and the piece was at least one foot by one foot, the picture does not do it justice. The crispiness was perfect and the meat itself was flaky. One of the best fish meals I have ever had. The next day, I saw the fish highlighted at the natural museum in taxidermy which was pretty neat. I wish the fish came with more than a salad but I took some rice and mashed pumpkin from another plate. Odd that they gave one roll to share between two people. I wanted quesadillas but they did not have them available for that day. The food lacked salt but I am starting to think the food in Buenos Aires in general does. The glasses were dirty with prints and gunk on the side, which was okay, we drank straight from the bottle.

Ambiance here was good for locals and tourist nightlife. There was live music playing on a Thursday…read morenight outside on the patio. We opted to eat inside to prevent getting bitten by too many bugs. Our waitress was very patient as our party mainly spoke English (I was able to communicate in agrammatical Spanish). Good food, great portions, very loud inside. Bathroom is a little claustrophobic.

Love this place! The…read morefood was delicious, the service was excellent (Thank you Victor). What more can you ask for? We divided our bill six ways and it came out to $26 per person including tip! It doesn't get any better! Thank you El Trapiche!

Occasion: Early dinner at 8p (the restaurant opens at 8p)…read more We ordered: Beef steak with fries Tender parts of the beef, very juicy and flavorful! Beef short ribs Meat is more cooked and more chewy but still super tasty! Huge portion. Enough for two people sharing! And all of these high quality meat cost us $48 in total! That's really good price!

Super nice place, with a bad ass private room that sits in the middle of the restaurant for private…read moredining. Location is centrally located and easy to get to from anywhere in the city. We saw on their menu that they had brunch on weekends and we made reservations. Upon being sat at our table, we were disappointed as our server informed us they're no longer doing brunch. We ordered from the executive menu and the food was tasty but pretty mid. The bondiola they said was cooked for 5 hours was still pretty chewy and not as tender as one would expect. The empanda was nicely fried and the meat filling was good as well. The dish with the mushrooms and ricotta was probably the best thing we ate. Regrettably I won't have another chance to try them again as I had to fly back to the US.

Wow, GREAT MEAL, GREAT SERVICE…read more This place has been around for years now, but is still hot. The service was great and the food was still cutting edge like the reviews rave about. I had the Patagonia Lamb over smokey polenta and it was one of the best lamb dishes I have had in years. The dining room at 10:30pm on a Tuesday was happening, and crowd was very hip, even if a little older then a normal night over in say Palermo. The bartenders would smoke the snifter glasses with wood smoke, make sure the glasses are ice cold for beers, and in general take extra care in their preparation. When I go back to Buenos Aires every few years I keep a short list of 4-5 must eats. This will surely be on it going forward.