You’re welcome, glad you enjoyed it! Trout and salmon here in BA, because they come from aquaculture farms in Bariloche and Chile, respectively, are usually farmed, fished, frozen and shipped – so those two you can pretty much always count on having been frozen. The cod I’m surprised – was it fresh cod or was it bacalao, salt cod, that had been rehydrated, which also might account for an odd texture?

Thanks for the tip on the bar, hadn’t seen it and something to check out!

On arrival we told them that we had come because of your write up. This gained us an instant introduction to Gustavo, who we gave free hand (and budget) to rustle up a 9 course “tasting” menu. Certain things were extraordinarily good. Oysters, boquerones and a very pricey but completely orgasmic pata negro ham (5 jotas iberico de bellota – probably the greatest ham in the world), all as good as anywhere I’ve ever eaten. A dessert of Tiramisu of equal quality, I ate about half a kilo of it. The wine, expensive but actually with a tiny mark up from the restaurant’s side, a Rutini Pinot Noir 2006, genuinely competitive with a top quality Burgundy.

Other courses, Gambas al Ajillo and Chipirones en su Tinta, very good, would order again. The trout and the cod, both in excellent sauces but slightly let down by the fish which I suspect had been frozen.

Overall, a great night out, certainly somewhere I will return to, good value (the expensive stuff such as wine and ham were my choice), and somewhere that if you get to know the menu your dining experience will be easy to tailor to your tastes.

Also, there is a fun little bar a block down, full of rock and roll memorabilia (and apparently famous for its 20 different varieties of milanesa), where you can wait if there is a queue for the tables at Damblee.

Thanks for the recommendation

Miles

Marc – Wish I’d have known you were in town, would have loved to meet up with you there, or elsewhere!

Ordered a few oysters and the breaded shrimp to start. We were going to go for more but the server suggested not doing so if ordering from the main course section later, as the portions were large. Oysters were plump indeed(!) and delicious–truly like taking a sip of the ocean without all of the salt. The shrimp were tasty as well. We all ordered fish, two Basque-style (lenguado,abadejo) and one a la plancha(abadejo). Great portion sizes for the price but all were just a bit overdone and thus a little dry. If they are using the flash frozen fillets, those are hard to work in my experience, at least with lenguado and abadejo, so it’s understandable. Plus, we were on the tail end of their rush. Shared a brownie for dessert. That was a little disappointing too. The taste and texture of the brownie resembled a cake that was baked in a microwave.

Service was excellent and attentive. Loved the layout and atmosphere of the place as well.

I’ll definitely go back to try some other items (plus more oysters!), like some that are pictured here, during a less busy time whenever I get the chance.

Regards