WE ATE AT ARGENTINA’S MOST ICONIC RESTAURANTS FOR 24 HOURS!

For the next 24 hours, we're going to be eating our way around the most iconic restaurants in Argentina. Buenos Aires, one of the most densely populated cities in the world. And whilst the first name that comes to mind is Lionel Messi, the food here is every bit as world-class. The city is packed with century-old institutions, outrageously cheesy pizza joints, legendary steakhouses, incredible cheap pasta and some of the best gelato you'll find on planet Earth. So today, we're eating our way around the most iconic and viral restaurants in Buenos Aires to discover which ones are truly worth the hype. This is Rocio and she is the most famous blogger here in Argentina with over 5 million followers on Instagram and she's going to be showing us all the best spots around the city today. Are you ready? First up, it was time for breakfast and possibly one of the most opulent breakfasts in South America as well. One of the most famous buildings in Buenos Aires is a spot called La Ideal. Let's go! Everything served here is made on site and it's utterly mind-blowing what goes into everything behind the scenes. Oh my God! Yes, it's amazing, right? This is incredible. It seems like you're entering into the first part of the Titanic. I know, let's hope it doesn't sink. No messing around. We went straight through the dining room into the heartbeat of this place, the kitchens. This is one of the biggest kitchens I've ever seen in my life. It's huge. Oh my God, there's a lift. I've never seen a lift in a kitchen before. What? Just chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate. It's like I've stepped into the upstairs of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. There's like a debate if the Alfajor belongs to Argentina or Uruguay. Oh really? I would say Argentina. She's the best. Have you heard that? Argentina's in the best Alfajores. So what is it? Two cookies. Normally it's filled with dulce de leche in the middle and it's covered in chocolate. Chocolate Bailey and dulce de leche. Okay, that's my love language. They even let me lose someone. Not a bad idea in the end. That's it. There we go. I'm a pro. This kitchen is split across four floors. Can you believe that? No wonder why they've got a lift. So we headed to the second floor. The artistry in this place is just unbelievable. This lady was even dressed up like Banksy. Chef added some finishing touches to some of the amazing pastries they sell here. I reckon I could finish these off in a couple of days to be fair. Before it was time to get back down to business and try some of the stuff in the dining room. I mean, I'm not even sure where to begin with this. This is like... Breakfast of champions and our coffees are here. Oh well, they need a bigger table. I know that Argentina did breakfast but this is incredible. We have Alfajores. These are churros con chocolate. These are palmeritas. I don't know why they call them like that. I'm going to be honest with you. And these are medialunas. And medialunas with ham and cheese. And they're croissants, right? And we have a croissant so we can make a comparison, okay? Okay. So these aren't croissants? No, these are medialunas. What's the difference? You're going to see it. You're going to see it. First you have to try it. See the difference? Just with the first bite you see the difference. So I think the difference between this and a croissant is that I feel it like a lot lighter. But then that swish of the sugar syrup on top brings this whole extra sweetness. It's absolutely delicious. I'm glad you like it. It's a good job I'm not in Argentina because I'll be having one of these every single day. That's the problem. One with ham and cheese. With ham and cheese. I didn't think they could get any better. And they've got better. Yay, we made it. The perfect combination of the sweet, the salty, the ham, the cheese. You could eat this for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Can you say only for the fans that medialunas are better than croissants? I mean they are better than croissants. Way better. Finally, seeing as I made these earlier it would be rude not to tuck into my first ever Alfajores. Let's see whether they're worth everything Rocio made them out to be. Oh wow. Good? The biscuit itself is almost like a little bit cakey and you've got the caramel, the chocolate. It's just an explosion of stuff in my mouth that I probably shouldn't be having before 9 o'clock. Cheers to that. Cheers. Got a little friend. From a high-end breakfast to a hole-in-the-wall style pizza spot Buenos Aires has such a diverse mix of offerings and my goal is to taste every single one of the styles. I love pizza but I don't think I've ever been in a pizzeria like this before. No, you haven't. This is crazy. This is absolutely crazy and it's an iconic pizzeria in Buenos Aires called La Meseta. So I want you to try the authentic Fugaceta which is a pizza with cheese, extra cheese and onions on top. Cheese, cheese, extra cheese and onions. And more cheese. That sounds very typical of Argentina. I've never before seen a pizza chef in my life cut a slice of pizza with almost like a butcher knife. Oh my god, it's like a carvery. It's literally like a carvery. Why is this kind of pizza so important to Argentinians? Because I've never seen this kind of pizza anywhere before in my life. I think it's because of the mystic here. You know that when you enter it's like a different energy. It has to do with the food but also with what you feel when you're here. I love how it's literally three o'clock on a Friday. This place is packed. Full of locals getting their slice in. Probably people are about to go and have a few drinks. There are more locals. I mean, what's going on in the back here? There is cheese everywhere. Oh my god, where do you even begin with this? Oh my god. It's like if Italy did a Chicago town pizza. This is what it would be. I like your opinion. They put one and a half kilos of cheese in the pizza. It's amazing. And each slice of pizza is only two pounds or four thousand pesos. Two pounds for all that cheese? How many calories do you think it is? I know this sounds absolutely bonkers. Because it's the cheesiest this is. It literally doesn't taste too cheesy. Because the onions add this sweetness. Keeping it Italian, we bounced across town to a spot called Pippo. Which I'm told is the cheapest pasta in Argentina. They've also got a little bit of experience too. So let's see what they've got. Now I took you to Pippo. Which has been here since 1936. Pasta? Yes. Hang on. Is there anything that you guys don't do? No. No, absolutely no. Italian immigration. We have so many pasta places, pizza places, ice cream places. As you have already seen during this culinary journey in Argentina. Please include that on the tape. Please. Free bread? Free bread always in Argentina. In England you pay like five pounds for bread. This place is also known for being one of the cheapest places for eating pasta in Buenos Aires. Wow. How much does it cost? Three pounds for you. Three pounds? Only three pounds for you. Which is crazy because it's a big dish. You will see it. That's insane, right? Fresh pasta with meat. Three pounds. That is mental. We have pesto, which is the green sauce. And on the left side we have etouko. Etouko is an Italian sauce. Literally looks exactly what grandma would serve me. If she was Italian. I mean, come on. I mean that just sums up Argentina in one dip. Italian food, cheap. Such good quality. But Italian food with a twist, right? Always with a twist. I love it. And obviously, lots of cheese. Next up, before the main event, Rocio wanted to show me Buenos Aires' most famous ice cream parlor. And you don't just have to take her word for it. This ice cream shop has been recognized by National Geographic as the second best ice cream shop in the world. Second best ice cream shop in the world. That's it. You're going to see it. Wow. He's saying to me that Argentina is the country that consumes the most ice cream in the world. One, two, three, four, five, six ice cream servers. I've never in my life seen so many different flavors. So many different gelato tubs. This is mental. Yes. I also believe that the ice cream in Argentina is more creamy. The texture, I mean. So you're going to feel that. What are these pots? These pots are a quarter of a kilo, half a kilo, and a kilo of ice cream. I think everyone else in the world needs to take note and sell ice cream by weight. That's absolutely crazy. That's like a plant pot. I could wear that on my head. You have the menu here in English. Wow. But you can try all the flavors first if you want. Wow. I mean, come on. Look at that. Oh my god. It's a really good one. I selected very good places to eat. They got to making our ice cream bucket. And let me tell you, they did not go lightly on any of these flavors. Onto the scales, weighing over a kilo. I'm burning calories just carrying this. Oh my god. I feel like I'm holding a newborn baby. Like I've never had a kilo of ice cream in my hand before. So we have pistachio, chocolate mousse, mascarpone, and dulce de leche with chocolate chips. Cheers. Now I know why Argentina consumes the most ice cream in the world. Maybe because it is the best in the world. You say so. Cheers. So good. Okay, so we've sampled a bit of everything, but let's be honest. When we think of Argentina, we think of me. And lots of it. Rosario's been keeping this place to herself until now. So I can't wait to find out where she's taking me. Alright, so where are we now? In my favorite barbecue restaurant. It's called El Ferroviario because they used to storage trains here. Yeah. And you're going to see a real barbecue. An Argentinian one. Just because we haven't eaten enough food today already. Yes, exactly. I absolutely love this place. Literally, we're here underneath like a highway, right next to a football stadium, and about to dig in to unlimited meat. I mean, come on. That's just like the recipe for success. This is a very traditional place for Argentinians. I will strongly recommend, so if any tourists want to have a real Argentinian experience, you have to come here. Really? Okay. Because this is for locals. All the waitresses are dressed as people from the countryside. I love the hats. Yes. I'm going to have to nick one of them. Exactly. You're going to have one then. We headed straight through the dining room and into the belly of the beast. If I can smell meat cooking, it's like a magnet. And I simply must see it. It literally must be four, five meters in diameter. And they've just got loads of different types of meat laid around the top. And the reason why this is so important is because, whoa. Fire in the hole. In the middle, they have the chamber where they roast the wood and they create the fire. But Argentinian barbecue, it's all about cooking over the embers. So everything's cooked indirect, doesn't taste too smoky. And just seeing the guy's work here, the pit master, his shovel was the biggest shovel I've ever seen in my life. It must have been four meters long just to move the embers across this incredible work of art. And seeing as I was back there, it'd be rude not to have a little taster as well. Okay, you can just leave me here. Bye. Just before we get started, how does the menu work? Because it's quite unique, right? You have two options. You can order by menu and select what meat you want, empanadas, milanesa, provoleta. Or you have the unlimited version. Okay. Where they're going to bring you the entire menu to the table. Where do we want to start? Maybe the sausage. Whoa. Look at this. Look at that. I love the color of it. Wow. It's amazing, right? Oh, yeah. I love the snap on it. You get such a good snap. It almost reminds me of the sausages that they have in Texas. You get that big snap. Can you taste the fat? Mm-hmm. Let's try morcilla. I'm just going to go straight in, I think. What do you think? You can be honest. It's very salty. It kind of reminds me of black pudding in the UK. So you want to know what's on it or not? Yeah, go on. So it's like blood cow. People give a lot of this to children for the vitamins that you can have for your own health. Really? I want to take you to the huge beer right now. What? Can we do that? There's a huge beer here. I mean, I love huge beer. So, yeah, definitely. Let's try to grab it. You know the phrase, if you only have one drink. I don't think I'll be able to drive home after this one. Keeping on the theme of absolutely massive, it was time to sample my first ever Milanese. This thing looks like a giant meat pizza. And you guessed it. They simply are not skimping on the cheese either. Remember to bring friends and lots of them. This is what I was talking about. This is a huge Milanese for 10 people. Why do I even start with this? It looks like a pizza, but it's not a pizza because it's meat. It's kind of pizza, but it's not. Yeah, exactly. It's meat. It's like a schnitzel. So, yeah, you've got the layer of like smashed beef, the breadcrumbs, the ham, the cheese, the tomato sauce. And on top of that, you've got the olives. Exactly. And you can order beef or chicken. Cheers, my friend. What do you think? I've seen a lot of pizzas before, but I didn't even think I've seen a pizza as big as this in real life. And the base of this is meat. It's almost like a little bit sweet, but you get the savoury. It makes it saucy. It just makes it really juicy. I would say this probably feeds 10 people. 10 people. I agree. I would say the same. Well, starters were nice. But let's get over to the meat now. We saw all the meat being cooked over live fire earlier, and I'm about ready to get my teeth into this. Wow. It's a dinosaur. So on this platter, we have three different meats. Exactly. Like how these guys are preparing all this meat in that really hot environment. I went down there for like five minutes, and I was so sweaty. I actually don't even know where to start. I say with the asado, because that's why you're here. Yeah. And I want to see your face when you try it. It's just a really nice clean bite of food. It doesn't taste too smoky. Super salty, which I absolutely love. Can I have another bite? Yeah. Like the fat is so beautifully rendered, like super buttery. But then on the top here, you just have this like super crispy skin, which almost like crisps when you bite it. The combination is perfect. It's so good. Yeah. Wow. I agree. So my friend Mati, also from Argentina, is going to explain about matambre, because there are specific techniques for this, right? Yeah. So this one in here, we've got the pork matambre. In England, you guys know it as secreto. Why do you call it secreto? Which is a Spanish word, and it's secret. Because you've got the pork belly, and there's a thin layer of beef between the fat and the ribs, and that's where the matambre is. Oh, wow. It's good. I love it. And now we're going to my favorite part. Which is vacío. Do you agree with me? Vacío is my favorite part in the world. While you cut, I'm just going to have a bit of a beer break. Yes. I'm going to be here until Christmas. We need to put that on the roast dinner. Kind of tastes a bit like roast beef, but super salty, and I just love that crispy fat that you just get with it. Yeah. So good. Wow. So for you, which one was the best? This one. Really? The first one. I love it. We're literally living like the carnival's dream here in Argentina. I love the fattiness of the meat. I love how this is just rough, it's ready, it's raw. You're here surrounded by locals. We've got a beer the size of literally a fish bowl. Like, I'm living my best life here. Okay. It's so good. I made it. Vacío, thank you so much. Thanks to you. What a day. I hope you like it. Honestly, Argentina, I need it to be my own home. My new home. You can be nationalized right now. Yes. Guys, please go and follow La Chica on Instagram and social. She's been amazing. And if you like this video, please like, subscribe, comment. We'll see you in the next video. You can't take a date, take a mate. Vamos!