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Top : Argentina : Buenos_Aires_City :

Tocororo

Type of cuisine served :

• Caribbean
• Cuban
• International

Related web pages :

• Official Web Site
• Menu Details
• Make a Reservation

Price Details

The typical price range for a meal at Tocororo is expensive

Payment Methods

All restaurants accept cash; additional methods of payment are :-

• Diners' Club
• Visa
• MasterCard/Eurocard
• American Express

Smoking : section.

Dress : dressy casual.

Parking : pay parking.

Reviews

Great Atmosphere, Average Food

On Saturday nights I am usually in my exploratory moods when deciding where to go out to eat. Those times when you want to break free from the regular path and try something adventurous. This was one of those nights. I was in the mood to try out a place that had food and atmosphere not common in Buenos Aires. I wanted to go to a Cuban restaurant. For weeks I had been trying to get my girlfriend to try this place out. After numerous attempts she reluctantly agreed that to take up my offer that week. On Saturday nights I am usually in my exploratory moods when deciding where to go out to eat. Those times when you want to break free from the regular path and try something adventurous. This was one of those nights. I was in the mood to try out a place that had food and atmosphere not common in Buenos Aires. I wanted to go to a Cuban restaurant. For weeks I had been trying to get my girlfriend to try this place out. After numerous attempts she reluctantly agreed that to take up my offer that week. Tocororo is located in the Puerto Madero district of Buenos Aires. A once prosperous riverside port area that has been transformed from old warehouse docks into various businesses, loft apartments, and restaurants. The old brick walls and steel beams still remain to complement the businesses contained within. The only problem is that Puerto Madero is not within close walking distance from the main downtown tourist areas. It would be advised to take a taxi, car or other transportation to this fantastic waterfront district. Before I move on with this review I need to make one thing clear. When going out to dinner in Argentina is prepared to eat late. Most restaurants do not start to fill up until 9-10 P.M. If you go any earlier, you will most likely be the only ones dining. Now on to the rest of the review... As we set off to Tocororo at about 10 PM, we forgot one of the most important things to do when going to eat out in Puerto Madero at this time. Reservations! What better way to test a restaurant, eh? Go without reservations and see when or if you can get a table. When we arrived inside we took a fast look around to see what we were up against. Would we get a table? The tables were about 85% full and most of them were filled with either large families and/or friends. That's usually a sign that you should have made a reservation because the empty tables are reserved for the other large groups that haven't arrived yet. There was a group of older ladies ahead of us in the waiting area and they were just being taken to their table. Soon after they were seated the host met us promptly. We made her aware of our mistake in not making reservations ahead of time. After giving us that look of "I don't know if I can seat you" face, she told us to sit at the bar and she will see what she could do. The lighting in the restaurant is perfect. Dimly lit yet bright enough to let you notice most of the details. Many of the restaurants here are so brightly lit you feel like you are on center stage at a concert and everyone is staring at you. This place is different, you feel more relaxed and comfortable with your surroundings. The hostess led us to the bar, which is situated in the rear-middle section of the restaurant. It's a typical medium-sized restaurant bar. There are only about ten stools, not the kind of bar where you just go to drink and socialize. However, it is suited well enough to use as a waiting area before being seated. While we waited at the bar, the bartender brought us two little liqueur glasses filled with a blue tropical looking drink. This is of course complimentary if you are waiting for a table. The drink tasted more like fruit punch than anything else but it had a slight taste of rum or other liquor. To our surprise, after no more than 10 minutes the hostess returned to make us aware of a table opening. It turns out that someone did not make their reservation in time so she let us take their place. We were lucky this time, for as I will explain later, you should make a reservation if you plan on dining here late at night. When arriving at our table, we were a bit disappointed at first. It was a small two-person table that was wedged between three large round tables and a wall. It was a little bit cramped but more for the wait staff than those of us sitting there. The one good factor of our table was that it was right beside the entertainment stage. A very good view for the live entertainment that was about to return. Once again, if we made reservations, we could have grabbed a nice 3-4 person round table for just the two of us. We notice that there was many other couples seated that way when we were lead to our table. After squirming into our seats we decided to glance that the menus awaiting us. The design of the menu looked more appealing than the contents themselves, for there isn't a really large selection of Cuban food. Like many other outside-cultured restaurants in Argentina, the menu was mainly influenced by international and local food fare. The appetizers were largely Cuban-based and quite common in other Caribbean restaurants but a little more "trendy". The main entrees, however, are a different story. The Cuban dishes looked like something more out of a roadside stand on an island than a true Caribbean restaurant and there were not that many to choose from. The international-type dishes consisted of various pastas, lobster, and various cuts of meats. I was beginning to feel that this place was more for atmosphere than food. After deciding what we wanted, we had to wait quite a bit for the waitress to come to our table. It was a pretty long wait, but that's not uncommon here in Argentina. DO NOT expect speedy service like in other parts of the world, particularly the US. They do not come checking on your table every 2 minutes to see if you need anything else. If you need something you will most likely have to flag your waiter down. After about ten minutes a waitress came to our table. We went ahead and ordered everything at once, except desert of course. For a starter, we ordered Guacamole con Chicharritas de Mandioca. In English, that is Mandioca, aka Yucca, chips with guacamole. For the main dish, I ordered the Pollo Cubano (Cuban Chicken) and my counterpart ordered Lomitos Caribeños (Caribbean Sirloin.) Side note: The cuts of meat here in Argentina are different than those found in the US or other parts of the world. It would take too long to describe the different cuts but to make things short, go for anything that is called Lomo. That cut is almost the same as Filet Mignon. Beef is very cheap here! For drinks we ordered a bottle of white wine. Argentine wines, both whites and reds, are excellent. As the waitress was leaving, the band was getting ready to perform on the stage. Whenever the performers get on stage the lights dim even more, yet not too dark where you will not be able to see what you are eating. If you like Caribbean-style music, mambo/salsa, then you will be happy. I'm not much of a fan but I enjoy it from time to time, especially on a cold night like that one. The performers were very good at the music they played. They also played their sets long enough to bring up your mood, yet not so long as to annoy you. It can be quite loud so you won't have much chance of a conversation across a table. I'd say they played about 3 songs per set with 30-minute breaks in between. After about 15 minutes from when the waitress left, a food server arrived with our appetizer. The mandioca chips, similar to fried strips of potato, were slightly overcooked and brown. A few more seconds and they would have been black. The guacamole, on the other hand, was excellent! One of the best guacamole dips I have ever tried. The seasoning and vegetables could be distinguished perfectly yet not overpowering. Unlike many restaurants in the US, when you order an appetizer and main dish at the same, they wait until you are finished with the appetizer before your main course. When we finished our appetizer, the waitress came and removed the empty dish and gave us some time to relax and enjoy the moment. Side note: If you plan on eating at Tocororo on a Saturday night, plan to spend a good part of the night there. You will want to enjoy both the atmosphere and the laid back environment. For example, do not make reservations at 9 PM because you want to catch a movie at 10:30, if you know what I mean. Within about 10-15 minutes of finishing our appetizer, the main dishes arrived. At the same time, the performers were just getting started. Although I could see our food, it wasn't light enough to really get an idea of the presentation. My dish, Pollo Cubano, was pretty much what I expected but it could have been better. There wasn't that much opportunity to make the presentation nice because of the type of dish but it still had some flair to it. Although the food was quite flavorful, it resembles more of something that was cooked for a large family. A typical chicken and rice dish, with plantains and roasted red peppers, cooked with a tomato sauce. This was probably the only main dish that came close to true Cuban food. My girlfriend's dish had a very nice presentation. Two large slices of grilled beef lying beside a tropical concoction of various fruits cooked in a thick pineapple-type sauce. The fruits would have been better without the cooked grapes but it was tasty nonetheless. The beef was perfect. So tender, that it almost melted in your mouth like butter. It was even better with a few morsels of fruit joined together in harmony. We finished our meal and decided to sit back a little to relax and enjoy the show. At this time many of the patrons moved out to the dance floor in front of the stage. The majority of the crowd, and I imagine this is always the case, were in their 30's to 50's. There was a few in their 20's, like us, but either way everyone wanted to have fun. So regardless of your age, you will have a good time. Now back to what I stated about reservations. We were sitting with a good view to the front entrance. From the time we sat down at our table, I saw more people enter than leave. This must have been the rest of the crowd to fill up the remaining tables. So, with that in mind, if we were not lucky enough to grab a table from a cancelled reservation, we probably would not have grabbed on at all. Make a reservation if you plan on going there to dine! After enjoying a few songs while watching everyone dance, we decided to try a dessert and a unique Cuban beverage. We both ordered the Flan de Coco and to drink, Mojito. The coco flan was served in a pie shape and not the usual cylinder shape found at other Latin restaurants. It was quite bland and did not have the strong coco flavor I was looking for. Also, it was a little too firm or "dry" for my tastes. The Mojito drink was a surprise! I imagined a shooter glass filled with a weak drink concoction and one leaf of mint. This drink came in a very tall shooter glass and was strong enough to taste the fantastic Havana Club rum. The nice treat was the huge stem of mint leaves. They must have been fresh off the plant and there were plenty of them to give the drink its unique refreshing taste. I will have to go back and try another when the weather warms up. The drink menu has various other Cuban-related beverages so if you are not keen to the Mojito you can try something else. After finishing our beverage and dessert we decided to call it a night at the Tocororo. We spent over three hours there and it went by so well. If you are in Buenos Aires and you want to go for something with great atmosphere, entertainment, and enjoyment then give Tocororo a go.

Food Rating [6/10] Service Rating [8/10] Ambiance Rating [8/10]