Alvear Café — Restaurant in Autonomous City of Buenos Aires

The desserts here were such poor quality I wish I could receive my money back. I feel tricked in to thinking these would be something special. The pastry chef should be ashamed of their output that day and/or alerted to her team’s errors and the lack of quality. It was my birthday and my research for “the best” desserts in the city led me here. I must say, the woman who helped me was absolutely delightful. Kind, friendly, helpful. A real gem. I selected the “Lemon Pie;” around 4-5 bites from start to finish. And a Raspberry Macaron. Even for a high-end cafe I was stunned at the $12 price of the Lemon Pie dessert. And just under $4 for one macaron. Both more expensive than in Paris, San Francisco, London, New York, Geneva, as well as other shops in Buenos Aires. I preceded anyway, as it was important to me to enjoy a high quality, delicious dessert on my birthday. The macaron was so very pretty, however I bit in to it and it burst in to a thousand pieces. Nearly dust. It was so stale and dry that it shattered like glass. I took out a bit of the filling and although the texture was creamy, it tasted like nothing. Just sugar. Certainly not raspberry. The best part of the Lemon Pie was the little shortbread cookie on top. It had a nice buttery flavor with a soft, slightly crisp exterior. However it was a total disaster after that. The meringue was heavy, and gritty (the sugar had not dissolved, showing it was made improperly or too quickly). Not light, soft and airy like a meringue should be. The “lemon” custard had the faintest whisper of lemon flavor but tasted artificial like lemon “essence” from a bottle. Not made with real lemons. With a chemical aftertaste. The custard was such poor quality. It had split and was lumpy. Not smooth as it should be. The crust on the bottom tasted stale and old. And if it couldn’t get any worse, from the meringue I pulled out a light colored hair about 38mm long. At that point it felt nearly comical. Needless to say, I threw most of both of the desserts in the garbage. My experience with Alvear Café was truly abysmal and felt like a total...

My husband and I spent several weeks in Buenos Aires. After our first visit to the Alvear Cafe, we were hooked and became very frequent visitors. It is an intimate coffee bar, restaurant and also has fresh baked bread and pastries to take away. Everything we had was made with great care and was consistently delicious. The baked goods are some of the best we've had outside France. But the best part about the cafe is the staff. Both Yorman and Gaston are very professional and kind. They went above and beyond to be sure that we had a great experience every time we visited. If you're in the Recoleta neighborhood, be sure to stop by the...

Went in with family to get a lunchtime meal on a weekday — the place wasn't full, probably four or five other people there. It took 20 minutes for us to get water, 30 minutes to get two coffees (but only after reminding them), and after 55 minutes with no food we left hungry with little to no apology from the staff. We saw one table receive a faulty order, and another also left without food right before we did.

It seems the kitchen serves the entire hotel, and is so mismanaged that it considers an hour wait for a café lunch acceptable. Save your time and go somewhere else instead of this...