Puerto Iguazú Restaurants

We were a bit skeptical the first time we went here for dinner. From the outside it looked like a temporary tent structure, but as we discovered upon arrival the facility actually goes much further back from the street and is quite permanent and pleasant inside! The other reason for doubt was that the dinner was included with the catamaran cruise package on the river that evening. However, it was a real find. We went back a second night on our own! The service was excellent, the food wonderful and the ambience very comfortable. Too bad about the live music though. There was a guitar player accompanied by 2 fellows with electronic synthesizers. So we were subjected to the top 10 elevator hits from Buenos Aires we suspect, all night long. I strongly recommend the lomo. It is cooked outdoors by the front entrance on a mammoth open wood-fired grill. It is fabulous. Also worth trying is the river fish (a white fish called suribi). All in, for the 3 of us, was under AR$180, including a good bottle of wine.

Favorite Dish: Lomo! Cooked on a wood fire to perfection (apunto= medium). I have never had a steak as good as this, anywhere, including Argentina!

The restaurant is nicely decorated, in a local style. It's centrally located, one block from the Victoria Aguirre avenue. The food is great and the dishes are generous, you'll not leave hungry from the place. La Rueda serves chicken, steaks, pasta and local food.

Favorite Dish: I had a Milanesa de pollo (pan-fried chicken) with fries, and my girlfriend had Pappardele al Pesto. Both were really great.

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Talk about a meal with a view this place is sitting right over Devils Neck of Iguazú Falls. Really from the restaurant you only see the tops of the falls and the mist of the garganta del Diablo in English the devil's throat which is the only part of the falls really in the distance of the Brazilian side of the river. A View to die for. The food is good as well and the place has been around for about 30 years. The Chef, Martiniano Molina, one of the most well know chefs in Argentina - a real celebrity and he really has a good wine list.

Basic fact the are open for Lunch from 12 to 3 and at night for dinner from 7 to 11 PM they take all major credit cards.

Favorite Dish: Can I recommend that you ask the waiter to ask the Chef, Martiniano Molina what is really good that day. They had some local fresh fish that is like a cat fish called a suribí that he had baked with local onions in a lemon sauce that was wonderful.

Rafain is the most famous dinner-show in Foz de Iguazu, Brazilian side of the Falls.

Enjoy a beautiful folkloric show representing music and dances style from Latin American countries. Swing on the rhytms of Brazilian samba, feel the passion of tango, see the impressive Paraguayan bottle dance whilst enjoying a delicious all-you -can-eat dinner.

Favorite Dish: Grilled meats

After our afternoon enjoying the hotel pool, we walked downtown for our second evening in a row, looking for a different spot on this night. We killed a bit of time in the internet cafe again and emerged as it was starting to get dark. Next door, we noticed bustling outdoor sidewalk restaurant tables where people seemed to be enjoying themselves. However, we continued on to check out a few other locations before we said, 'no, let's go to the first one!'.

Favorite Dish: We were very glad that we did. A table was quickly cleared for us and cold beer and wine served up while we looked at their menu. The man serving us was quite busy but very friendly and helpful. We decided to keep it simple with two pizzas - Sue ordering sweet pepper & bacon while I went Veggie with heart of palm, olives, tomatoes and pineapple.

Seated beside us were two young Aussie guys on an extended trip, having a great time chatting up two pretty young ladies from Spain (we think). Nice light pop background music was playing and the tables were busy. It was very nice sitting out on the main sidewalk watching the downtown nightlife as we ate! Our waiter even brought everyone a small shot glass each (see photo) of a local chilled liqueur called 'Tio Paco'. It was very good too! Total cost was A$26 (US$9) - NO CREDIT CARDS here either.

On our final full day in Puerto Iguazu, we finished up our second visit to the Argentine-side of Iguazu Falls and were back at the hotel swimming pool by about 1 PM. We were not long getting into our swimming gear on this 35 degC day and heading for the pool. The place was practically deserted because most people were out on their organized day tours and this had been our 'free' day to do what we wanted.

Favorite Dish: After enjoying alternate spells of swimming and sunning, we sat in the shade of the Quincho snack bar and ordered ourselves something light to go with the cold Quilmes beers. We shared dishes of toasted ham & cheese and a bun sandwich of chicken, tomatoe and lettuce on mayonaisse. Total cost for the afternoon was A$22 (US$7)

It was a great way to spend the afternoon!

When returning to Puerto Iguazu after a Falls tour, we had asked our Cuenca tour guide if he could recommend a restaurant. He said La Rueda would be his choice, and it rates a mention in Lonely Planet too.

The next evening, for our first night on the town since my stomach bug began to let up, we walked from our hotel, arriving at about 8 PM and finding the inside already starting to fill up. However, the waiter quickly showed us to a spare table in the nicely decorated dining room, with it's bamboo roof and wall murals as very pleasant background music played.

This looked like a classy place, as all the tables were fully set with crockery and various sizes of wine glasses ready for use! However, they had a big sign on the door saying NO CREDIT CARDS so you are not taken by surprise!

Favorite Dish: Sue decided to try their Devil Style Chicken, cooked on the bone in a demi-glace sauce with garlic tomatoes served with potatoes in a cream cheese sauce (A$10). I thought it was time to try something really local, so I ordered their Grilled Surubi fish. This catfish like creature can be over 1 meter in length and weigh up to 60 kg (25 pounds). The grilled, flat portion of fish and it's wedge of lemon came with mixed vegetables of carrots, boiled onion, peas, green beans, aubergene and potatoe slices (A$18). We each had a glass of wine (A$4) to accompany our meal which we thoroughly enjoyed! We were in no rush on what turned out to be our 30th wedding anniversary meal! Our best one of the trip so far! Even with a tip, the total cost was only US$14. It was nice to have a slow evening walk back to the hotel to let things settle a bit!

We stayed at the comfortable Hotel Esturion and ate at their restaurant several times. Miscellaneous comments as follows.
Considering the size of this hotel/restaurant, the menu was quite small and the choices were few.
They pushed the dinner buffet which was 22P/$7.50 per person. Did not look worth this high price (this is Argentina remember) to me.
Beer was 5P which was rather expensive.
The restaurant charged a 2P cubierto, which is a fee just to sit down and use their table. Some upscale restaurants charge this and I always found it annoying.
On the bar menu, a gin/tonic was 10P. If you request a vodka/tonic it's 13P.
The service was great and the waiters friendly.
I had beef and chicken dinners. Both contained more gristle than is normal. The chicken tasted oily and was undercooked. They tasted OK but were disappointing for the price.
Pasta and the sauce must always be ordered seperately in Argentina. A small dish of noodles here cost over $2USD and a rather boring tomato sauce was almost $1.
A fillet of fish was good but not great. The cost 17P/$6 which seemed a lot.
10P for a green salad for two persons? This was definitely too much by 3-4 pesos.
Meals at the Esturion were generally pretty expensive, but the service great and the ambiance OK.

Favorite Dish: It was all good, but nothing was great.