Cafe Buenos Aires

23 Wall Street.
Huntington, NY 11743

You should know

I was in New York for the weekend, and had done a trial for my hair and makeup for the wedding. Because I was all done up, I wanted to do something nice for dinner. And Chris and I love tapas.

So?

Well, we had an idea of at least one thing we wanted from looking at the menu in advance. We knew going in that we wanted the Solomillo ("Black Angus, portobello and Brie cheese," $12.00).

We didn't recognize many of the red wines on the list, so we decided to take a chance on the Tempranillo ($7.00). It was very nice -- balanced and just a bit peppery; very complimentary to our meal.

We then ordered the Solomillo, as well as two empanadas ("Turnover pie (beef, chicken, spinach and corn)," $3.00 each> -- spinach for me, beef for Chris -- some Carbanzos Con Longaniza ("Chickpeas with spicy sausage," $5.00), and some Olivas Surtidas ("Assortment of marinated olives," $5.00).

Before our meal came out, we were served some nice bread -- two kinds, although I couldn't tell you what they were -- with three kinds of dipping sauces. This was dangerous -- I always eat too much bread when places do this!

The empanadas were nice -- I'm not a huge fan, but there was nothing wrong with them. Chris really liked his. The chickpeas were great, but a little too heavy alongside the steak. And the olives made for an excellent palate-cleanser.

The restaurant had several rooms; we were seated in the back, which was much more intimate than the front room, which was centered around the bar, or the middle room, which was full of large groups. Since it was really nice out, there was also outdoor seating.

Rating

Awesome for carnivores
Now, that's not to say the less animal-based foods were not great, but the Solomillo was far and away the best thing we ordered. There are plenty of options, including a whole standard menu in addition to the tapas menu, so go ahead and check it out.

The rest of the Internet

A nice review at exploreLI.com.
Joanne Starkey at the New York Times speaks highly of the restaurant.
A review at Great Restaurants of Long Island speaks highly of the desserts.