Buenos Aires Cafe

9 Reviews on “Buenos Aires Cafe”

• Why Waste Annual Leave?

  This Argentinian cafe has been a firm favourite in Blackheath for several years and despite being so close to us, we had never visited for the sole reason that we felt that there was no place for two non beef-eaters in an Argentinian, steak-focused restaurant. But then we remembered that we’d travelled to Argentina and some utterly delicious non-beef food and why should this be any different?The menu helped to allay our fears by revealing the presence of pizzas (Argentinian pizzas are quite delicious), patas, lamb, chicken, pork options and moer so with more than enough to choose from, we finally made a trip here.The vibe is informal but sophisticated. It is a family run affair and they want this to be a place where people can enjoy great food in great company without any pretence or fuss. Make no mistake, even on a week night, it was heaving and we saw many people having to leave their names on a waiting list or being turned away so book ahead.The staff are really friendly and as newbies to the restaurant, they made us feel really welcome and made us feel that they’d love for us to return. The walls are covered in lots of original paparazzi photos, as I believe one of the memebrs of the team used to be a photographer.On a nice day, the outdoor tables are a lovely place to stop off for a coffee in the daytime with a gorgeous view over the greenery of Blackheath – it is quite hard to believe this is London with so much open space around!In the afternoons, they have a tempting lunch menu including things like choripan sandwiches and can do takeaway lunches as wel. And if you love dulce de leche products like I do, they have lots of jars of it as well as packets of alfajores to buy. If you’re wondering what alfajores are, then they are a traditional Argentine biscuit rather like shortbread and filled with this delicious dulce de leche caramel-like sauce.But onto the food we ordered that night: we noticed that the portion sizes were huge so we decided to share just one starter between us and opted for the vegetarian goats cheese and onion empanada, wihch brought back so many memories of all the empanadas we tried during our time in Argentina. The trick is all in the pastry and it was perfectly soft with a crisp texture at the corners and a lovely creamy filling. I could have happily eaten another handful of just those!For main course, we chose between us the slow cooked barbeque pork ribs (which were so tender and the meat just fell off the bone – I really liked the bbq sauce but would have liked a little bit more on the meat, perhaps I’m greedy!) We also ordered the lamb, which again was served medium and every bit as good as we remembered from Argentina.The nice thing about the meat dishes was the fact that you couuld order any of the sides to come as the accompaniment to your meal. After much deliberation, I chose the humita , which is rather like a traditional Argentine sweetcorn, cheese and olive baked dish – almost tasted like a cheese and sweetcorn omelette. I hadd serious envy at my husband’s fries though, which were flavoured with garlic and herbs and had a perfect crsip.We definitely should have stopped there, especially as I had only managed to eat about half my ribs (and don’t worry, they come with a helpful finger bowl on the sie). However, with some tempting choices including Argentine trifle, chocolate cake, crepes, I ultimately chose the dulce de leche bread pudding, which wasn’t neraly as heavy as many bread puddings I have tried (though again, I’d have loved a bit more dulce de leche put in and I’ve happily have swapped that for the whipped cream on the side, which I always feel never adds much to anything – other than wasted calories!)As we were there for a celebration, they kindly offered us some complimentary limoncello, which was a nice gesture and the staff were genuinely excited when we were able to share our tales of travelling in Argentina with them and we loved hearing their own experiences and descriptions of a city that we had both loved.They also have a cafe/deli branch in Greenwich, which I am so keen to try for breakfast or coffee one day. whywasteannualleave.com

  November 30, 2015, 3:49 am

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• Emma Benet

  Dry meat for a very expensive price.Service is very poor and they were not helpful at all when complained about the quality of the meat. We had to pay the full price even though we left the meat on the plate.Not recommended.

  October 20, 2015, 3:22 pm

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