Believe in the Buffet

Buenos Aires – The buffet is strong in the traditions of my people. We believe deeply in not only a wide range of selection, but in “all-you-can-eat” for a set price. Preferably a small price. It’s not unusual when I visit family that the choice of a restaurant will be based on whether or not there is, at the very least, a salad bar, and preferably a steam table. A cook standing there making eggs to order, or slicing a roast beef, makes it a fancy occasion. Buenos Aires has a very large Jewish population (one of the largest of any major city actually), and so it’s no surprise that someone would create a buffet.

Cocina & Cia, Santa Fé 2461, in Barrio Norte was a couple of minute walk from my apartment. Today was one of those days where I just couldn’t get myself up and going, so lunchtime rolled around before I’d finished my coffee. I’d read a couple of diner reviews of the place, the general consensus was that for steam table/salad bar food, it wasn’t bad, but maybe a bit pricey. Fourteen pesos, or just under $5, for “all-you-can-eat” just isn’t pricey in my book. Maybe at dinner time it’s higher. But then, maybe the diners doing the reviewing don’t understand the concept of really eating all you can. [Closed in 2012.]

Cocina & Cia appetizersThe place is big. Really big. There are two levels, and I’d guess they can seat well over 200 people at a time. It was only semi-busy when I arrived just shortly after opening time, but within half an hour it was nearly full. Clearly they’re doing something right to attract that number of people. There is a menu, but nobody seemed to bother to consult it, people were there for the buffet. There’s a large cold table with pre-made salads, ranging from several green salads, to other vegetables, to beans; there are terrines, soups, and there was a large tub of chopped liver (chicken livers are hard to find here, even in the bigger supermarkets, which is strange, because every part of the cow, pig, and lamb is available, but chickens, no innards). I heaped a plate with a reasonably balanced selection – clockwise from the top: fish terrine, hummus, chopped liver, roasted brussels sprouts, chicken-vegetable terrine, unidentified bright pink terrine (couldn’t figure it out), and an ensalada rusa.

Ensalada rusa, or “russian salad” is common throughout Buenos Aires. It very commonly accompanies milanesas, and is very popular. Essentially, it’s a mix of finely diced potato with peas, carrots, and sometimes a little sweet potato, all tossed with mayonnaise. It’s a little bit bland in general, but it is the local version of potato salad.

Cocina & Cia side dishesA second trip was to the first of two hot tables, this one laden with various pastas, potatoes, vegetable purees, and other vegetables, essentially side-dishes. I adorned my plate with, once again from the top; potato kugel, potato pirogi, meat-stuffed zapallito redondo (local round zucchini – see July 11th’s post), pumpkin puree, and swiss chard canelloni.

There was a second entire table devoted to such things as roasted chicken and other meats, and fried fish. I loaded up with the former, which, for lunch, turned out to be quite sufficient and I never made it back to the meat table. There’s a final dessert table covered with various local, middle eastern, and European Jewish finales. Given last night’s sugar binge, I opted to ignore its existence, but it looks worth a return. Was the food amazing? No. But it was well-prepared, well-seasoned, and reasonably authentic (definitely based in classic Jewish cuisine, definitely not kosher), and was as good as any steam table/salad bar restaurant has a right to be.

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6 thoughts on “Believe in the Buffet

  1. […] Welcome to Club Sirio, Ayacucho 1496, in Recoleta. I’d initially been attracted not only by the outward signs of glitz, and liking middle eastern food, but by a brochure offering a four-session hands-on course with Chef Abdala himself to learn how to make much of that food. I figured I ought to try it first and make sure that he knew what he was doing. Another attraction – billed outside, the chef’s degustacion of middle eastern delicacies. Apparently, in some language, somewhere, degustacion translates as buffet. Now I am, by heritage, attracted to a buffet, much as a salmon is wont to spawn upstream. It was not, however, what I was expecting. That didn’t stop us from picking up our cheap white stoneware and trudging to the cold appetizers table to sample a bit of hummus, babaganush, tabouli, myadara, or any of various fried dishes. A point… nothing, I repeat, nothing, deep-fried, is ever really good when cold, a point that was hammered home repeatedly by the sodden attractions of the cold buffet table. Luckily, there were enough non-fried items to make it interesting, the best, some quite good hummus, and the pollo al taratur – chicken in a sesame and almond sauce. Most of what was offered was bland, though there were dishes of hot pepper flakes, paprika, and dried mint offered that could be added to your selections. […]

  2. Dan, please be advised that Cocina y Cia has been closed by the AFIP. I just thought to advise you since their website and phones still look like they are functioning but the place has been closed by AFIP. Some friends and I wanted to go their yesterday and the place was dark and a note posted on the windows advising us of the same. Not sure if they will open again.

    Thanks.
    M

  3. Thanks for the update – it’d be a real shame here in the neighborhood if the place stays closed, but my guess is they’ll work out some sort of deal on their back taxes (assuming that’s probably why AFIP would have closed them), and get themselves back up and running. Fingers crossed!

  4. I am a Boston restaurant critic, visting BA, and my first day had lunch at a fine buffet, Marini Gourmet, on Santa Fe near Scalabrini Ortiz in Palermo. Not cheap but amazing variety of things, especially good fish (mero) and pasta, decent parilla, nice tarts, fabulous desserts.

  5. We recently attended a friend’s birthday party that was held at Marini’s. I agree it’s quite good, and a very nice selection, though, as you noted, for a tenedor libre here, it’s a bit pricier than the norm – still, not bad, as I recall the base price without beverages was AR$45 a person (2-3 months ago), versus most places that are probably more around AR$30-35.

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