Au Bec Fin

[Norman Stormin]

Vincente Lopez 1827 just off Callo. As the name is in French, you might assume the cuisine is French. I would classify this one as classical Porteno with a French flair.

Ambiance: My kind of place. A stately converted house. The ground floor is an elegante bar / cafe type of setting. The dining rooms are on the first floor. Lots of wood, mirrors, and crystal chandeliers. Double Damask linen and linen wall coverings. Soft classical background music. Very comfortable and cozy.

Service: Very good and attentive. But I think our waiter was a summer replacement. When I asked him what the selection of pate was his reply was liver. When pressed for what type of liver ie. Goose, chicken, calf, pork, he got a puzzeled look, said I had a good question, and he would ask the chef. Another faux pas was at 3pm we were told if we wanted desert we needed to order now as the desert person was leaving? Otherwise, the service was very good.

Food: About average but nothing to rave about. I had the pate (18p extra) which was chicken, calf, and a terreine of spinich and squash. I chose spagehtti with tomatos and basil as my first course only out of couriosity as I had rarely seen pasta on the menu of a restaurant with a French name. It was a disaster. A glob of gultin in a pink sauce garnished with blackend bell peppers. I asked about the menu description versus what was presented. The waiter got another puzzeld look, diappeared to the kitchen and returned with chiffoned basil to sprinkle on top. I carefully segregated the peppers, had one small bite, and left the rest. Second course was lomo with a mushroom wine sauce, excellent. Desert was French toast with cooked pear and vanilla ice cream, quite good.

Price: Luncheon prix fix 48p: choice of 5 first courses, 5 main plates, 5 deserts, water, coffee, and half a bottle of wine. 22p gets you 1 main plate, water and coffee. I felt the price was fair for the quality of the food and choices offered.

I will give this place another chance after summer vacation. I have a feeling we are dealing with substitute personnel this time of year.

[Hunt99]

I ate here today, and found it excellent. Very conveniently located two blocks from Recoleta Village. The risotto with sweetbreads, mushrooms, and gruyere was to die for. Seriously excellent. The seafood ravioli were excellent too. Unusual for Buenos Aires the place also has a good selection of loose teas, which I enjoyed as a change from the constant orders of cafe con leche. Not cheap, the surroundings are a bit stiff, but the food was exceptional.

[Knuckhead]

Well, Au Bec Fin was the very first restaurant I ate at on my very first night in B.A. back in 2003. I came across it completely by accident, and decided to have dinner there just on a hunch.

It is a serious French restaurant that could just as well be in Paris, only that its price is about 20% of what one would pay at such a restaurant in Paris. Thinking about my first night at B.A. just brings on such fond memories. Only minutes later I were to have my very first session in B.A.!

About two years later, I ate there again with Sportsman. Although the food was still of the same excellent quality, the price had gone up by 15%.

It is a wonderful bargain, IMHO.

Incidentally, the name of this restaurant is very similar to Le Bec Fin, one of only 14 Mobil 5-Star rated restaurants in the states. There is, of course, no relationship.

[Rock Harders]

Mongers-

I have not been to this place nor do I plan on going, but I think it is worthy to note that the Buenos Aires Herald trashed this place the other day. The paper states that Au Bec Fin and La Cabana were once the names of two great restaurants in Buenos Aires, but that those originals closed down at some point and the names were sold to two completely new, unrelated and unworthy restaurants.

Suerte,

Dirk Diggler

[Stormy]

I have eaten at this restaurant twice and it was okay, nothing to write home about. Service was rather stiff and the food was decent. But as far as valuing what the Buenos Aires Herald had to say, that would be zero in my opinion. The opinions of the mongers are likely to be a real mix, but certainly much more valid than anything that paper would produce. One would wonder if the Herald reviewer was refused a payout in the grand Argentine tradition.

[Moore]

Stormy,

I don't really follow restaurant/movie reviews from any newspaper, but whats your big problem with the BA Herald? I like it though I normally read Clarin.

[Hunt99]

I pay special attention to the restaurant reviews of some posters here whose tastes I have verified by my own follow-ups to their recommendations. If El Aleman, Normin Stormin, or Member #3313 suggest a place, it is, to steal a phrase from Exon123, like money in the bank. If the Herald is down on this place, then the Herald is full of shit. I ate there myself - partly due to it having been recommended to me by PM from Member #3313 - and it was excellent. Cheap it was not. 80 pesos for a pretty full lunch without buying a bottle of wine. I definitely, completely, and unreservedly recommend the risotto.

[Hunt99]

Passed by here this week. The restaurant has closed. A pity.