Aramburu Relais & Châteaux — Restaurant in Autonomous City of Buenos Aires

Updated for visiting again in 2023.

We all look for WOW moments when we dine out somewhere special. Arumbaru provides more than a few.

The setting is relaxed with a view into the busy but very kitchen. A great deal of attention has been paid to the ambience. The Chefs are controlled and organised with most dishes prepared in advance and assembled in a restrained flurry of motion.

Service has taken a step back though. The staff were initially flustered on our arrival, though we were advised there was a change of staffing that had caused some confusion.

When I chose to order matching wines and my partner declined the option, they didn't offer her any other alternatives eg a cocktail or wine by the glass list. This lasted until she asked to get the matching wines after all, when we'd already been served the first 4 courses. She might have gone the whole dinner drinking water if we hadn't spoken up.

Later when we went to another room for dessert the new waiter didn't serve her wine and we had to explain and request her glass of dessert wine.

Wines and water glasses were refilled or replaced regularly, each dish explained as served and service otherwise very good.

Many of the 20 courses served were triumphs.

The Kale crackers were delicious and presented beautifully as leaves on a branch. The Olive a cool burst of refreshing ice cream? Remained in the shape of a green olive. The Pumpkin and Trout Roe beautifully presented in a wafer thin casing that was unfortunately prone to collapsing when handled.

The Cashew cheese with crispy Potato petals was moreish. Delicate crisps with subtly flavoured dip. The Activated Charcoal and eggplant ball with delicate, edible white flowers fantastic, a standout. Though often overpowering, the Beetroot and Goat's Cheese walked the difficult edge with aplomb.

The next series of dishes included a variety of substitutes cater to Crustacean allergies and vegan dining. I can't imagine anything more delicious than the Green Apple encased in meringue. Seafood lovers are missing out. This was a serious wow! A Carrot Cannoli with dill was lovely. A Sweet Potato Cracker with watermelon and radish better still. Then followed another Wow moment, our second (or perhaps third allowing for the Charcoal eggplant). Green grapes impregnated with ginger with champagne and green oil. Amazing with perfect balance.

Rosemary skewers encrusted with chives were delicious. A passionfruit with Pork and saffron was sublime. Potato with Morel and crispy rice fantastic.

Venison and then Kingfish with Radish followed. I have no doubt this is a very popular take on an increasingly popular fish.

Next, the dish of the night. Sweetbread with Yuzu. You will need to go to Arumbaru to see this amazing dish. It's a perfect balance of flavours and textures. The Vegan substitutes of fennel is pictured. It was also delicious.

On to the desserts after a palate cleansing burst of grapefruit without the characteristic, overwhelming bitterness.

Aguaribay with Strawberry then an amazing Avocado dish with Mango utterly delicious.

Only the final Petit fours and perhaps the Venison with Shiso and Nori were...

My wife and I visited Aramburu as part of our honeymoon and, unfortunately, left bitterly disappointed.

This was our third tasting menu (the other two both in Thailand) and after reading reviews and being provided a personal recommendation we were extremely excited. Our other experiences were exceptional.

We both love food, it is one of life's simple, but great pleasures.

However, Aramburu was a sad disappointment. Let me explain why:

Firstly, 18 courses is too many. The sizes of each dish is tiny. You don't have enough opportunity to saviour and explore the flavours. I love the variety of tasting menus, but I want to appreciate each course properly, but with 18 courses you are left unsatisfied after each course. It really is one bite and it's gone.

Secondly, the service is strange. There was zero personalisation. I think we had at least 7, possibly 8, servers throughout and only 1 had some charisma. The restaurant floor felt chaotic. Way too many staff running around, which created quite a frantic feeling.

The staff were SO quiet! I could barely hear a thing any of them said, which makes me think this has been taught. Neither of us could make out the very brief communication provided to us, therefore at the beginning of each course I had very little information of what I was eating.

Thirdly, there was no 'why'. What I mean is there was no explanation of what I was eating and why I was eating it. We are talking about a high end restaurant that is being lauded as Michelin standard. Why did the Chef put this menu together? What were the influences? What was even the cuisine? Was it even Argentinean, because it didn't feel like it?

There was zero storytelling. Why was the wine I was drinking specifically paired with the dish I was eating? The sommelier was an amateur. We're by no means experts when it comes to wine, but she knew very little. She was basically reading the description on the back of the bottle. It all felt incredibly scripted with a total lack of enthusiasm.

The food was OK. 3-4 courses were outstanding, the others quite forgettable. I didn't even realise our 'main' course had happened until we were told to move upstairs for dessert. We were probably told, but only dogs would have been able to hear.

Lastly, and it is a minor criticism, however, considering this was our honeymoon, and I had made a note in the booking, not once was this recognised. We aren't looking out for freebies, but it would have been nice for at least a congratulations. We have gone out of way to purposely celebrate at Aramburu, spent a lot of time and money and no one cared.

It wasn't a bad experience, but it certainly didn't live up to expectation. Even with the blue dollar conversion this is still an expensive dinner that definitely isn't...

This is restaurant is good. Do eat here! This restaurant definitely belongs to the world stage. I have eaten at Gagan, Thailand. Funky Gourmet, Greece. L’acrivant, Dublin. And in my personal opinion, this team definitely belong to the world stage.

Price is about $100 USD per person depends on if you want one glass or complete wine pairing. In our opinion, it is a great price. We had a bad set menu from another restaurant the day before and we thought we are going to leave Buenos Aires without a good gourmet meal. Aramburu totally made us happy tonight.

Let’s talk about the negative points: NONE

Let’s talk about the positive points: Visual. All the dishes are fantastic, and visually appealing; elegant, refined, and focused. Taste and eating experience. //Sea-brim was cooked to perfection, soft on the inside, just-right on the out side, did not overcook. The sauce was not strong, did not over empower the fish. The sea-brim is a light fish, very difficult to make the fish the star of the dish with other components; however, this team executed nicely. One can tell this team has lots of trainings and preparations before dinner service. Kitchen team and service team work together like a musical symphony. Ratio of staff to patron is greater than one. Service was amazing! //Shrimp dish. I believe it’s langoustine. Perhaps it taste just like one. The shrimp was perfectly grilled, the sauce was light, paired with the sharp flavor of endives was just a perfect marriage. //Quail perfectly cooked, very soft. This type of poultry has very low margin of error on the execution side. This restaurant make me fall in love with quail again. Tender, supple, soft, meat fall off the bone feel. Light crispy char on the skin. This was definitely one of the best quail dish I ate world wide. //Deer. Venison can usually be very gamy; however, this team cooked this protein perfectly. No gamy flavor profile. Soft to the knife, medium-rare cooked, great sauce to accommodate, perfect profile against morel mushroom. Great, wonderful dish. //Desserts. The orange gelatin inside the orange peel was fun to eat. Flavorful. The hot chocolate cake and cold I cream dish was just toooooooo amazing !!!!

To be fair, there are some minor nuances. //The cannoli was a little bit chewy to finish off, but they flavor is so amazing that it’s offset this tiny little nuance. //The oyster was a little bit more briny than I like; but perhaps because I misunderstood how to eat it. Once I mixed all the ingredients together, the oyster dish came together quite nicely, but not in perfect harmony compare to others aforementioned dishes.

Overall, this restaurant gave me an amazing experience. Thank you all the hard work of the chefs, kitchen team and...