One thing Argentina is famous for is meat. Argentine beef is the best in the world. They attribute it to cattle grazing on the Pampas. But there is also pork, chicken and lamb. And without doubt the best way cook meat is by grilling it slowly over coals. Argentinians call this parilla (barbeque).
Free Fork
If you want to sample some of the best grilled meat in the world, I have two Spanish words for you: Tenedor Libre. Tenador means “fork”; libre means “free”. Put them together and you have an all-you-can eat grill restaurants in Argentina. There are numerous restaurantes offering tendore libre all over the city of Buenos Aires.
When you walk in, often the first thing you see is the grill. The grill master is doing all cooking of the meat over coals.
Then you see the buffet set up. Most places have 50 or more items including salads, vegetables, cold cuts, side dishes, and on and on. There is even Chinese noodles. Oddly, most of the tenedor libre restaurants appear to be owned by ethnic Chinese. But all the waiters are Argentinian and speak Spanish. Usually only the person behind the cash register is Chinese.
Your Mother Said To Eat Your Vegetables
I recommend you start off with a garden salad. There is plenty of produce to make a wonderful, healthy green salad. Eat lots of brocolli, it’s good for you and will not spoil you appetite for the main course.
Here’s a tip: don’t eat any bread. Refined carbohydrates like you find in bread an cakes can make your body store fat.
You Can’t Beat Their Meat
Then move on to the main course, which of course is the grilled meat. Just go up to the grill and ask for anything that is cooking on the grill. This includes beef (bife), pork (puerco), chicken (pollo), sausages, and chorizo (beef sausages). If you speak Spanish, ask in Spanish. Most grill masters know English words like beef, pork, chicken and ribs evem if they aren’t fluent in English.
You can go up as many times as you like. Each time you go up, take a clean plate. Your waiter will bus the used dishes from your table.
Some people like to load up their plate to overflowing. I usually only eat a little at a time. Maybe I make two trips to the grill. It doesn’t take a lot of meat to fill up most people. It’s not necessary to sample everything, there is always tomorrow.
I had a Pepsi that day. It was the first Pepsi-Cola I had in about 20 years. I believe it is made with cane sugar here, unlike the U.S., and I wanted to see what it tasted like. Normally I drink agua con gas to avoid the sugar.
To Desert or Not To Desert?
This can be a dilemma. If you have any room left for desert, there are about a dozen choices: torts (cake), herado (ice cream) and more. But even though there are so many great choices, I usually skip desert. Sugar and cakes is what makes your body store fat. You can’t dance the Tango if you are too fat!
What’s the Damage?
When you get the bill you will be shocked…
…at how cheap it is. The meak usually runs 21 or 23 pesos per person. Add 6 or 7 pesos for beber (drink) and a couple of pesos tip. Value-added tax is already included in the price. The total is usually about 30 pesos. That’s about 5.30 Euros with today’s exchange rate. Insane prices!
Argentina is probably the best country in the world to have a meal in. The best meat and bargain prices! It is truly a meat-lover’s paradise.
