Buenos Aires Café

The Buenos Aires Cafe promises a lot but delivers very little, mostly because of its appalling service. I visited with my boyfriend who ordered spatchcocked chicken, I ordered pasta and asked for no sauce. 40 mins later the chicken arrived virtually raw with blood running from it and my pasta came covered in sauce. The waiter actually recoiled with a grimace but no apology when he poked the chicken with a knife and it was rudely whipped away only to be return some minutes later only slightly further through the cooking process. On another visit the seemingly inexperienced, inattentive waiters (who seemed more interested in talking to each other than the customers) took our orders and we waited 40 mins for our food only to be told they had forgotten the order. We are never going back…

My girlfriend had been many times to this Blackheath independent restaurant, and I looked forward to my first visit! I had phoned up in advance to book, and that was needed as the establishment was full to the brim!

We were greeted by the smiling owner. The large spherical wine glasses give you a clue that red wine is an important part of this eatery, so we ordered a Malbec, and lovely it was too. Before the wine came however, the lady serving us, had brought us a carafe of iced water, without even asking, and as I drink lots of water, that was a good mark for me!

We each ordered an Empanada – a filled pastry starter, with either beef or spinach. They look alot like Cornish Pasties in fact, a reflection of the great immigrant influence in Argentina. They were lovely, and the pastry fresh, but I thought the presentation was a little sparse, with only a parsley garnish on top, surrounded by empty plate. Perhaps a pretty little side salad would have improved it.

For main courses, my girlfriend and I both ordered pizzas, and as a vegetarian, these were welcome options. They were huge, and crispy! Mine was lovely, although smothered in garlic, but being half French, that wasn’t a problem for me. It was so big, I perhaps overdid myself in eating the whole thing while my partner ate sensibly and then had hers boxed! Great idea. I love that you can do that in America, but I seldom see it here, except at this Blackheath Argentinean! My friends had selections from Carne, and thoroughly enjoyed them. I have to say, I did take to smothering the Chimichanga sauce on my pizza. Yum!

Now for dessert, we wanted Alfajores Havana which my girlfriend knew were lovely. Little stuffed biscuits filled with Dulce de lece, a decadent caramel sauce. They had run out, so instead we had Flan Con Crema y dulce de lece. I'm not normally sweet toothed, but the Dulce de lece was amazing, like sweet gooey heaven. Terrific. You can buy it in the shop in pretty blue jars, I must invest some time!

The service was very good, friendly and warm as Id hoped, and the owner was greeting customers, and almost embracing those who had finished their meal, a good sign in my book. There was a great atmosphere, the service was cheerful and efficient and the music, selected by the owner was fun, with the odd Tango being played! In the basement is a little bar, and I'd love to have a glass or two of Malbec there one time!

As we left, my friend and I, being budding photographers were eager to discuss the wall decorations. The photos on the left of the restaurant are his. The owner was happy to chat about his work, and was a mine of information about his country! One shot on the right, shows perfectly the immigrant nature of Argentina. A black and white image from an immigration processing centre, much like Ellis Island, New York, depicts different nationalities awaiting processing in a large hall. The facial features, the hats, the clothes all give clues to their origins… and clues to the varied nature of the cuisine of Argentina! I recommend this restaurant, and will be visiting again.

AWFUL. We booked over a week in advance to introduce two of our London friends to what we thought was a great local restaurant. This was the fourth time we have eaten here and this was by far the worst experience. This place is deteriorating and I will never return. I called in advance to confirm my reservation and they made a point to tell me 3 times over the phone that we only had 2 hours and needed to leave after that. It is fair to book tables for a certain period of time, but the way in which this was communicated was very rude. We arrived and were sat by the door. It was quite cold but we did not complain about this. We ordered starters, which were good, but the waiter started clearing the table before we were finished. I actually had to ask for my knife and fork back, and for him to put the food back on the table! Our mains were large portions and tasty, but only lukewarm when it arrived on cold plates. We had to ask for the plates to be heated, and they were brought back within 30 seconds only lukewarm. Needless to say, the steaks were stone cold when we were halfway through. We asked if we could heat them and were told off by one of the rudest, most abrupt women I have ever met. I was very offended to be treated in such a manner. I complained to the manager, who repeated exactly what the woman said in the same abrupt manner. The last complaint I had is that one of us ordered a steak well done, and it came out rare in the middle. We noticed this after a few bites and the staff didn't even apologise, just stated in the same ungrateful, unhelpul manner that if we noticed as soon as they brought it out, they would have taken it back. We had our table for another 45 mins and would have ordered another bottle of wine and dessert if were were enjoying our experience, but just wanted to leave after that. I understand that there are others in Blackheath that feel the same way about this place. I very rarely post negative reviews, but am so disappointed by our treatment and the fact that no one seemed to care that I want to publicise our experience and forewarn people before spending at least 50 quid per head at this place. The staff ruined a nice evening for us.

what a fantastic place, service was excellent, very friendly and efficient and what a great atmosphere.
The food was out of this world. And if any body think that Argentineans eat only meat, I think they are going for a big surprise. Their home made pastas and pizzas where one of the best I had eating and I didn't know that 55% of the Argentineans are italians. I will recommend any thing on their menu, but you must try the mix grill, pizzas and their home made sausages.
When it come to the desserts again it was fantastic, everything is home made, including the ice cream which they made at the sister cafe in Greenwich.
We where a large table and the restaurant was full, well in reality is full every night, we did try several times to get a table but without success, but finally we got one and I have to say we enjoy very much and I am looking forward to go back again.
I recommend it to any body who wants to have a great dinner out
Oliver