Dadá - San Martín 941, Centro

Day two in Buenos Aires, jet-lagged, disorientated, lethargic, my only hope of feeling vaguely human again is a good dose of iron in the form of steak and red wine (it is my theory that anaemia is non-existent in Argentina, but I have yet to verify it).


Dadá sits on a street of few restaurants or bars, a neighbourhood that seems unpromising at first sight, but then pleasantly surprises. More pop art than dada, the walls are daubed with crude murals replicating sixties art and the lighting is moodily low.

Lomo Dadá

The brusque waitress that greets me, responds firmly in English to my table request in Spanish - I tell myself it is the jet-lag causing me to trip over my words - and I do as I am told, gladly sitting myself down at one of only about eight tables.

Jeff arrives moments later and without much persuasion convinces me to go for the Lomo Dadá, sirloin steak with mustard sauce. "The piece of meat is the size of your head", he tells me. I am promptly sold (sorry veggie friends - I will forward your complaints to Jeff).

Decadent does not begin to describe the dish, one look at it would be enough to give the faint-hearted gout. The meat is beautifully tender and nicely rare by European standards (Argentines tend towards longer cooked meat) and the sauce is piquant and buttery, but not sickeningly so. Potato gratin on the side is decent and not too heavy. Washed down with half a bottle of Malbec (what else?), it is just the tonic I am looking for. Jeff has Bife de Chorizo, a classic cut of beef which is served here atop potatoes and messily piled high with leaves and salsa.

Bife de Chorizo

The location of the restaurant in microcentro means many fellow diners are of the suited and booted variety, but the place doesn't feel corporate or staid. We are impressed by the man in the kipper tie, shaggy hair and side-burns who looks like he might have just stepped out of a seventies police drama.

Disappointingly, we have no room for postre, but I feel sure that I will be back to enjoy the experience again in a more sentient manner once I have recovered from the jet-lag...