Cambalache Parrilla Argentina — Restaurant in Medellín

Cambalache might be one of the realest and most Argentinian restaurants of all Medellin. We came on a Sunday afternoon at 3 PM and it was full of people. Cambalache has beautiful Argentinian decorations and wall paintings and there is even a type of theater where they perform Tango events on Fridays and Saturdays. That’s what the waiter told us. And it must be a very good experience. Unfortunately there was no Tango dance on the Sunday that we went there.

As meat lovers we ordered 3 organ entrees: Beef Tongue, Chitterlings (Chinchulines) and Beef Gizzards (mollejas de res). All of those 3 entrees were great! Although in all fairness for many years now the CLEARLY very best Chinchulines of all Medellin have been available in La Pampa Argentinian restaurants only . The Chinchulines at Cambalache were certainly above average but for Chinchulines La Pampa is the only Go To Place in Medellin. That’s where the Chinchulines are not very dried up and crispily hard but where they are soft, filled up and juicy. Just something to keep in mind for the real lovers of Chinchulines out there!

The beef tongue was beautifully soft and a pleasure to eat. Likewise the beef gizzards hit the spot and were of particularly good quality.

For main dishes we picked a national cut Baby Beef and a national cut Punta de Anca. Great quality all around! Both cuts were delicious! We had to ask for additional Chimichurri and then we were all good!

On top of all that they all offer real Argentinian Mate tea. That’s what Argentinians drink instead of coffee. And you get it the way you would drink it in Argentina. You get a cup filled up with Mate leaves and a termo with hot water. You keep pouring the hot water over the dried up leaves and sip it through the custom made special filter straw. The Mate tea is supremely bitter and I dare say that most people won’t enjoy this drink. However, I appreciated the Mate experience which I had for the very first time in my life.

Beautiful place! Next time I will make sure to go when they have a Tango...

We had a deeply disappointing and frustrating experience at this “Argentinian steakhouse” in Medellín. We ordered the tomahawk steak, a premium cut known for its tenderness and flavor, but what we received was something entirely different. They brought out a large bone surrounded by strips of uneven, overcooked pieces of meat that were clearly not from a tomahawk cut. They passed it off as if they “precut” the meat. The texture was extremely tough, almost inedible, and the meat appeared to come from a completely different part of the cow, like something much cheaper or typically discarded.

This wasn’t a kitchen mistake. It was an intentional effort to make the dish look like a tomahawk by placing random cuts around a bone. When I mentioned this to the waitress and said the meat was not from a tomahawk and was poorly cut, she said nothing — no explanation, no apology. Staff avoided checking on us the entire time, and the food wasn’t even delivered directly to the table. A server just passed by and muttered “buen provecho” without stopping, as if to avoid having to engage.

We left feeling completely taken advantage of. I just want to warn others. If you care about food quality or honesty in what’s being served, this is not the place. What they served us was not a tomahawk steak, and...

Great place. Super friendly service, Michelle was so lovely and sweet (perfect English too). Food was really good. Chimichurri was spot on (and I'm a chef and pretty particular 😉). Had a great glass of Argentinean malbec to accompany my meal. My rib eye did come out very rare but they fixed it quickly and it came out perfect the 2nd time except my potatoes were then cold but the flavors were still good. Michelle checked on me multiple times throughout my meal and even again to make sure my steak was cooked to my liking, service felt like I was back in the US rather than South America. Great job! Highly recommend.

July 26 Update: went to this restaurant again since I had such as great experience last time. Steak was not as tender this time, food was underseasoned and came out luke warm. They forgot my bread, the dressing on the salad, and the chimichurri. I had to repeatedly ask them for this stuff. Then at the end when I got my bill, they just added the tip without even asking. Last time I was asked by Michelle and she did a great job so I even left her extra. I was really missing her service on this experience and it was a huge disappointment particularly after such a great meal last night. ...