Buenos Aires: Eat

Craving grilled steak? Just-caught fish? Four spots guaranteed to please your palate.

For years, only fishermen could access the jetty that juts from the Avenida Costanera into the Río de la Plata. This changed with the opening of El Muelle, an excellent seafood spot on the pier that quickly won a loyal following with salads of fresh king crab and grilled wreckfish. Avda. Costanera Rafael Obligado and Avda. Sarmiento. $$$

Chef Diego Gera whips up intensely flavored signature dishes such as crisp-skinned suckling pig paired with quince purée at the purple-hued Leopoldo, in Palermo. After dinner, head to the restaurant’s patio for cocktails and live DJ music. 3732 Avda. Cerviño. $$$

After scoring hits with steak house Sucre and lounge Gran Bar Danzón, restaurateur Luis Morandi opened Sanbenito, an Art Deco–style restaurant in Belgrano that serves hearty comfort foods, from tender osso buco with gnocchi to braised lamb shoulder accompanied by carrot purée and Rösti (fried potato pancake). 2136 Avda. Federico Lacroze. $$$

Renowned Argentine chef Darío Gualtieri recently took the reins at the long-loved bistro Social Paraíso. His mission: to shake up the menu with cutting-edge dishes like Patagonian prawns cooked in palm oil and coconut milk and Sichuan-pepper ice cream with passion-fruit mousse. It’s no surprise that patrons keep coming back. 5182 Honduras; 54-11/4831-4556. $$

Kitchen Confidential

What could be better than an intimate dinner party thrown at the house of a local chef? In Buenos Aires, puertas cerradas (or underground supper clubs) are drawing in-the-know travelers.

At Almacén Secreto Club (3266 Gregoria Perez; $$), beef-and-bean locro stews are matched with Malbecs.

Christina Sunae serves Thai-style pork and green curries at Cocina Sunae ($$).

Paladar Buenos Aires (Acevedo and Camargo; $$), in the Villa Crespo barrio, is one of the city’s most sought-after tables, thanks to chef Pablo Abramovsky’s fresh market fare.

Restaurant Pricing Key
$ Less than $25
$$ $25 to $75
$$$ $75 to $150
$$$$ More than $150