“I am trying to make my accent so it won’t bother anyone, but I am not going to drive myself crazy trying to pretend I am an American girl when I am from Colombia.”

– Shakira, Pop Singer

Buenos Aires – A few months ago I mentioned getting a link to an article on the GlamOut website from Grant over at What’s Up Buenos Aires? (who has just relaunched the site with a new design, and on which, as of the moment, I have a column on the history of the Mercado del Progreso, which I imagine will gradually scroll off as new News takes its place. At that point, a friend and I had dropped in to one of the three recently opened Colombian restaurants and had ourselves a nice little casual lunch. Over the last couple of weeks, Henry and I along with friends have headed out for Sunday brunches at the other two spots, and although we varied a bit of what we ate, we pretty much tried to check out some of the classic dishes offered up at both spots – and that gives me a chance to do a side-by-side comparison.

First, the basics – Antojito Colombiano, Avenida Córdoba 3883, in Palermo, 4867-6312. This is definitely a casual little place, tables and chairs like any luncheonette anywhere, lots of bright colors, Colombian souveniers on the walls (including ponchos touting Colombian coffee with pictures of the ever present Juan Valdez…), and blaring cumbia music from a stereo and television mounted up on a corner in the back. The kitchen was staffed by a couple of women I’d guess to be in their late 40s busily cooking away, the “dining room” by a couple of youngsters who I’d guess might be their teenage/young adult kids, just from the interactions. Service was friendly and at least reasonably attentive, the kitchen, at least on the day we were there, incredibly slow – with only a dozen people in the room, appetizers took over half an hour and main courses an hour after that (and all the tables came out at once, even though we didn’t all come in together, as if they’d simply first decided to make everyone’s appetizers and send them out, and then move on to start working on the main courses). The food – very homestyle. Tasty, not fancy, and a little hit and miss. Nice plus for really good homemade hot sauce, with an actual kick to it, available on request. Inexpensive – brunch for three with a couple of rounds of fresh juices, ran 60-some pesos. [This place has closed.]

Gabo Colombian Resto Bar, Honduras 5719, Palermo, 4778-1293, is pretty much the opposite end of the spectrum. Sleek, modern, all black and white and chrome, echoed in black and white photos of various spots around Colombia, a large flatscreen wall-mounted television showing Colombian music videos, fairly loudly, but not overly so. A setup in the corner for a live music group, presumeably in the evenings. Kitchen out of sight. Scruffy bartender busilly mixing away glowing neon cocktails. Waitresses in cowgirl sort of getups. Friendly and quite efficient. Way too hesitant to make recommendations – our waitress even said that she didn’t want to feel responsible if we didn’t like something. Get over it. A bit of a Gabriel García Márquez theme going on, for no apparent reason other than him being Colombian. Food prettily presented, a few too many deconstructions with little side dishes that force you to put it all back together yourself. All quite good. Tried the hot sauce request here too, as the food, while good, was dumbed down for local palates – the only thing they had was a chopped tomato and onion mixture. Major lost points there… Moderately expensive, brunch for three, with one round of non-alcohol cocktails ran 125 pesos. [This place has closed.]

So, overall – Antojito – nice use of spices, fun, casual atmosphere, decent if slow service, but cutting some corners on freshness of ingredients, and they need to work on the rice in particular. At Gabo, completely bland food, if well cooked, more of a semi-upscale atmosphere, good service, but a bit pricey for what you get, especially given the need for some flavor. I’d be more likely to hit Antojito again.

 Colombians have confidence in themselves, they have taken charge of their destiny.”

– Frederick Felder, investment executive

Buenos Aires – Grant, over at What’s Up Buenos Aires?, mentioned reading a recent article in Pagina 12 about the recent opening of a couple of new Colombian restaurants in town, one of which took over the space that used to be Ermak, our favorite little Russian spot (which has now moved to a somewhat larger nearby location at Billinghurst 815). The article isn’t on their website, so I couldn’t go read what they had to say, but we gamely headed off the other day for lunch, hoping to find it open. Sure enough, there’s the space, only slightly redecorated with knick knacks from Colombia instead of Russia, and replacing the “blond, blue-eyed, and impossibly thin” staff with a charming, dark and sultry Colombian couple who are serving up “comida casera de Colombia” – home cooking. The place, La Aromática, Bülnes 873, in Almagro, 4866-2300. [This place has closed.]

Lunchtime turns out to be both a good and not so good time to visit La Aromática. Good, because the food is delicious. Not so good because you have absolutely no choice in what to eat. The lunch menu consists of a fixed price menu with no options – a daily soup and a daily main course – no substitutions, no alternatives, no side dishes. A shame, because the dinner menu, while a short, handwritten list of the day’s dishes, printed on the back of a blown-up tarot card, sounds fantastic – we would have even liked to just get a chance to try some of their arepas or a plate of yuca frita. Nonetheless, we weren’t disappointed, and we had plenty to eat. The soup of the day when we visited was a sancocho – a mix of yuca, plaintains, corn, and bits of chicken in a superb broth. Truthfully, I could have just eaten a double or triple sized bowl of the soup and wandered away happy.

For the main course, a seco de carne – not much different from the Peruvian version I’ve tried many times before, though with slightly different accompaniments – in this case a salad of lettuce, tomato, and red cabbage, along with rice and black beans. Tasty stewed beef, the rice and beans were great, especially topped with a little crumbled cheese that is apparently typical of where this couple is from in Colombia. We’ll definitely come back and check the place out at dinner time – chatting with the owner we also learned that there are two other Colombian restaurants open in town as well, one nearby along Córdoba near to Gascón, and the other somewhere, vaguely, off in Palermo. Oh, lunch is served, by the way, with a glass of sugarcane juice, which isn’t as sweet as you might think, and a nice accompaniment to the meal.