La Cabrera Norte

Parilla — By DiegoM on January 29, 2010 at 1:26 am

La Cabrera is one of the classic Parilla´s in Buenos Aires, and very few visitors to Buenos Aires haven´t heard of it. It is not a traditional Argentine restaurant, but they serve some of the largest steaks you´ll see in Argentina, and the quality is very good. La Cabrera is not only a famous place for tourists, but also for Argentines. The popularity through word of mouth for this restaurant is enough to fill it every night, with line-ups starting around 10PM, and this led to La Cabrera Norte being opened, half a block away from the original Cabrera. I have always gone to the original in the past, so decided to give La Cabrera Norte a try.

Both locations have exactly the same menu, and the food is the identical. I was curious to see how well everything was executed in the newer location, and must say I was pleasantly surprised. The new location is quite large, but has a different atmosphere. The original Cabrera has an old-fashioned, country style ambience, whereas the new location has a modern, contemporary feel.

The experience really was pretty much identical to La Cabrera. We were started with a mixed bread basket while waiting for our order of bife de chorizo (new York strip loin and bife de lomo al tomillo (beef tenderloin with thyme), which are two of their famous dishes. The meat came out looking as delicious as always, and the size of the strip loin never ceases to amaze me and the people I invite. The tenderloin was delicious, cooked to perfection, with the just the right amount of seasoning. This is what I love about the tenderloin, is the thyme seasoning they put on top. Just enough flavor, making it better than a plain tenderloin you´ll find in most other parillas.

The strip loin was also very good, tender, juicy, and flavorful, though it was slightly undercooked. This is a common problem I have with La Cabrera, is anytime I order a strip loin or a ribeye, it comes out a little rare in the middle, no matter how I order it. However, they are happy to take it bake and throw it on the grill, or in our case, we ate it how it was (you can also order the strip loin butterflied, which is sliced in two, so that it is half as thick).

Another aspect that makes a meal at La Cabrera unique is that every entre is accompanied by 15 “mini” side dishes. Some of these are lemon mousse, mashed potatoes, pickled onions, and mashed quash with raisins. I usually find that many of these plates are not that popular, but when you consider there are 15, only enjoying 4 o 5 is enough. This was the case with my guests, who had mixed feelings about some of the sides, but really enjoyed a few of them.

I don´t usually have space for dessert when eating at La Cabrera, but we decided to go all out and absolutely stuff ourselves. We ordered the apple pie and tiramisu. Both were very good, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Service was about the same here as the other Cabrera, which is quite good. Professional and prompt, and I am always impressed at their ability to upsell me to a better wine. This particular night, there was a promotion on for a Septima Los Dias Malbec. It retails at $48 pesos, and they were selling it for $80 at La Cabrera, which is a pretty low mark-up. And, most importantly, if you bought one bottle, you got to take another home free (or drink it as well). I couldn´t turn it down, and it was a very nice wine to boot.

As we finished our coffees to finish off the meal, I decided I actually prefer the atmosphere at this Cabrera, and the next time I go, it will once again be to La Cabrera Norte.

Bottom Line: Legendary steaks, this is a great parilla, even if it’s not all that traditional. Perfect chance to eat the largest steak you have ever seen.