Our favorite salads in Buenos Aires!

Langostino Salad at Möoi

In a city where a salad usually means wilted lettuce and unripe tomatoes accompanied by a bottle of cheap oil and vinegar, the Langostinos (Shrimp) Salad at Möoi is a breath of fresh air. The shrimp were perfectly seasoned and sautéed. It’s easy to overcook shrimp, but these were perfect. They were accompanied by sweet, fresh slices of tomato, ripe avocados, and crisp corn tortilla chips, set on a bed of lettuce (mostly romaine). It was all perfectly dressed with a slightly sweet pesto-style vinaigrette. This one’s a winner!

Fatoush de Otoño at Mishiguene

We’ve seen some pretty unique salads in our search for the Prince Charming of the salad world. But none more unique than the Fatoush de Otoño at Mishiguene in Palermo Zoológico. It’s as beautiful as it is delicious. And that’s saying a mouthful (pardon the pun). Make sure you divide those crunchy candied almonds into a few slivers so you can a tiny slice of almond into every bite. If you mount the fork correctly, you’ll get a piece of sweet, tender beet, a smidgen of goat cheese, a bit of pickled onion, a little chip of pita crisp and a sliver of that sugary almond into each bite. Ahhh. A sweet music. It’s a salad symphony. Fatoush, in the key of “beet”. The menu at Mishiguene changes with the winds. This item may come and go from the menu.

Caesar Salad at Möoi

Möoi has the honor of having, not one, but two salads in our list of the best salads in Buenos Aires. We’ve had dozens of Caesar Salads that miss the mark by a mile. It’s a salad with very few ingredients. Romaine lettuce, a creamy Caesar dressing, Parmesan cheese and croutons. The biggest mistakes made by most restaurants is using something other than romaine lettuce and using grated low-quality Parmesan cheese. This one gets it right. It’s the best rendition of the classic we’ve seen so far in Buenos Aires. The little beet sprouts added to the top make this salad as beautiful as it is delicious.

Smoked Trout Caesar Salad at Pony Line

You’d think that something with three ingredients that isn’t cooked would be a breeze to prepare. But it seems that all the chefs in Latin America must have skipped class the day they covered how to make a simple Caesar Salad. Attendance must have been mandatory where the cooks at Pony Line went to culinary school, because their rendition of the classic is spot-on. From the authentic dressing with white anchovy paste to the fresh Romaine lettuce and crisp croutons, this salad is BA’s best version of this timeless classic. Available with or without smoked trout.

Bitter Greens Salad at Nuestro Secreto

The Bitter Greens Salad at Nuestro Secreto in the Four Seasons Hotel is perhaps our favorite vegetarian salad in Buenos Aires. A host of wild greens, raddiccio and endive, with thin slices of red onion and tiny wedges of mandarin and blood orange, chunks of feta cheese, all dressed with a cool creamy dressing make for unique and above all, delicious, salad. That salad tasted every bit as good as it looks.

Cobb Salad at Tanta

The Cobb Salad was the hallmark dish at Hollywood California's historic Brown Derby restaurant and Gastón Acurio's version of this timeless classic with ingredients piled on the plate in orderly rows is a rare find in Latin America. Acurio does a good of job of replicating this North America classic. If you've never had a Cobb Salad, it's time to try one.

Mezze Salad Plates at Fayer

The mezze plates at Fayer are a splendid gourmet assortment of several classic Middle Eastern salads including Babaganoush, Hummus, Roasted Cauliflower, and Pickled Veggies. You won't be missing the meat. But just in case you do, they also have some of the best best veal and pork dishes on the planet.

Spinach Salad at Le Pain Quotidien

It looks so good you’ll think twice about eating it. But you should. It’s delicious. It’s baby spinach leaves and slices of roasted pumpkin and brie cheese, are the stars, accompanied by caramelized red onions and pomegranate seeds (that’s right, pomegranate seeds in a salad in Buenos Aires!). And it’s perfectly dressed in a slightly sweet vinaigrette with a poached egg poached on top. Yum. It’s vegetarian (ovo-lacto with the egg) and gluten free. You can, of course, 86 the egg to make it 100% vegan. Enjoy! There are multiple locations of Le Pain Quotidien throughout the city. Likely, there’s one close to you.

Green Salad with Bagna Cauda at Nardo Comedor

Narda Lepes coaxes the true potential out of the veggies in the Green Salad at Narda Comedor. But the star of the show is Narda's take on a bagna cauda. This wonderful little salad is fresh. light and tasty.

Blue Salad at Rock & Ribs

It’s a vegetarian’s dream. Mixed greens, roasted beets, chunks of blue cheese, and almonds, all lightly touched with a citric vinaigrette. With a salad like this one, I don’t miss the meat. Seems like this little collection of restaurants under the tracks at the Rosedal in Palermo is a salad-lover’s dream. The Langostinos Crocante Salad at Mooi is on our list of the best salads in Buenos Aires too. So many salads. So little time.