That occasional round-up of places that are, likely, one time visits, or just haven’t fit in elsewhere…. Shall we start from the bottom of the barrel and work our way up, ending on a positive note?

 

Mula, Av. Gral. Las Heras 2061, Recoleta. Taking over the spot recently vacated by our neighborhood Subway, and looking like a sort of fancy beer bar, it turns out not to be, but instead a weird, tile and wood decorated pizzeria serving… frozen premade pizzas. Yup, they have one of those conveyor belt ovens. You order a pizza, the pull a “pre-pizza” out of the oven – i.e., a parbaked crust with a modicum of sauce and cheese on it, and shove it on the belt. It takes about five minutes to make its way to the other end and comes out semi-hot and soggy in the middle. Then, if you order any toppings, like the pepperoni in the view here, they toss those on a little tray and stick them about partially into the conveyor belt, so they take about a minute to come out, warmed. Toss those on top, sprinkle a lot of oregano, and shove it in a box. Their empanadas are done the same way, and come out still cold in the center. Cheap, but, no. Just no.

 

Maiky, Gorriti 5802, Palermo. Great fried lamb empanadas. Like, really delicious, with a nice little dipping sauce of peppers and tomatoes. The less said about the “Tito burger” and the barbecue pork sandwich, and their accompanying fries, the better. I mean, they weren’t inedible, but let’s say I wouldn’t want to subject my tastebuds to them again. Prices aren’t even relevant, as I truly can’t recommend this spot.

 

Kotten Sushi, J.L. Borges 1813, Palermo. Mixed bag. The gyoza were absolutely awful – gummy, chewy dumplings skins that were so soaked with oil you could see the filling through them, and the filling a weird, semi-sweet pork mixture that was just unpleasant to eat. On the other hand, the two sushi rolls, one with salmon and avocado, the other a vegetarian one of palm hearts, mango, and cream cheese, were both well made and reasonably good. Probably not enough to order from them again, but at least I didn’t feel like I wasted the 1040 pesos with delivery charge and tip. [Closed]

 

La Burreria, Av. Caseros 467, San Telmo – Mexican-ish dive bar along the restaurant strip of Av. Caseros. Best thing we had was the fresh made guacamole with chips – actually some of the best guacamole I’ve had in town. The rest, Michoacan style carnitas tacos and a cochinita pibil quesadilla, were pretty darned good. Lacking a real hot sauce, but at least it had good flavor. All very reasonably priced – tacos run 245 pesos for a trio, the quesadilla 255, pints of beer 175, the guacamole and chips, 245… All told for three of us, with tip, 1700 pesos. [Closed during the pandemic]

 

Festín, Junín 1350, Recoleta. This one takes over the original location of BeFrika, the mini-burger joint, which has other digs these days. Thankfully, far better than the pizzeria above. More or less neapolitana in style, but I’d venture that the dough isn’t slow fermented and made with a sourdough type starter. Still, it’s good, and better than most of the pizzerias in the neighborhood. The quality of the toppings is quite good, and there’s a nice ration of sauce, cheese, and toppings. Definitely a spot to return to. Small pizzas only, six slices, which is just a tad more than I want to eat all of at one sitting, and they run low to mid 500 pesos apiece. Not bad. Wish they had a better selection of beer and wine to accompany.

 

Mateos, Arguibel 2816, Las Cañitas. And as long as we’re on one positive note, let’s wind up with another. Our latest Horde outing, at this relatively new tapas and wine bar. Just four of us, so we kept it simple. A lovely bubbling pot of rich, garlicky prawns “al ajillo”, among the better versions of this dish I’ve had here in town. Great huevos estrelladas – lightly crunchy roasted potato slices topped with fried eggs, and a choice of toppings – we went with roasted vegetables, completely yummy. A trio of pinchos, or bruschettas, were supposed to be a cured ham and tomato with olive oil, but was missing the ham, a really excellent morcilla sausage and apple one, and a chistorra one (Spanish paprika sausages). And, finished off with a whole roasted Camembert cheese topped with fruit vinegar and toasted walnuts. Winning finish, even better than ordering dessert. Three plates, six pinchos, a bottle of wine, four bottles of water, and tip came in at 3920 pesos with a strange 12.8% discount which turns out to be how it works out when they deduct out the sales tax and beverages – the discount apparently only applies to the food. Definitely worth it, some of the better tapas in town! I wish they had more of selection of wines by the glass, especially claiming to be a wine bar – they only have one white and two reds, but the wine list is reasonably priced and with four of us, a bottle was just fine.