The hot new thing in BA is Asian street food. Actually, street food of any sort, though Asian seems to be leading the pack. And, not served on the street, because the local government still hasn’t seen its way to fully approve food trucks and such – at least not on the road, so they’re all clustered in little food truck parks and plazas here and there. No, instead, it’s street food served out of small restaurants, or sometimes just takeout counters. Most of them, unfortunately for my schedule, are open more as bars in the evenings, and I don’t have as much opportunity to go. But, one by one….
KOKO baobar, Arévalo 1478, Palermo – This one’s a tough one. I got violently ill half an hour or so after eating, and spent the afternoon in the bathroom at home. It was the only thing I ate for the day, so provenance isn’t in doubt as to place, though as to what caused it? Who knows. Most likely either raw veggies or hands that weren’t properly washed. At the same time, it’s not the sort of place that felt like that would be a regular occurrence, and they were mortified when I contacted them about it, and promised to sort it out. Which made me think I ought to give them a second visit. As did the fact that the place comes recommended by at least a couple of foodie folk I know.
On, however, this visit, and looking at just the food, they have a lunch special for 200 pesos ($8.50) that includes a choice of appetizer and a choice of bao. For the former I went with a classic Vietnamese nem, or fried springroll. It was tasty, but a bit oily inside because, as you can see from when I flipped it over, one entire side is open. That’s the kind of thing that you’d think someone plating the dish would have noticed and started over again. For my choice of bao, I went slightly unusual with the fried chicken one, because, well, fried chicken. Actually pretty good, and the “broken potatoes” rock. I could just go in and eat a plate of those. A small bottle of ginger ale washed it all down. Negative, I’d have liked to try a second bao, but the only way they offer it is in combo, and the minimum combo was a 170 peso bao with another appetizer, more potatoes, and another beverage, none of which I wanted. They weren’t willing to sell just a bao, even though I’d already eaten a full combo. That strikes me a little inhospitable and inflexible. Which made me think I ought not to give them a second visit… but…
…eventually, about three weeks on, giving them another shot won out. On my second visit, they’ve dropped the lunch combo, and now simply charge more for each individual bao, each of which comes with those great broken potatoes. They’ve expanded the appetizer offerings, or maybe they’re just non-bao offerings, as they’re all roughly the same prices., somewhere between 120-150 pesos apiece. They did, however, change that great vinegary dipping sauce for the potatoes too, and now offer up a sort of milky, near flavorless liquid that made no sense to me. Like watered down ranch dressing.
Tried two of the bao (they won’t serve one without the potatoes, so if you want more than one, it’s a lot of potato – I didn’t even eat half of them). The clasico is a sweet, hoisin sauce glazed pork belly, the sweetness offset nicely by pickled beets; the bondiola is a slow braised pork shoulder with a sort of cabbage slaw. Both delicious. No ill effects. They do pick out one of the half dozen bao offerings daily at lunch and offer it as the day’s special, dropping the price for whichever one it is from 150 down to 90 pesos, which is a bargain! Bring back the spicy dipping sauce for the potatoes, and maybe let folk who want to order a second bao get one without a pile of potatoes, and I’m sold.
I’ve been eating a lot less pizza recently, but it’s still one of my favorite foods, so now and again, I’ve grabbed a slice, just to try somewhere new.
Trigal, Gorriti 4717, Palermo – formerly known as El Viejo Hornito (The Old Oven), this place has been around for awhile. Kind of shows in the state of repair of the place. Though, being old and in need of sprucing up doesn’t mean you can’t keep a place clean, ya know? Cleanliness is next to godliness and all that. God would want to wear gloves and shoe protectors. Friendly service. Okay crust. Oily cheese and too much of it. Really quite good sauce, the most redeeming factor, but too little of it, and concentrated towards the center of the pie. On balance, just kind of average – though with some minor tweaks, it could be quite good. 30 pesos/slice ($1.50).
Po, Tucumán 3110, Once – a little hole-in-the-wall kosher pizza place that’s not much bigger than my home kitchen. It’s mostly takeout – there are three barstools at a counter in the window, though two of them were taken up by the delivery guy and his helmet, and he made it quite clear he wasn’t interested in moving, until the woman behind the counter told him to, which he then grudgingly, and with great show of disdain, did. The menu lists a half dozen pizza options, all non-meat, being a dairy kosher place, as well as a few other plates, however, on this visit, the only things available were plain mozzarella pizza, and fainá. I got a slice of each. The pizza – not bad, a decent crust, and rather good sauce, and a not overwhelming amount of cheese. However, it had clearly been sitting around awhile, and heating it up seemed to consist of about 30 seconds in the oven. The fainá was just okay – lacking in seasoning – a little hit of salt and pepper would have helped. 28 and 25 pesos respectively, really just a dollar each. Still, meh. [Closed]
Tov Lev, Paso 745, Once – there’s a little strip of kosher restaurants along this block, from the Sprinkles Cafe, to Yafo, which I’ve reviewed before for shawarma, to Maichel’s ice cream shop. To be reviewed at some time. Tov Lev is pretty much a deli counter, with some stuff to take out, but a half dozen tables at which to sit and eat. There was only chicken shawarma available the day I went (this happened at Yafo, next door, as well, when I went), which I was assured was good, though not as good as the beef. I find myself asking, however, just how far one can stray from what most people think of as a shawarma before it’s just not. And I think this one crosses the line. The chicken is just chopped up bits that have been seasoned and sauteed in a pan, wrapped in a laffa bread, a thin wrap. But it strays even more with the condiments, which consisted of guacamole and a tomato-cucumber salad. Guacamole? And not even a spicy one, just mashed avocado with some lemon and salt, as best I could tell. It was tasty, no question, I’m just not sure I’m up to calling it or listing it as a shawarma. Maybe the beef one… perhaps to be tried down the line. 70 pesos. [Closed]
Sösich Haute Dogs, Cabello 3916, Palermo chico – If you’re going to give yourself a fancy German sounding name, with an umlaut no less, and then add in a French haute, and an American dogs, you better have something different on the menu to offer. It might start with really good hotdogs, maybe off the grill, rather than pretty ordinary commercial ones floating about in a murky hot water bath. The bun ought to be something sturdy and of high quality, rather than a grocery store pillow soft. You ought to have an array of condiments available, something to really dress up those hautes, rather than a movie theater pail of melted processed cheese product and a few things like mayo, mustard, and ketchup. Oh, the “picante” version of the ketchup had a hint of chili in it, but that was about as out there as any of the half dozen or so condiments available got. They do have a cute little dispenser for the “lluvia de papas”, the rain of shoestring potatoes, of which they pile more than the rest of the dog and bun put together. At 70 pesos with one condiment and 10 pesos apiece for each additional, the only thing haute here is the price of a sösich. Yawn.
