Rio Alba - Buenos Aires

The Bife Lomo was good but the potatoes were very watery. The salad was nice but nothing spectacular. The pancakes with dulce de leche will get me coming back again.

Except for the U.S. Embassy types (its two blocks away) all the patrons are Argentine. The tourists haven’t found it. The food is excellent the service is good, great, or difficult. Like a Pariesen restaurant the service depends on the mood of the waiter and...almost all have been there for ten or more years. The lomo is great, provolone one of the best. We held our son and daughter in law’s rehearsal dinner here 8 years ago and have loved it ever since.

Our host recommended Rio Alba as the neighborhood steak house in Palermo and to be honest there was nothing exceptional about it. The service was the we will get to you in a minute and it lacked atmosphere with a ton of suits and ties...that staff the embassies right around the corner. The Bife de Chorizo was not tender and on the dry side.

I ordered the steak with mushroom sauce. I am a small person, and when I started to order a side dish, the waiter cautioned me to wait and order it later, if needed. He had me totally pegged! It was a HUGE steak, perfectly cooked...and smothered in a delicious sauce, surrounded by the most amazingly delicious mini potatoes I have ever had. They were crispy on the outside and melted in my mouth after one bite. It was actually the best meal I had in Argentina, and even with a glass of wine, the meal was less than $25 US dollars. It was a real deal in a first class restaurant.

I've eaten there twice over the last 10 days. I had also scattered meals in 6 other steak houses around Buenos Aires, which is why I returned to this restaurant. The Provoleta was amazing, and the Ribeye that the waiter recommended was delightful. Mr. Hugo will be one of my favorite waiters of all time. Not only was he professional and attentive, he was friendly and amusing. I hope you enjoy it just like me.