La Brigada is authentic, traditional and has a rustic gaucho feel. The restaurant’s wooden walls are lavishly decorated with anything that is Argentine. From the local football teams’ flags to the pictures of celebrities who dined at La Brigada over decades of its legendary stardom. Dress code is not very strict although I would not run in straight from a training in sneakers and sweatpants. Wear jeans or a dress, but not too formal so you don’t feel like a Martian on the planet Earth.
Slicing tender meat with spoonEmpanadas: Argentine turnovers
The food is generous, authentic and top quality. Starting with the crispy empanadas – either filled with beef, ham and cheese or a vegetarian version with corn cream – we knew that this place has an insider knowledge of authentic Argentine cuisine since the turnovers were crisp yet fresh because of their succulent stuffings. A bit more “exotic” appetizer is a lamb tongue or a pork feet or why not to relish the beef testes savored with vinaigrette?? If you do not want to risk then go for Sopresatta sausage, Grilled Red Sweet Peppers or the superb Grilled Provolone cheese as we did and loved them all.
When you move to main courses, the your choice is not made much easier as the selection is wide. Kidneys, tripe, sweetbreads, steak, just name any part of an animal body – including the tail – are on the menu. All of them are of a great quality and cooked to a precision. Ideally find a group of like-minded friends and share a number of the cuts, slices and chunks of superb meat and inner organs (for some of you it may sound a bit “Middle-aged”) so you can find your favorites. After all each of us has a different boundaries in terms of food we can eat so with a plate of everything one can stick to them like a bee on a candy or extend the boundaries beyond one’s savage imagination and eat something inconceivable to date.
There are some salads too, but if you are a vegetarian I would advise to skip this restaurant with a kangaroo jump otherwise you might suffer a dietary shock. The salads are a refreshing companion to the meats although the french fries are crisp and generous inviting you to be slightly more naughty.
At La Brigada the desserts are not overlooked. Choose from ice-creams, melting chocolate cakes to fresh fruit for those of you who ordered too much meat before peaking on the  sweet delicacies menu. The selection is better than at most cafès, patisseries and sweet shops.  If you are a fan of the local sweet, gooey, condensed milk-based thick liquid called “dulce de leche” (translated as “the sweet from milk”) then the Dulce de Leche Pancake is the one to go for. I personally fell in love with the Chocolate Vulcano. I have to warn you before though as this cocoa bomb blast is insanely addictive and can turn many of you into chocoholics, which I must admit I am.
With a flank of meat a sumptuous and big wine is a choice of many wine drinkers. The wine needs to have enough strength to put up with the fat and intense flavors of the meat. Fruity and “corpsy” (big-bodied) Argentinian Malbec is excellent with any red meat. We went for a D.V. Catena Malbec-Malbec 2010 from Bodega Catena Zapata, which was exquisite. Complex with red fruits, touch of wood from barrel aging and concluding with an invigorating, long finish. The wine list at La Brigada is exuberant in South American wines so you do not need to limit yourself on Malbec, white and sweet wines from Chile and Argentina feature on the ‘Carta de Vinos’ as well.
Cuisine: Argentine steakhouse
Visit: December 2012
Price: Medium to high (La Brigada is “the” steak house, that any local will send you to if you have only one day in Buenos Aires so its fame allows it to price higher).
Address: Estados Unidos 465 , San Telmo neighbourhood, Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires Province
Contact: +(54) 11 4361-5557