New restaurant review: Buenos Aires Polo Club, an Argentinian steakhouse in Central, Hong Kong
Fun atmospheric dining bringing you back to the 1900s
I’d been hearing about Buenos Aires Polo Club since it opened last year but had yet to check it out myself. From getting to choose your own knife to the s’mores dessert, most people had only positive things to say. Last Friday, a friend and I made last minute plans for dinner and thought we’d finally give it a try. Because why not celebrate Friday with red meat and carbs?
What I ended up loving most of all was the atmosphere. The food is very good (we’ll get to that in a minute), but I knew I was in for a special evening the moment I stepped out of the elevator. After confirming my table with the hostess, my server flung open the doors with flourish and I was immediately taken from 2017 LKF to 1900 Buenos Aires. The atmosphere was lively, and the every bit of the restaurant was designed perfectly. I loved the cozy tufted banquettes, the polo paraphernalia, and the oil paintings of horses on every wall.
The service is wonderful. Our glasses were refilled promptly, our servers were knowledgeable and happily answered our questions (and were quite handsome, I must say). And after our meal, I loved the extra touch of being walked out of 1900 Buenos Aires back to real life.
As for the food, we started with the Proveleta ($138), a small skillet of melted provolone and fontina cheese that was served with grilled bread. There was quite a layer of grease on top, but don’t let that put you off. It was delicious and accented with some chimichurri stirred in. Unfortunately the cheese does harden a bit quickly.
Then it was on to the reason we came: steak. We shared the 24 oz bone in ribeye ($628). What a sight it was to see our waiter slicing the very large steak by our table. It was perfectly cooked and flavourful, with a charred seasoned crust. One thing to note is that the beef is grass-fed, which meant our rib eye was less marbled but with a meatier flavour.
The mashed potatoes ($98) were smooth not chunky, and enhanced with mascarpone and brown butter. Usually I prefer my mashed potatoes chunky but these were lovely. I enjoyed the fries provenzal ($98) even more. These were both extremely fragrant with duck fat, parsley and lots of garlic and extremely crisp; definitely some of the best fries I’ve had in Hong Kong. To help cut the grease, we ordered the eggplant escabeche. The eggplant was lightly marinated in vinegar, and served with jalapenos, tomatoes and shallots. This was surprisingly delicious and a perfect dish to eat with the rest of our order.
Verdict
I’d definitely love to visit Buenos Aires Polo Club again, perhaps with a larger group so I can try more from the menu. We were too full for dessert this time (but loved it when the big box of free dulce de leche cookies came out!), so will definitely come back for the s’mores. It’s definitely a special spot, and would be great for a date or special celebration.
7th Floor LKF Tower, 33 Wyndham Street,, Central, 2321 8681
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