El Patacon

Posted by Edmund in Argentina, Argentine, Restaurants | 0 comments

Parrilla, Steakhouse.
Entrées run about US$10 to $15.
Av. Bustillo, Km 7, Outside the City Center, Bariloche, Argentina.

Awhile back I put up a review of El Boliche de Alberto, the one highly recommended steakhouse within the actual city of Bariloche. Well, that experience had left a very bitter taste in my mouth. Steak is Argentina’s national food! How an Argentine parrilla could fail so badly was beyond me.

I was positive I could find some good meat near Bariloche, even if I had to travel a distance for it. And that’s where El Patacón comes in.

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Bariloche’s best restaurants, oddly enough, are not actually located within the city with all of its famous chocolatiers, but rather outside the city center on a 26-mile route that takes you all the way to the harbor. That routes includes just about every good restaurant I ate at in Bariloche, including El Patacón.

El Patacón is very special, though. Although it may seem like a traditional (if not exceptional) parrilla, it claims the unique honor that it was the site of a presidential dinner between Bill Clinton and Argentina’s Carlos Ménem, while Clinton was visiting Argentina for a presidential summit. Though I’m not a fanatic lover of Bill Clinton, I was rather curious—if this place was good enough for Argentina’s own president to bring Clinton here, it must at least be good, right?

And, for once, this kind of celebrity hype actually panned out, in nearly every way.

First, in terms of ambience. The restaurant is constructed like a log cabin and so has the nice log cabin coziness to it. It’s an Argentine steakhouse, combining the down-home feel of a parrilla with a little bit of an upscale quality, e.g. the very nice polished wood for the tables and the crooked pillars made from contorted branches and trunks . But don’t let the upscale features fool you—this is a traditional steakhouse at its finest, to the point of being touristy, both for Americans and Argentines. In fact, the signature dish is even named Martín Fierro after the quintessential Argentine gaucho (cowboy) who was the protagonist of perhaps Argentina’s most famous epic poem (which was also named Martín Fierro after the hero). It’s a nice place for groups, as with most steakhouses, but classy enough to bring a business associate for a relaxed evening. The service adds to the experience, as my waiter was not only amiable but had an energetic, cheery attitude that really suited the coziness of the restaurant and made me feel welcome.

And, while the food wasn’t the best I’ve had at a parrilla, it really was quite good. In contrast to El Boliche de Alberto, which ruined nearly every dish, here I can’t really complain about much at all, except maybe the bread. And the steak, the key part of the meal, was cooked perfectly, which is all you can ask for from a parrilla.

All in all, then, this was a great food experience, and it is the perfect place to come to for a steak if you need one in Bariloche.

What I had:

1. Bread and beef paté (butter substitute): Very innovative touch, replacing the butter. Very Argentine, considering how much beef Argentines eat. Bread is dull and cold, though. 1.0/5.0
2. Trout in escabeche (pickling brine): Very typical regional cuisine. I’m not a big fan of pickling brine or cold cuts, but it actually tasted quite fresh, the meat was tender, and there was a good tangy, oiliness to the dish that really suited the fish. 3.0+/5.0
3. Martín Fierro (Ribeye with veggies and chimichurri)—The ribeye is perfectly cooked and incredibly succulent. It’s so thick you can’t even fit it in your mouth. It’s served with roasted red peppers, onions, and other veggies that really give a nice smoky freshness to the dish. This is especially nice because Argentines typically serve nothing with their meat, so this dish really has some added flavor you don’t get at most steakhouses. The potatoes are extraneous and dull, as is the chimichurri, but the overall dish is fantastic regardless. 4.0/5.0
4. Chocolate suicidio (Chocolate suicide—Chocolate brownie topped with chocolate ice cream and chocolate sauce): Finally a chocolate brownie with nuts in Argentina that is worth eating! This is a pretty standard American dish, but even by our standards, it was quite good, and every component added another layer of chocolate flavor that really made this a true chocolate suicide. The chocolate ice cream, as expected of Argentine ice cream, was rather smooth, creamy, and sweet, and the chocolate brownie was dense and rich. Again, standard, but good. 3.3/5.0

Ambience: 3.5/5.0
Service: 3.0/5.0
Taste: 3.5/5.0. 4.0/5.0 in terms of steak.
Value: 4.0/5.0
Overall Score: 3.6+/5.0