2020 is the year of the parrilla, the steakhouse, the grill, the slip a beef on the barbee…. There, I’ve declared it. Might not come to anything, but hey, it’s something to work on. The plan is for more Steak Scrolls to come.

 

Lo de Rosendo, Castro Barros 502, Almagro – On walking in you just know you’re in a “neighborhood” spot. Despite all the pretty design touches, it just feels local, unpretentious, and like… maybe you’re taking your chances.

A not bad empanada – it was flavorful, had a bit of chili in it, was beautifully fried. If I have any objection it’s that it used a ground beef filling rather than a diced up beef filling, but, so do a lot of places. This was well packed with beef, olives, egg, green onion, and chili. I’d happily eat one again. (60 pesos)

The specialty of the house is the asado del asador, this is a half portion – so three big short-ribs rather than six. More than enough for one person. A little too much fat on it for my personal tastes, and completely unseasoned. But, salt on the table, and on request…

…an okay chimichurri – I have the feeling it was made with one of those packets of dried herbs and spices for making the sauce, and was a little heavy on vinegar. I ended up sticking with just salt.

But there’s a whole lot of bone and fat leftover at the end. In truth, if I hadn’t been paring back how much I eat over the last year (and, losing weight at the rate of a kilo a month, thank you very much), I could have probably eaten a full order. It was good, but not something I’d rush back for. (350 pesos)

They do charge a cubierto of 75 pesos per person, so, with water and a tip, 670 pesos, or about $11.

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El Patio de Mingo, Bartolomé Mitre 3986, Caballito. Formerly called El Patio de Liliana, at some point in early 2016, reviews started to show up telling people that it was Liliana no more and that while basically the same, it was no longer the economical spot that it had been for many years. The red brick front was repainted orange, and the red-lettered sign was replaced with white letters. I know not what happened to Liliana, nor do I know who Mingo (presumably short for “Domingo”) is. I hope it was a happy change. This one popped up on our Horde radar when the city held its competition for locals to vote for their favorite local parrilla.

Strangely, at lunchtime, they open for business at 1pm, which is the Horde’s usual outing time, so we were first in the door. The grill was fired up, but only a few chorizos were in place. They were, by the way, very responsive to Facebook messages, and we’d arranged a table for the group with minimal effort.

House wine, served in a proper pingüino. And, not bad as house wines go.

With a group our size, it seemed like the easiest thing was just to go full tilt and start with a platter of the mixed innards and sausages – a whopping pile of mollejas (sweetbreads), chinchulines (intestines, i.e., what friends in the south would call chitlins), riñones (kidneys), chorizos (sausages), and morcillas (blood sausages). Although not in universal agreement, I’ll put in my opinion that these are some of the best chinchulines I’ve had at any parrilla (and regulars seemed to be ordering just plates of those to snack on, and one guy even ordered a bag of what had to be about 2 kilos of them, to go), and among the best morcillas. The sweetbreads were good. The chorizos were a little gristly for my tastes. The kidneys were a bit of a fail – they were way under-cooked, and were still bloody and chewy.

And, we followed it up with the mixed grill of steaks – several strips of asado, the cross-cut ribs, excellent; a couple of strips of entraña, hanger steak – a bit chewy; two of vacio, or flank steak, quite good; and several pieces of matambrito, pork “brisket”, also quite good. All of them could have used a bit more seasoning, they’re quite light-handed on the salt.

But an excellent, really excellent, and even reasonably spicy chili-inflected chimichurri was perfect to add that seasoning.

We gotta have some vegetables, too. A couple of ensaladas mixtas, the classic local lettuce, tomato, and onion salad. A bit too much onion for our tastes, but then, we could have picked a different mix, too.

Now, I don’t know what passes for “economical” in the minds of local reviewers, but noting that it was the beginning of 2016 when those comments started to appear, which was the same time that the peso was put into freefall and went from 8:1 with the dollar to 16:1 and then started slowly (at first) dropping, I’m betting that the price-tag was related to that, not to a sudden lust for pesos from the owners. All told, with the two platters of meat (which six of us didn’t quite finish), two salads, bottled waters all around, a liter of house wine, and tip, we shelled out 670 pesos apiece, or around $11. Not bad at all. Same amount I paid solo at the place above, for an empanada, a half order of asado, and a water, and far lower quality. I’d happily go back here.

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La Parrilla de Tomahawk, El Salvador 6006, Palermo – A couple of years ago, a little unassuming butcher shop opened up on this corner in Palermo at El Salvador 6002. The one thing that caught the eye of many an expat, was that they were very quietly offering up dry aged meats, not a common practice here in Buenos Aires. Over time, I, and a few friends, have bought various cuts of beef, both the aged and not, and the quality is just superb. It comes at a price, particularly the aged meats, but that’s to be expected. The shop also offers a well curated selection of not easy to find wines. Worth a stop in!

Sometime late last year, they opened up a small lunch counter next to the butcher shop. It has a few counter seats inside, and two shared tables for six out on the sidewalk when the weather is cooperating. The menu is short and sweet, with a half dozen sandwiches, and a regularly changing line up of 3-4 cuts of steak off the parrilla. On the sandwich side, I wish they used a better bread for their sandwiches than the local miñon, a cotton ball flavored and textured takeoff on a baguette, but, it is the local fave for sandwiches, so they’re playing to the choir.

The steaks, absolutely delicious. And cooked the way you really want them to – not pictured, my companion had ordered his steak “blue”, and it came out with literally just the upper and lower surfaces seared and the sides and center still raw, but warmed through – just the way he wanted it. Me, I go more rare to medium rare, and these picañas, rump steaks, were spot on. Good coleslaw, it could use a bit more creaminess, other options are baked potato or a lettuce-tomato salad. Delicious chimichurri and excellent salsa criolla.

Fair prices – sandwiches run from 190 pesos for a choripan to 380 pesos for a grilled sweetbreads sandwiich; and steaks run from the mid 300s to mid 400s, depending on the cuts being offered. This spot should definitely be on your steak circuit at lunchtime (they only open for lunch Monday to Saturday, and a short dinner period on Friday and Saturday).