Puerta cerrada restaurants conjure up the idea of a hidden treasure behind the tightly closed large doors you see here in Buenos Aires. As my friends and I walked down Corrientes in Almagro to A Little Saigon, I wondered what we’d find. The brightly lit lobby, Ben’s eager greeting and the amazing smells us as we stepped into the elevator all gave a delectable hint.

Walking into La Popular parrilla and restaurant is like walking into your nearest sports shop. From the roof hang shirts of football teams from all over the globe, and an avid football fan could spend their entire meal deciphering which belongs to which team. The theme continues throughout the dining experience: all of the salads are named after the fanaticos of Argentine football teams.

Looking for a hip, modern and exotically delicious new restaurant to try in Buenos Aires? Cilantró, founded by three Israeli immigrants, puts a whole new spin on Argentine dining. Buenos Aires’ new fusion craze can be difficult for restaurants to pull off, but Cilantró blends flavours from around the world and provides a menu that will satisfy any palette.

Ugi’s has become a bit of an institution in Buenos Aires. The rough and ready pizza establishment has been open for over 20 years in no less than 45 locations around the city and is famed for making only one thing; mozzarella pizza. That’s not to say it’s a mozzarella pizza to be hailed. As their advertising states: “The price is our pride.”

The Buenos Aires culinary scene saw an increase in the profiles of closed-door restaurants last year – they became seriously cool and quite frankly, it isn’t surprising. Let’s say you have visitors in town and you take them somewhere with no sign on the door – ideal way to show off your inside knowledge of your adopted city. Argentines aren’t as eager as ex-pats and visitors yet but that is changing.

I thought my Spanish was pretty good after three years here, but looking at the menu I feel I could be reading Russian for the amount I understand. But then, whose animal vocab does stretch to jabali (wild boar), ñandu (ostrich), liebre (hare) and yacaré (alligator)?

Combine the ambiance of an Argentine pulpería and laid-back porteño coffee shop with the menu of a mini-farmers market, New York style deli, and gourmet almacén and you have Oro & Cándido. Although it replaced a neighbourhood classic, a 40-something year-old bar, it is anything but.

We have a bad reputation in the kitchen, us Brits. Unlike our European counterparts – the French with their boeufs, the Italians with their pasta, the Spanish with their tapas – most people screw their noses up at the idea of ‘English cuisine’. Or laugh and make a lame joke about fish and chips.

Meat. Meat. Meat. That’s what Argentine cuisine is essentially about, and really, if it ain’t broke, why fix it? Yes, there are many new dining options springing up all around town, from Korean to Indian to vegan to raw (and about time in my mind), but really, when dining in Buenos Aires you can’t beat a big slab of meat with a dollop of chimichurri on top.

I get really quite miffed when having to explain to Argentines that cheese cannot, under any circumstances, be picante. It can have flavour, it can be mature – but it quite simply is never spicy (unless jalapeños are added, as one smug friend pointed out, to my annoyance).