Don Julio, Buenos Aires

Towards the end of our time in Argentina, D uttered words I never thought he’d say: “I don’t think I want to eat any more steak.”

Our visit to Don Julio may have had something to do with this.  Take a look at his lunch selection:

This is the cut Don Julio calls entrecote; I’m not exactly sure what it would be called in the US (other than “enormous”).

I chose what I thought was a more restrained bife de lomo, or tenderloin.  The Argentinian portion size was a lot bigger than I’d expected: it looked like about 5 inches of tenderloin, a double-cut mega-filet.  Fortunately, we had played it safe with our starters, sharing an order of corn empanadas (tasty) and only ordered one side, roasted onions.

The restaurant was jam-packed even for a weekday lunch, and the parilla was constantly being tended as orders came in.  I think the staff is used to tourists asking to take photos of the grill!

We also had our first bottle of Argentinian wine, a 2013 Bramare cab that was an excellent complement to our steaks.

And somehow, we managed to share a slice of very good flan, before hauling ourselves out of the restaurant and back to our hotel for a siesta, followed by a long walk around the neighborhood!

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Reservations:  Highly recommended and easy to make online on their site.  Word is definitely out on this spot and we ran into many other tourists on our trip who had also eaten here!