Up today, a trio of sushi spots, fancy, casual, and in-between.

New Japanese in Chinatown

 

Nippori, Mendoza 1599, Barrio Chino (Belgrano) – A recent opening, this beautiful building has been converted into a very tranquil feeling Japanese restaurant offering up a mix of classic dishes, sushi, and even a touch of Nikkei fusion cooking. I’d programmed it for the 19th outing of the Roving Ravenous Horde, but in the end, with it being both Valentine’s Day, and some last minute schedule difficulties, I found myself the sole rover showing up for lunch. Life, and all that. [Closed permanently during the pandemic. Replaced by larger, full on restaurant version of Nobiru Izakaya, from the same owners.]

Very pretty room. Much smaller than I expected from outside. Friendly service staff.

While I was perusing the menu, the waiter brought me a bottle of water and a small salmon salad to pique the appetite while making my decision. They do offer several midday menú options that arrive on large trays with an array of bowls and plates – almost like an unboxed bento box. They’re not cheap, ranging from about 350-500 pesos apiece. I decided to go with a couple of a la carte options….

Gyoza, because… dumplings. And here, the offering is gyoza mar y tierra, sea and land, with a trio each of salmon and pork versions. Delicate, perfectly formed, perfectly cooked, and beautifully seasoned. Some of the best gyoza I’ve had in BA. At 250 pesos, or a bit over $2 per dumpling, they ought to be good!

One of the few spots I’ve seen recently that offers a mixed nigiri sushi combo, with five different fish – a white fish of the day, salmon, tuna, prawn, and octopus. All fresh, generous portions, the rice just a hint warm, the way it really should be. I mean, it’s 500 pesos, or $2.50 per piece, which is pricey even for the fancy places here in BA, but it was also excellent.

As always, I’m not fond of the cubierto charges, and here it’s 50 pesos, especially given that there’s nothing provided for that – no bread, no water, no nothing. Beyond that, the only other negative was that they don’t provide a chopstick rest, which for a place of this caliber and style, ought to be a given. I’d happily go back again, and would love to try some of their non-sushi dishes.

 

Deep Six the Deep Blue

 

Azul Profundo, Av. Libertador 310, Retiro – About two years ago, I tried to give this place a try, one rainy evening at home, calling them up and placing an order. They gave me a timeframe of about an hour to an hour and a quarter, and I settled in to wait. Around the hour and a half mark, not having received my order, I called to check and was assured it was already on its way. They’re only a few minute drive, assuming the delivery guy is on a motorcycle, so I waited a little more. Another fifteen minutes went by, and nothing, so I called again. This time I was informed that not only was it not on its way, but they’d never gotten around to preparing the order, but that they’d get right on it and I could expect delivery in… an hour to an hour and a quarter. I cancelled the order, which provoked a protest from the young woman on the phone that I couldn’t do that, it was already being worked on, but I did anyway. And, filed the place away in the dustbin.

But, I was passing by on a recent afternoon and thought, what the hell, I’ll give it a try…. The menu is fairly extensive, and is a mix of sushi, sashimi, various other Japanese dishes, and some Argentine stuff. and some ceviches, and, and…. hmmm… a bit all over the place. Still, let’s see how their sushi is – they’ve got a couple of interesting sounding combo plates….

First up, the gunkan combo. Gunkan are the sort of cup-shaped sushi. They offer four on the menu, which run roughly 100 pesos for two of each, or 320 pesos for a mixed plate of all of them. On offer according to the menu – caviar, salmon tartare, tuna, and oysters. Sounds like a winning selection. But, hmmm again, on arrival, I’ve got fake caviar from Ikra, a local brand of “caviar de algas”, or little pearls of gelled algae, with chemical flavorings. There is indeed a salmon tartare. But then there’s chopped up prawns and chopped up octopus. I flag down the waitress, who goes and gets a copy of the menu, discovers I’m right, and goes to the sushi chef, who throws a little fit, then gets into a “discussion” with the manager who has come over to see what’s going on, and then…

…the waitress returns with a couple of tuna gunkan, “on the house” (well that’s nice, it was your mistake, not mine), but informs me they have no oysters, so I should just eat the prawns and octopus. Quality – okay. The rice was a bit gummy, the fish was fresh, but the shellfish tasted like it wasn’t spot on and was a bit mealy.

And then the nigiri sushi combo arrives. Let’s check that menu again…. bizarrely, there are two contradictory lines on the menu, which I didn’t catch when I ordered. The first line says in bold letters: salmon, octopus, smoked salmon, salmon skin, prawn, salmon eggs. The second line, in light italics says: salmon, prawn, octopus, tuna, calamari, and masago, which are the little teeny crunchy fish eggs we often see on sushi bars. But what do we have on the plate? Tuna, smoked salmon, salmon, octopus, prawn, and more fake caviar. I ask again – they don’t have the “other” fish eggs, nor do they have calamari, nor do they have salmon skin, they have what they’ve sent out. Same thoughts on the quality as above. 520 pesos.

Look, I don’t mind if a sushi bar runs out of something, it’s the nature of the beast, especially if it’s a case of something not being fresh, or not up to standards. But that clearly wasn’t the case here. They’re just sending out whatever they feel like making regardless of what the menu says is on offer. If they’d have told me upfront, I probably would have ordered something different, mostly because instead of a wider variety, I ended up with essentially repeats of things I’d already had. But they didn’t, and they really didn’t seem to care, and the quality just wasn’t there either. Tack on a 55 pesos cubierto, and 70 pesos for an iced tea (which was actually quite good, and brewed fresh, I’ll give them that), and for me, it was just a pass.

 

That Ain’t no Burger!

 

Hey! In & Out has come to Buenos Aires! But not the burger chain, instead, a “fast sushi concept”, located at Esmeralda 612, Retiro.

Inside, you find a long counter, with a constantly moving conveyor belt on which there are little tablitas, each with two pieces of a sushi roll, nigiri, or sashimi, or springrolls, or small bowls of ceviche. You grab the ones you want (you get a little menu with pictures that tells you what each is), and stack up the serving boards, and in the end, you get charged, kind of like dim sum, for the number of them you’ve got – 45 pesos apiece. Beverages are the same price. Makes it easy, and you can eat as little or as much as you want.

I admit, given the concept, I didn’t have really high hopes. This is one of those sorts of things that could be good or a disaster. Turns out, it’s actually pretty darned good. The roll combinations are tasty. The fish is fresh. And, they keep it that way. There are two guys making sushi rolls behind the counter, and basically between them, rotating through making one each of 15 different options. As they make any individual option, when it’s ready to put on the conveyor belt, they scan across it and pull off all the tablitas of the previous roll of that type, so that only the freshest are out there. It does create a bit of food waste – not a lot, as they’re pretty busy, and it was no more than one board here or there, but that’s got to add up, both in cost and waste.

Now, it can also add up in costs for your meal – 45 pesos isn’t a lot, but these are thin sliced rolls – they’re getting 10 slices out of a roll, which means each roll is 225 pesos – it you’re the sort who can easily eat through a roll or two, plus some nigiri, and maybe springrolls, this could get expensive. But it’s all up to you, which makes it a cool concept, and… get you In & Out pretty much at your own speed. I ended up trying 8 plates, and spent maybe half an hour there. For a downtown lunch hour and decent sushi at 405 pesos, or about $20, that’s not bad.