It was the 15th outing of the Roving Ravenous Horde, a raving success of a social group if I do say so myself, and I do. It was also our last outing of 2017. I’d spotted this relatively new restaurant one day wandering back from Alto Palermo mall, and made a note of it. It seemed a perfect spot for the group. And, so, last week, we found ourselves at Lincoln Kitchen & Bar, French 3131, in Recoleta. A large group – 20 some folk, had apparently just shown up for lunch and shoved all the inside tables together to accommodate themselves. That kind of negated our table for six that we’d reserved. With apologies, the hostess offered us either a couple of small round bar tables, or to sit out in the garden. [Closed in 2019]

It was a little toasty and humid outside, but we decided to brave it. A couple of new folk joined the group, one who was just visiting BA, and, it was a goodbye to Adam, who has been here studying for a semester, who I know through having been friends with his father for over twenty years.

Apparently the menus at lunch and dinner are radically different. At lunch, it’s casual fare – sandwiches, pastas, a couple of simple main courses, and of course, an available menú ejecutivo (250 pesos for main course, beverage, and dessert). At dinner it’s fancier, “gourmet”, which accounts for the very elaborate, tweezer-plated dishes that show up on their photo feed.

Basically we just ordered main courses all around, though two of us decided to try the provoleta-style haloumi cheese. Surprisingly, haloumi doesn’t quite work for this dish. Despite passing it around the entire table of six, this is the one dish that we left almost half of it on the plate. I think we each had one bite of it. The texture and the flavor just didn’t quite pull it off, and the soft, sweet vegetables accompanying it didn’t work. Maybe if they’d been kind of sharp, like pickled, to contrast the fattiness of the cheese….

It was, however, a step up from there for the rest of the meal. A decent club sandwich with crispy bacon, a properly fried egg, some avocado, greens, etc. The chicken was maybe a touch over-cooked, and the sandwich could have used some more mayo. Still one of the better clubs I’ve had in BA. I will say I was surprised the sandwich didn’t come with anything – maybe some chips or fries or… something.

Reasonably good beet gnocchi, with a flavorful if somewhat thin cream sauce. Maybe a bit “sparse” for a main course of gnocchi, especially given that it cost just as much as the rest of the dishes.

A couple of people ordered the one main meat course, a matambrito, or pork flank. Well cooked, flavorful, and a good pesto sauce and sweet squash puree, along with a mix of veg, worked well.

And, a couple of folk ordered from the menú ejecutivo of the day, an herb risotto that flavor-wise was excellent, though texturally a touch stodgy – a good risotto should be slightly liquid still.

The menú came with dessert, so a couple of pieces of lemon pie hit the table shortly. For my tastes, way too sweet. Way too sweet. But so very Argentine.

Overall? Like the space, very light and airy, and the patio is really quite nice, as is the bar – probably nicer than the main dining room, even if we had to deal with the heat. Service was excellent, especially given what they were having to deal with with the big group, who pretty much dominated everything going on. Food – good. Nothing wow, nothing bad. Good. And pricing was reasonable, especially for Recoleta, with the mains, from sandwich to full plates running from 170 to about 240 pesos. Good enough that I’m curious about returning one evening to try their fancier stuff.

Oh, and… why “Lincoln”? Turns out the two chef-owners are from a small town in the northwest of BA province, called… Lincoln. And they came to the big city after studying gastronomy with gleams in their eyes for fame and fortune, and whisks in their hands to help them get there.