A little mix of a lot of things this time around. Let’s start simple, yet… important.

The LC

Those of you who’ve been around Buenos Aires for awhile may well have pined away at the loss of La Cupertina, one of, arguably, the best spots for empanadas in the city. It was located in Palermo, and one day back in September 2010, just simply closed up shop – the space was long ago take over by the new location of Freud & Fahler restaurant. I pointed out in my original review that the ownership was the same as La Querencía, a regional cooking spot here in Recoleta. Somehow I hadn’t noticed until recently, but just a few blocks from home, at Ayacucho 1409, corner of Peña, La Cupertina has risen from the embers. Well, no embers, as their oven (in what used to be a mediocre pizza joint here in the ‘hood) is gas, but you get the gist. [Didn’t even last six months before closing up again, with no notice.]

In truth, you could just go back and read the original review, because other than prices, nothing’s changed. The identical empanadas, the same selection (other than a new special braised lamb and tomato empanada that had just gone on the menu this last week apparently), even the same staff (well, they’re family, so no surprise there). The regular empanadas are 40 pesos, a shade over $1, and the larger, basically double sized ones are 70 pesos, or just shy of $2. And, they’re as good as they ever were.

 

The Rainbow Connection

Being that I belong to the obra social, or trade guild, for “gastronómicos”, we have our own healthcare system. It’s a sensible approach, we have a specific hospital, plus a few satellite clinics and labs, that is mostly, though not limited to, used by folk in the restaurant world. Given that, the hospital has specialized care units, like burn, and repetitive motion injury, specialists, that might not be as dedicated or experienced as in some of the other hospitals. Leaving after a checkup with my primary physician one day recently, I noticed a new café just a couple of blocks away, festooned with touches of rainbow and other gay iconic stuff.

Maricafé, Honduras 4096, corner of Acuña de Figueroa, in Palermo, is a gay-identified café and bookstore. The name, a contraction of marica (literally, “sissy”, but basically the Spanish way of saying “fag”) and café, it seems to be a little haven for folk in the gay, lesbian, and trans community to drop in and have a bite, or a coffee, and just relax in a friendly atmosphere, perhaps browsing the reading material in the bookstore section while they nibble. Looking for something light, I went with a falafel sandwich, on a sort of open flatbread – more wheat tortilla than pita, with oblong, tasty falafel, topped with an American style coleslaw (180 pesos). Spice dusted french fries. Not exactly the most traditional of falafels that I’ve had, nor the best, but tasty enough to warrant dropping in again. A little hot sauce would have been a nice touch.

 

A Bucket of BFC

I do love fried chicken. I know it’s not as good for me as I wish it was, but that doesn’t stop the love affair. Hell, I’ve got an entire map dedicated to fried chicken places here in Buenos Aires. So spotting a dedicated fried chicken restaurant here in the city, a place where it’s not exactly the most fare, wakes me right up. Maxxi Fried Chicken, Av. Rivadavia 8053, Floresta, offers up Bolivian style fried chicken. Bolivians (or at least those from La Paz) love fried chicken, and I discussed the basics of the three styles of Bolivian fried chicken back when I was visiting La Paz, this is definitely the “pollo frito” style.

Now, I really only wanted to try a piece of the chicken, but they won’t sell it in any form but one of various combos. The smallest was a single piece, a breast and wing, with fries, vegetable rice, and a small can of Coke (135 pesos, $3.60). Optional hot sauce on the side. The chicken, juicy, cooked right, decent crust, if a bit bland, the hot sauce not very hot, but flavorful. The fries and rice, even if I hadn’t been really interested in them, weren’t all that good – the fries bordering on soggy, the rice somewhat dried out. The Coke, well, it’s Coke (no other options available, either – the menu board shows Fanta and Sprite, but they didn’t have either). So, acceptable on the chicken end, but not a winner on the rest of it. But hey, it’s fast food, and they were pumping out orders. And they do offer buckets of chicken, at a mere 680 pesos, $18, though coming with two boxes of fries (oddly, without rice or soda).

 

When the moon hits your eye, like a big pizza pie…

We just weren’t in the mood for Korea or China town yesterday, and pizza seemed… uncomplicated. So, checking another spot off the massive list of pizzerias that have been recommended by one source or another, Steven and I headed for Nápoles, Av. Corrientes 5588, Villa Crespo. Widely touted as the best pizza in the barrio. It’s cute. It’s pink.

Is this allowed? Hey, at least the glasses were chilled, a rarity in BA, especially in a pizzeria.

This shouldn’t be allowed. Cubes of fainá, chickpea-cheese bread, gummy and cold, with toothpicks to stab them and convey them to your mouth.

This, however, wasn’t bad at all. Not bad at all. I mean, you have to like Argentine style pizza, overflowing with cascades of gooey, oily cheese, and this pie had that in spades. But a good crust, albeit one that could have used just a minute more in the oven – with all that cheese, the top surface was still bordering on raw. Reasonably good cheese, flavorful sauce, and enough of it to taste. Generous, fresh toppings. And little dishes of chili flakes and oregano on the side to add to your own liking. For 380 pesos, $10.25, not bad at all. Now, is it the best in Villa Crespo? Hard to say. Based on my pizza map, with all my samplings, I’ve only been to two other pizzerias in the barrio, Angelín, and 1893. The former is more or less the same style, I think I like this better, though it’s been so long, I couldn’t swear to it. The latter, a completely different style.

 

The Japanese Commune

It was another outing of the Roving Ravenous Horde, #38 to be exact, and a spot that opened up recently, Komyun, located at “Arch #9” of the Arcos de Rosedal (formerly, but still to most folk here, the Paseo de la Infanta), officially Av. del Libertador 3883, in Palermo. This is the strip of restaurants and bars that have been nestled under the railway track bridge that climbs to a peak up and over Av. Libertador at the north end of the Rosedal, the rose garden.

Four of us hit the table for this outing, and as it was such a beautiful day, we opted for an outdoor table, rather than inside in the “Kitchen & Hi-Fi Bar”. I’m not sure I want to know what a hi-fi bar is anyway. Komyun, Japanese for “commune”, is owned by the same folk as own the next door Avant Garten, at Arch #10, a burger and beer bar that did not exactly impress me last year, vying for one of last year’s, and actually, all time in BA’s, three worst burgers. I didn’t know about the connection between the two spots when we organized this venture.

And thankfully, because otherwise we might not have come to this spot, and it turns out to be quite good. At lunchtime there’s a limited menu – a choice of drink, appetizer, main course, and dessert and/or coffee (the pricing scheme is a little odd – there are three main courses for an option at 350 pesos, and the dessert/coffee is an “or”, while at 390 pesos there are three different main courses, and the dessert/coffee is an “and”). Excellent hibiscus infused iced tea (more or less homemade Red Zinger), and ginger-mint lemonade, or a typical soft drink, water, or small glass of beer are the drink options. All four of us went for the bao, a prawn, salad, and sriracha mayo filled one for that particular day, excellent. None of us opted for the green salad or bowl of vegetable soup alternatives. (Though later, a different waitress told the table next to us the soup of the day was a Thai chicken soup, which we might have tried.)

Everything very prettily presented. A decent tonkatsu, basically a Japanese pork milanesa, although this was, unusually for tonkatsu, a bone-in pork chop, breaded and fried, and not sliced as is more common. A poke bowl, perhaps the first, perhaps the only, in Buenos Aires, absolutely delicious, with fresh fish, veggies, rice, and a very good sesame dressing. And, two of us went for the tonkotsu ramen, with a light but flavorful broth, some corn and bean sprouts, lovely slices of roast pork, and a slightly gooey egg. The noodles seemed more spaghetti and ramen, but were good in the soup.

And, since one of us had opted for a “premium” menu, the pork cutlet, we got one dessert on the table, a little mini-trés leches cake that was surprisingly good. All told, a fun outing, decent food, and intriguing enough to want to go back and try their full dinner menu options one night.