Asado tasting in Buenos Aires: the menu course by course

This asado tasting in Buenos Aires is a set menu, not a meal you order. The restaurant serves only fixed tasting menus and keeps no a la carte list, so everyone at the counter eats the same sequence at the same pace.¹ The listing counts 9 courses, every one of them finished over the coals while the diners, lined up shoulder to shoulder along a low bar, look straight into the fire.

The cooking is the show. A custom-built parrilla stands at the centre of the room, and the chefs cook, carve and plate there instead of behind a kitchen door.⁶ As each course comes off the fire, the chef talks through the cut, the technique and a little of the history of asado, and you can ask questions as you go. The MICHELIN inspectors note that everything is explained in detail, down to the wood and the sauces.⁷

Because the room runs as a single sitting, timing matters. The inspectors note that prior reservation is required and the food is served in one shift.⁸ Arrive at the time on your booking, settle in with the welcome cocktail, and let the fire set the rhythm. The menu is the same for everyone, so the only choices left to you are what to drink and how hungry you arrive.

The restaurant says it buys grass-fed beef directly from local producers and small boutique ranches, chosen for marbling and origin.² It works mostly with Angus and ages the meat wet or dry depending on the cut, since some pieces improve with time and others are best handled lightly.¹⁸ That is why a short rib and a ribeye on the same evening can taste so different.

The cooking goes beyond simple grilling. Heat, the height of the meat above the coals, the wood, the time on the fire and whether the flame touches the meat directly all shape the result, and the kitchen plays with each on purpose.¹⁷ Watching a chef move a piece of meat higher or lower over the coals, or wrap one in paper for a slow braise, is the best lesson in asado you can get without picking up the tongs yourself.

Beef is the grand protagonist of Argentine eating, says the city tourism board, and the country eats around 50kg per person a year.¹⁹ Locals often season a good steak with nothing but salt.²⁰ At the counter you will meet both ideas: plain salt on the best cuts and sauces where a sauce earns its place, which is a useful lesson to carry into any neighbourhood parrilla later in your trip.

Service starts at fixed times because the whole room begins together. Lunch guests are expected at 12:30, and dinner gets going at 8:00 or 8:15 according to the menu.⁹ On GetYourGuide the times read 12.30PM and 8 PM, and the one printed on your booking is the one that counts. Arriving a few minutes early means you start with everyone else.

How long you stay depends on whose figure you read. The listing gives the tasting 2 hours, the restaurant’s menu page says 2h 40min, and the MICHELIN inspectors describe a journey of more than two hours.^27,7 Leave some slack before any later plan. The restaurant has rooms in Palermo Viejo, at Gorriti 3780, and in Palermo Soho, at Uriarte 1423, so confirm which one is yours.²⁸

Seats are a counter around the grill in both formats, so every guest faces the fire.²⁹ The listing is marked wheelchair accessible. Getting there is simple: buses run 24 hours a day and taxis are metered in pesos, and the city tourism board suggests taking licensed taxis and sticking to well-lit streets at night.^30,31,24