Most certainly "here"
We are happy to be in one of our favourite cities, though with just a short time here, there wasn’t really long enough to do more than the "essential”, i.e. have dinner 😉 We had booked our table at Las Lilas and arranged our Uber ride already.
Since we’d gone without lunch, we went for an early dinner and were none too surprised to find Las Lilas fairly quiet when we arrived and took our table on the covered terrance outdoors, overlooking the docks. There followed the diifficult decision about what to choose from the extensive menu. Well, beef, of course, but there was such a variety of cuts and portion sizes, it took us a while - and advice from our excellent server - to narrow it down. Eventually, we both went for the same tenderloin fillet, 350g served medium rare (nod of approval from the server) with souffle potatoes, fresh corn and spinach. Oh, and a bottle of the recommended Malbec wine.
We were surprised the wine came in a bottle shaped rather differently from what we’d expect and even more surprised when an ice bucket was brought and the bottle chilled at the side of our table. We assumed we were in the hands of experts and sure enough, it was delicious.
Whilst we made our choices from the menu, a plate of bread was brought to the table, together with two small pans of sauce. Two of these “rolls” were not really rolls at all but small Yorkshire puddings and the other rolls were of a light, cheesy dough reminiscent of something we’d eaten previously, though neither of us could say where or when. Never mind, they were yummy!
Unsurprisingly, the steak was a-maz-ing! As delicious as we recalled. In fact, we both agreed, it was the best steak we’d eaten since we were last here! The souffle potatoes were great, the corn and the spinach good accompaniments. I couldn’t believe that I actually managed to finish it this time too!
The dessert menu was brought to us with a wink…well, we would take a look.
No sooner had we looked than the magic words “dulce de leche” jumped out from the page. More smiles from our lovely server!
One of us ordered the “panqueque” and declared it delicious
and the ice cream fan here ordered a scoop of the dulce de leche flavour - what else?
As the sun began to set, we watched a chap work his way along the walkway, peeling off a sticker or two from each lampost.
As he did, each one was carefully re-applied to his bicycle. Why? We had no idea, but we enjoyed watching just another one of the rich and varied characters who played a cameo role in our day.
We called for our Uber ride back to the Sofitel and with an almost instant response, we paid our ridiculously small bill, said a swift goodbye and thank you before jumping into the waiting car.
This morning, without doubt, the small jar that came to our table with the croissant wasn’t strawberry jam or marmalade…
Come on…we’re in South America after all!
As a bonus there were the same chipa as we’d enjoyed last evening on the breakfast buffet and a conversation with the Maitre D’ explained their Paraguayan origin and confirmed that yes, they were made with cassava flour and quite a lot of cheese.
And there, on the wall right opposite our table was a fourth Gaucho; an unlooked for bonus!
From here it was a short ride and an even shorter port shuttle to the ship.
In no time at all we were on board, enjoying a relaxed lunch with interesting conversation and the promise of fun times ahead.
At about 6pm we set sail, bound for Puerto Madryn in a couple of days time. Right now, it’s gone half past ten and we are still sailing in the Rio de la Plata which gives an idea of the scale of places around here. But most importantly, we are happily settled into our lovely suite, have spent the evening in great company with interesting conversation and look forward to a day filled with fun opportunities tomorrow, starting with a lecture on whales at 10. Apparently this is great whale season where we’re headed - let’s keep our fingers crossed, eh?
