Last night we went to Las Lilas, a restaurant famous for its incredible steaks. And I will say, I have never eaten a steak like that before. I had the medallion de lomo (tenderloin) and when they say "it was like butter" - it was like butter. It cut like butter at room temperature and chewing it was effortless (unlike the steaks Mom used to fry in the frying pan every Saturday night, which were more like the cardboard box that the butter came in). We were started off with these delicious cheese puffs, an antipasto spread and lots of bread. I had a steak and ordered broccoli because I wanted some vegetables (everyone else got a salad), and instead, I only got two piece of broccoli and my broccoli was passed around to everyone else. I also got some of Larry's mashed potatoes. I think the idea was that we were supposed to be more family style. I wished I had gotten some of someone else's salad, so that I would have eaten some greens.
But anyway, let's just say, for me this was extravagant (wow I had a hard time spelling that word correctly) - total tab when we split it, including wine, desert and coffee, plus 10% tip was $60 per person.
It got cold last night and it poured the whole time we were at the restaurant.
Now for my issues with the place.
Being one of the top 10 restaurants in the world that you should eat at, it seemed like everyone was there. It was obviously a tourist destination. When I invited Hernan to join us, he said, "it's expensive", so I don't think the average Argentine eats there. It meant we were sitting with lots of other Americans, and I noticed a big Brazilian contingent. There was even a busload of people that came in.
For me it lacked the sweetness and the atmosphere of other restaurants I've been to here. Even the place we went to the other night where we were the only ones eating while the staff had their dinner, had more atmosphere than this place. This was more like a fast food restaurant - several servers attended to us, and a guy in a black jacket took our order, but everything seemed rushed, chaotic, and impersonal.
To make things worse, the table next to ours emptied out. They were a nice, quiet group of 6 or 7 people, and another group came in. We could hear them coming. Maybe there were 6 people, let's say 8. Most of them were women, and there were two men. I think maybe the men were Argentine. The women were definitely American. Younger, but not young, go getter-types, probably single, career women, stylishly dressed, out for a night on the town, probably going out for drinks later, and LOUD!!! The woman who seemed to be the center of attention was talking so loud that you could hear her above the din and noise of this busy restaurant from any point in the room we were seated in. I'm familiar with this tone of loud conversation as it is my gripe about most, "chic" restaurants in San Francisco. This woman would have fit in perfectly in any restaurant in the Marina, the Mission, SOMA, well, anywhere, other than my favorite Tenderloin dives that don't get people like that.
She was obnoxious, not only because she was loud, but because she was in a country where people don't talk like that. Argentines are passionate, they talk a lot, but the one thing they are not is loud. I've never been to a restaurant where the people are talking at a volume beyond that of the normal level of conversation. This woman seemed like she had a megaphone installed in her throat.
I couldn't wait to get out of there. Hernan joined us for coffee and it was nice chatting with him. We all waited patiently for taxis, which the staff told us would arrive in 30 minutes. Larry wisely walked out to the street and caught his own. We waited, and finally decided it would be best to just catch our own too, but it wasn't that easy. It was cold and raining hard. Taxis were scarce. Eventually we got our taxi, made it home to our warm and dry apartments. With this weather, I am now appreciating my heated floors.
So, my review of Las Lilas? The steak was good, service left a lot to be desired, and the atmosphere was like eating in a high school cafeteria. I'm glad we went, but I would not rate it as highly as others have in the reviews I've read. Call me a wet blanket.
2 comments:
The lady with a magphone could have been my ex-wife. Did she have glasses and too much makeup? Did she say in a very loud voice, "I'm single, American, and available." She did? Yes, that was her!
She did have glasses and she was wearing make-up. I don't know if she said "I'm single, American, and available", but it was clear she was. Maybe it was your ex-wife!
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