The last Bite Marks before we do something, I don’t know, special for the 100th one. That will take some thought!
Cafe Mishiguene, Cabello 3181, Palermo – The casual off-shoot of the spectacular Mishiguene, to which we’ve been many a time. Mostly it’s sandwiches and nibbles. I decided to order up a big flatbread (mine didn’t come out puffy, everyone else was getting these big, puffy balloons of bread – joked about it and the manager came over and insisted on getting me a second one – which I didn’t want – too much bread – so she insisted I take one home – which I didn’t want, but she insisted more – I gave it to a homeless guy on the walk home). It’s good flatbread, puffy or not, though perhaps a bit too much rosemary atop – easy enough to remove.
I ordered a quartet of dips – labneh, babaganoush, tahini, and chopped liver. All, well, just kind of okay. Surprising given how good the parent restaurant is. These were just all a bit out of balance, mostly they tended towards lemony or vinegary, without enough salt to counteract the acidity. I can’t say I was wowed by any of them. And, expensive. The sandwiches do look good – maybe I’ll go back and try one.
Miro, Av. Pueyrredón 1841, Recoleta – A little neighborhood café where I probably wouldn’t bother to write this one up except that it fits in to my long running search for a really good revuelto gramajo. This wasn’t it. Really oily fries, a meager amount of dry, hard-scrambled egg, a few wisps of lunchmeat ham, and no seasoning.
Bait Sushi, Cabrera 3533, Palermo – Apparently a delivery and/or pickup only sushi spot, popped onto one of the local food delivery apps. Not bad actually. Really fresh fish, I like that in addition to the ubiquitous salmon, which I didn’t order, they also had tuna, white fish (unspecified), and octopus. Plus some creative rolls that don’t rely on cream cheese. I’ll order from them again.
Lollo’s Osteria, Peña 2005 (Ayacucho Palace Hotel), Recoleta – The latest restaurant to occupy the ground floor restaurant space at this hotel, I’ve been waiting eagerly for another really good Italian spot to open around here. We can never have too many really good Italian spots, right? Now, I don’t know who settled on the founded in 1954 mark that’s in various spots around the restaurant. Beyond that this place just opened in October of this year, I can’t find any evidence that it existed in another location in or around Buenos Aires prior.
We also have one of my pet peeves – the guy who was clearly the owner or manager of some sort, was dressed like a schlub, saggy bottom jeans halfway down his thighs, an shirt open at least a button too far and that was easily two sizes too small for his frame. A general air of unkempt, and a constant barrage of loud volume phone calls on his cell as he wandered around the restaurant. If you’re going to have your waitstaff and kitchen staff (open kitchen) dressed nicely, you should too, or at least stay way from the customer dining area if you’re not.
The plate of empanaditas de cordero, or small lamb empanadas, sounded intriguing, but arrived as a single, normal sized lamb empanada. For 1000 pesos, making it the most expensive empanada, lamb or otherwise, I think I’ve ever had in Buenos Aires. And while it was quite good, it wasn’t that price level good. The cable de teléfono pasta, or telephone cord pasta was cooked beautifully, and the ragú sauce was excellent – with a mix of different meats and sausages. I’d happily eat that again, and a generous enough portion that I took half of it home, which at 1900 pesos is a steal. Give me two empanadas for the first dish, or cut the price down to something more reasonable, and I’d order that again too.
Punto y Coma Rico, Bolivar 690, Monserrat – Knocking off another Peruvian spot on my extensive list of ones to get to. I’m assuming they translate the name as Stop and Eat Well, more or less, as opposed to Delicious Semicolon. Though, perhaps a semicolon is needed here, as the two dishes I had here I have trouble believing came from the same chef. The leche de tigre was excellent. One of the better ones I’ve had – packed with flavor, a decent amount of fish, and meeting the standard of picante as requested. The fried fish on the side were a bit of an afterthought. They were fine, but should have been crispy rather than soggy. But the tallarines verdes con bistek were easily the worst version of this dish I’ve ever had. The noodles were way overcooked and barely warm, actually cold in parts – I would guess they precook them before service, and then dunk them in hot water to warm them up, but didn’t stir them around, so only the ones on the outside of the clump got any heat. The sauce, what I like to call Peruvian pesto, was bland and watery, as was the huancaina sauce on the undercooked, still crunchy potatoes. And the “steak” was nothing more than a thin scallop of meat, normally breaded and fried as a milanesa, here, without the touch of the usual salt, pepper, and cumin, it was simply almost browned in a pan and flopped atop the pasta. I’d go back for the leche de tigre, but not that latter dish, and probably not anything fried. Oh hell, no, I wouldn’t bother to go back, sorry.
Catalino, Maure 3126, Colegiales – I’ve heard good things about this place over many moons, and finally we trooped out there for a Sunday afternoon lunch. My lunch companion had been before and recommended it. It’s a cute place, with a garden seating area and an indoor dining room. They’re both frequented by the restaurant’s pet rooster, who pecks about the place and poops on the floor with great abandon. At first the waiters attended to cleaming up after him (though I wasn’t thrilled after noting one waiter who just used a paper towel a couple of times to do so and then didn’t go wash his hands. Thankfully not our waiter or I’d have said something. At some point, too, the two waiters simply stopped cleaning up after the bird, and left poop and the occasional skidmark from them walking through it, on the floor. I have to say, that all kind of turned me off to the place, and while I really liked the food, is enough that I probably won’t return.
It’s all small to medium plate food for sharing. We ordered a couple of appetizers – some venison empanadas with hot sauce. Quite good empanadas, though the meat could have been anything – it certainly didn’t taste like vension. But it was well seasoned, and almost like a reduced stew. The hot sauce, wasn’t. Not even remotely picante. Still, at 950 pesos for two venison empanadas, a far better deal than the single lamb one for 1000 above at Lollo’s. The beet and white bean hummus was fine (1500 pesos), a bit more of a thin puree than a hummus, but flavorful. It doesn’t, surprisingly, come with anything to dip into it, and Catalino does’t serve bread. So we had to order an mbeju, a Paraguayan flatbread of yuca flour and cheese, which was excellent, but one thin disc for 400 pesos seems a bit sketchy.
And, we split an order of wild board ribs, beautifully brasied and flavorful. A bit of an imbalance for a sharing plate – one rib is maybe a quarter the size of the other, but we just carved some meat off the bigger one to add to the smaller. 2600 pesos. And a side order of perfectly griddled asparagus with lemon and salt, an excellent accompaniment. 1400 pesos.
A couple of gin and tonics (800 apiece) and water… a bit of a surprise given that it’s tap water run through a filtration system, and they charge 220 pesos to fill up a small flask of water. It’s free tap water for goodness’ sake. Yeah, I know the filter cost you something, we have one in our house too, but that was probably amortized out long ago for less than a centavo per diner. Charging as much as you’d charge for bottled mineral water is a bit cheeky.
Overall though, if it weren’t for the hygeine thing, I’d go back.
And this seems a good place to wind up our penultimate to a century post.
