It’s actually quite energizing to be back to going out again. Even with restrictions and us being extra careful with only outdoor seating, even though some indoor is allowed now, and figuring out sharing food without passing around glasses or plates, it just feels good to be trying new things. And also a reminder that not everything I go out there to try turns out to be a winner. All, basically, sandwiches of one sort or another.
La Hummuseria, Ravignani 1106, Chacarita. Hummus is catching on in BA, and so a place dedicated to it is bound to attract some attention. And, I was looking forward to trying their hummus. What better way than dolloped into a pita bread with some delicious falafel? I should have just ordered a bowl of hummus and some pita bread, because… hmmm… where’s the hummus? Where’s the tahini or yogurt sauce? Where’s… anything? Two sad little cocktail sandwich sized pitas, each packed with half a dozen hard, crunchy, over-fried, marbles of tasteless falafel. Somewhere, deep inside the pocket, there’s about a tablespoon of shredded lettuce. And that’s it. Just desert level dryness. Soggy potatoes with a watery sauce, perhaps something yogurt-ish, were the only moisture on the plate. Quite possibly the worst falafel sandwich I’ve ever had, anywhere. $430.
Harutyunyan Shaurma, Pasco 341, Balvanera/Once. Tiny little place offering up Armenian style shawarma. Pluses as the gentleman started to make my wrap, lots of fresh veggies, and on request they had both hot sauce and what he called “Armenian sauce”, which was a cilantro yogurt dressing. Negatives, hmm… there’s no meat on a spit, slowly roasting. There’s some chunks of… hmm… pork sitting on a tray, which he chops into small pieces, but doesn’t heat; and, he offers to put mayo on the wrap. No, no mayo, thank you much. Now, this is only the second time I’ve seen a pork shawarma, but, okay, Armenia is not a Muslim country, it’s a Christian one, so okay… except then his wife came out from the back and she was in full hijab, so… now I’m confused. I mentioned I was surprised they were serving pork shawarma, and she just sort of shrugged and rolled her eyes. But, back to the shawarma, pretty good all in all. Not a wow, and it could have been a lot hotter, rather than just warm, but tasty. $180.
Souriana, Ecuador 1507, Recoleta. I approached this spot with some trepidation, as a few years back I reviewed a place called Souriana in Palermo and wasn’t impressed. But very different signage, and that one closed up awhile back, so what the heck, give it a shot. I’m glad I did, too, because as best I can tell, not related. The other place was Syrian, and had a kind of mediocre shawarma served up in a very commercial style wrap. This place is Lebanese, the wrap is a beautiful grilled flatbread, packed with meat, a little light on the vegetables, but the sauce… looked kind of like mayo, but not quite… and ooh… it’s pure, rich, lovely garlic and lemon… the classic Lebanese toum sauce. Yum! I didn’t even mind the lack of a hot sauce, because a well made toum is one of those things that’s as good as it gets. And, a decent bakhlava to finish the meal. Souriana is an Arabic name for girls meaning “full of love”. Finally, a place that I really like the shawarma here in Recoleta. $250.
And, just a side note, updated my citywide shawarma map to reflect all the closings I was able to find out about over the course of the pandemic.
La Vermutería, Lavalle 3780, Almagro. You know when you find that kind of out of the way spot, it’s not a wow, but it’s good, and everything just clicks. The kind of place that you want a block from home so you can pop in there a few times a week and just have a drink, maybe a nibble, and relax? That’s this place, except it’s not a block from home, it’s three kilometers away. But, it’s two blocks from the clinic I use for all my health services, so it’ll likely be my lunch spot after a doctor’s visit at least a few times a year. It’s also a short bike ride. In keeping with the name, they have a selection of vermouths and other aperitifs, including one that they make in house, and that one’s delicious! Decent empanada, fried, rather than the more common baked here. And, a pretty damned good bar burger with housemade bun, fresh ground beef, well seasoned, juicy, a cheese that wasn’t the ubiquitous orange cheddar slice, a couple of slices of spicy loganiza sausage, basil mayo, and chopped pickled green chilies (mild, not hot, Italian frying peppers). And great fries, like, really great fries. Empanada $75, burger $350, house vermouth cocktail $340.
Trashumante, Chile 499, Monserrat. Many years ago I reviewed El Baqueano, a temple to haute cuisine featuring unusual meats. The pandemic has forced them to rethink their approach, and while the restaurant remains closed for the moment, they’ve launched a street venue offering casual fare, but still focused on lesser used meats and unusual cuts. It’s a sandwich place when it comes down to it, but sandwiches reimagined by someone who’s put a lot of thought into their flavors. A perfect spot for our second outing after our relaunch of The Roving Ravenous Horde. This time, a foursome of us met up on a beautiful afternoon.
The menu is relatively short – five appetizers and eight sandwiches. We started off with a round of two types of empanadas – yacaré, which is the South American caiman, basically a small freshwater alligator; and ñandu, the South American rhea, a small ostrich. The former, we had mixed thoughts on, but for me, lacking a little bit in seasoning, and quite greasy, which was surprising. The latter, however, spectacular. Beautifully seasoned, with maybe even a hit of chili in there, and a nice presentation in the vegetable ash tinged dough. The star of the appetizers, however, was the platter of tempura style fresh artichoke halves, drizzled with a garlicky aioli. We could have been happy just sitting there eating a few platters of those.
On to the sandwiches, which sort of span the globe in inspiration, fitting for a place whose name basically means “nomad”. All really delicious. But… all really… bready. They’ve nailed the flavors of everything, but there’s just too much bread in relation to the filling, on each of them. It’s probably most obvious in the lamb sausage sandwich, with the sausage being thinner than a finger, and about the length of a pencil, in a huge Viennese style bun that could have held a fat, juicy bratwurst. A nice touch of a chili mayo.
The New Orleans po’boy is not quite what a po’boy is. Again, they’ve kind of nailed the flavors, with a mix of oysters and prawns, breaded and fried, and a house mayo. But, between the bun and the breading, and that rather than leaving the oysters and prawns plump and whole, they’ve sliced them thinly, there’s once again too much bread. A classic seafood po’boy should be slathered in butter, with a touch of mayo, and pickles, this came with lettuce, tomato, and mayo, more the accompaniment of a non-seafood po’boy, and missing the pickles.
And, a beef cheek sandwich with pickled radishes and chimichurri. Meltingly tender beef, great balance with the other flavors, and I love that thick toasted sourdough bread, but one slice of it was enough, so I ate it as an open faced sandwich and left one slice to the side.
All in all, great flavors, great service, great ambiance. Just some tweaking of the filling to bread ratio and it’d be a true winner in the sandwich world here. And it wouldn’t be amiss to accompany the sandwiches with some sort of little side, like a salad, coleslaw, chips or fries… or something. Appetizers run from $100 for an empanada to $400 for the artichokes. Sandwiches range from a low of $280 for a ham sausage sandwich to $690 for the beef cheeks. Drinks get a bit pricey, with a low of $180 for bottled water on up to $400 for a simple vermouth and tonic, albeit their own house vermouth.
