A verrrry interesting selection this time around. Then again, when isn’t it?

 

Boticario, Honduras 5207, Palermo – Sometimes (sometimes?) things get away from me. A mere 94 weeks ago… I happened by this cool looking apothecary display in a window in Palermo. I posted it to Instagram – didn’t know what it was, there was a sign over the door that said Boticario, and that was what I had to go on. And one of our Horde members responded back that it was, in his opinion, one of the best bars in the city, and he knows his bars. So I put it on my list. And forgot about it, more or less. I don’t really go out for cocktails all that often.

But, there we were, another friend and I, heading out for dinner and drinks, and I thought, perfect opportunity to try this spot that’s been on the list for “a couple of months”…. The place was open; there was a doorman; with a clipboard; turning people away. But hey, give it a try. Come right in sir. Hey, I like that, I’m getting the sir treatment now. I was dressed pretty. He gave my friend a slightly harder time when he arrived, he wasn’t dressed pretty. But he got in.

Decided that for a first visit, we’d give a shot at a couple of their specialty cocktails. If they were good, and we liked the place (which we already did – it’s a bit hipster, but the music was good, the vibe was relaxed). I went for the most off-beat sounding one I could find, something that felt “cheffy” as we might say – La Pampa Reposada – oak aged pisco, lemon juice, egg white, peaches, sunflower seeds, olive oil, and sesame. And you know what? It worked. It was absolutely delicious – perfectly balanced and not overly sweet. My friend went for a Chinguito Bastardo – gin, grappa, lemon juice, simple syrup, mint, housemade bitters, ginger ale. Refreshing, tasty, maybe a bit too much mint stuffed into the glass and no comfortable place to remove it and put it aside. Cocktails run 300 pesos, pretty much across the board, or roughly $5. Not bad at all. And a place to return to and try a classic cocktail or two.

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La Fuerza, Av. Dorrego 1409, Villa Crespo – This one has come up a lot over the last couple of years, as a resurgence of Buenos Aires’ old tradition of “vermouth bars” has happened. An interesting trend – it’s not something I generally think about, but it’s a nice, lower alcohol way of popping out for a casual drink, usually something refreshing and light. La Fuerza makes their own vermouths, and we thought it’d be a fun Sunday outing for brunch.

First off, our waitress offered us a sample of their three vermouths – the blanco, primavera, and rojo – white, spring, and red – the middle one being a floral infusion. All three really good – a touch on the sweet side, unlike many white vermouths, the two white ones are not dry, they’re almost as sweet as the red.

In short order, a trio of cocktails – two of us went for the primavera, one with tonic, the other as a julep, with grapefruit and mint; the third went for the julep but with the classically offered red.

And, nibbles to go with the drinks. We each picked one – here, a very good provoleta, grilled provolone cheese, topped with tomato and eggplant. The only odd thing, the two vegetables were both refrigerator cold – we’d have liked it even more if they’d have been hot like the cheese.

A salchicha parrillera – a grilled smoked sausage from the butcher shop Piaf, just a block away. Excellent, and it was an interesting touch to serve it over cremona bread, which is a sort of savory puff pastry star-shaped ring that’s common here, and a tasty little tomato and cucumber salad.

A classic mussels provençale – with plenty of garlic and parsley. Yum. Also the potatoes, and another nice touch, underneath it all, some slices of really good country style bread sopping up the juices to eat at the end.

And, we’d also picked one appetizer to share, though it ended up arriving last – chard croquettes – some of the best I’ve had here, it’s a popular local nibble, and these were really good.

The main courses seem a little pricey at 560 pesos ($9.35) apiece, and the croquettes at 360 ($6), but we were happy with the quality, and the quantities were reasonable. Still, most bars wouldn’t charge that much for casual sharing food. And, still, we’d happily go back.

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Omakase Masuda, Nicaragua 6002, Palermo – Almost exactly five years ago I wrote about the little speakeasy style mini-sushi bar, above Bar du Marche, called Club M. The two of them moved a half block away to a bigger space a couple of years ago. For whatever reasons, I just haven’t been back. I think a lot of it is just that the offerings of sushi have gotten steadily better here, and, for the time, five years ago, Club M was pretty expensive, even for sushi in BA. [Closed during pandemic]

The new space is in the basement of Bar du Marche, and it’s roughly double the number of seats, though probably triple the amount of space – the old space was really crammed tight. The bar now seats ten instead of four, and there are six tables for four in the room. The bar, upstairs, too, is about double the original size.

As before, they have a menu of both nigiri pieces, tiraditos, and makis. You can order your own combo, or you can go for the omakase menu. My first thought when seeing it was one of sticker shock. The same seven courses as before, but it’s gone up over five years from 450 pesos to 3000 pesos, almost 7 times the price in just five years. But then, I thought about it, at the time, that was $53, and now, it’s just $50 – it’s actually gone down in dollar terms. One thing that I wasn’t keen on, they made a point to tell me that it’s actually now just six courses of sushi, and then a dessert, with no option to change that, other than subbing in a coffee or tea for the dessert. This little spoonful, a slice of cucumber with peanut sauce, didn’t count as one of the seven….

I purposely didn’t go back and read my earlier review – but it turns out, now, in looking back at it, that the omakase is pretty close to the same as it was then. Very little has changed – a limited selection of fish, and just different techniques. That was kind of disappointing. That’s not to say it’s not excellent quality, it was – but to my mind, the whole idea behind an omakase is for the chef to not just show off their skills, but to showcase the freshest and best of the day, rather than a routine same thing every day selection. Started with a sashimi plate – two pieces each of salmon, trout, sole, bream, calamari, and little baby bay scallops.

Then, a sole tiradito – this time with a huacatay puree, dill frond, and some sesame seeds.

Then a virtually identical salmon tartare in soy and sake, over a sliced half of an avocado, and crispy rice noodles.

The bream made a reappearance as the nigiri, with the dehydrated umeboshi plum and cilantro that had been on the sole tiradito the last time.

This one was new – two gunkan of trout roe in sake and soy, with a quail yolk.

And, finished off with two maki – one of them virtually the  same – fried prawns with almonds and crispy sweet potatoes, but they’ve added cream cheese and strawberries to it, which for me, just ruined it. The other maki was different, a Chilean sea bass with asparagus and pickled cucumber. Interesting, but odd.

I had wanted sake again, and just as they claimed five years ago, they only offer Ozeki from California, though they now offer three different varieties, all at 950 pesos for a 300ml bottle (about 40% over retail price). All told, with tip, 4350 pesos, or about $72 – actually $12 less than the omakase was five years ago. Although again, being a non-sweets person, I wasn’t happy about having one fewer courses of sushi and having a dessert (in my case a pot of tea) replacing it.

I’d stick with my same assessment. It’s very good, but I’d go back and pick out things that sounded interesting from the menu rather than do the omakase.