We all have heard that Buenos Aires is a romantic city. This is due to this city having one of the most beautiful and sensual dances: the Tango.
Oh yes, the Tango!
If you are not very familiar with it, Tango is a popular partner dance and social dance originated in the 1800’s along the Rio de la Plata (Plate River) in the border between Argentina and Uruguay. According to Wikipedia “the tango was frequently practiced in the brothels and bars of ports, where business owners employed bands to entertain their patrons with music.” This explains why it is such a sensual and beautiful dance to watch. There are many variations of this dance around the world, but the Argentinian one is the most popular, and in my opinion – the best tango.
An interesting fact is that in 2009, UNESCO approved a joint proposal by Argentina and Uruguay to include the tango in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.
A Tango show is, for sure, one of the must see activities while in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. As the popularity of this type of dance expands internationally so does the many options and venues to choose from in that city. You can even find free performances demonstrations (based on tips/donations) in almost every main square in different parts of the city.
There are many tango shows in Buenos aires, with option to do dinner and the show, just the show or even an VIP experience with private balconies and tango dance lessons.
After spending 4 days in Buenos Aires, with the best date I could ever ask for – my mom – I was able to research around and talk to the locals about the best tango shows to go see.
Here is the two best tango show to go see in Buenos Aires:
Señor Tango – The best tango show performance & production
No doubt about it. You will hear it even from the locals mouths: “Señor Tango has the best tango performance in Buenos Aires.” It does and it won’t disappoint you and will probably leave you tearing by the end of the show. The performances, lighting and music choices are very well put together.
Señor Tango venue has a very romantic setting. The dinner tables are decorated with red roses and the lighting is low and welcoming. However, in regards to the dinner, I felt it was lacking options and a little bit on the quality.
There was no choice for appetizers (spinach crepes) and only 2 choices to choose from as the main entree: bife de chorizo (which is traditional Argentinian meat cut = top sirloin) or the fish of the day. The bife de chorizo was actually good but for my sweet tooth disappointment, the dessert was also only one type and not even worth talking about. With dinner you get a small bottle of wine from a local brand (either white or red). It was good but not enough to get us throughout the whole show. Well, I need to mention that me and my mom love wine, so if you are a not a big drinker, might be enough. But once again, options of wine were not a choice.
The overall service was good but I would recommend going only for the show or maybe choose some appetizers from their real menu to snack on. Other than that, a bottle of tannat wine might be the best pairing with the breathtaking show.
Piazzolla – a great dinner experience with a good tango show
For this show I decided to do the VIP experience with my mom where we got a private balcony just for the two of us. It was definitely a very personal experience.
Piazzolla has a nicer looking venue. It is an old theater and the dinner experience was spectacular. The show was not as good as Señor Tango but the overall experience was really good.
We had a free tango lesson before dinner however the room was crowded and I decided to not participate since i was expecting more of a personal one on one type of class and it was not exactly that. I’m sure I couldn’t learn tango in a matter of 30 minutes anyways so I decided to go right into the drinks and dinner.
From the broader options in the menu, presentation of the plates to the taste and quality of the dishes: it was a 4 stars dinner experience. It also came with a glass of champagne plus a regular bottle of wine per person.
For the appetizers we had caesar salad and coconut shrimp. From the 6 different entrées we chose sirloin strip steak (the famous bife de chorizo again) and parchment baked salmon. Everything was very tasty and nicely plated. The desserts were out of this world and we ended up getting hooked up with 3 instead of 2. Yeah,I’m a sweet tooth and i work myself to it. 🙂
The tiramisu was definitely better than any that I had, even in Italy. The white chocolate panna cotta I can say the same (I ate it all before I could take a picture). Lastly, the milonga del angel (mascarpone parfait with dulce de leche, chocolate biscuit and nuts) was definitely a must try. After all of that sugar high I was already happy and the tango show was just an add on.
Coconut shrimp 
Bife de chorizo 
Parchment baked salmon 
Mascarpone parfait with dulce de leche 
Tiramisu 
The venue is a theater 
The Piazzolla Tango Show
The show is great but the production doesn’t come close to the Señor tango one. I can say that what they had in the quality for the dinner was lacking a little in the tango performance. But overall it was a great experience and if you are looking for a great dinner with a good show: Piazzolla is the way to go.
To go see a tango show is a worthy experience and must do while in Buenos Aires. The sensual dance moves will brighten your senses, awaken your deeper romantic passion, or at least, leave you with goosebumps.
There are many other places that offer tango shows with or without dinner which might also be good, but I can only tell about the ones I experienced.
A tip I would give while choosing a tango show is to be mindful of what area you are staying in and perhaps choose something closer to you since the traffic in Buenos Aires is one of the worst I have ever seen.
If you plan on sightseeing during the day give yourself enough time to go back home to change and then to get a taxi to go to a show. You can easily get stuck for couple hours in traffic in the rush hour and it can cause you to lose a show or not arrive in time for the dinner with the show. This tip come for my personal experience, although I was lucky enough to arrive just on time, as always, maybe a little late. lol
If you have any recommendations or other tango shows please leave you comment below.
