We continue to get ourselves out and about a bit. With special permits, more and more restaurants are starting to allow indoor seating – they have to get inspected for sufficient ventilation and proper sanitation methods. We’re still opting for spots where we can stay outdoors, and probably will continue to do so far awhile yet. Given that we’re in late spring, we’ve got months ahead of nice weather to make that work well. For the most part, too, we’re keeping things casual – finances and all that – plus, a lot of the fancier places just aren’t yet reopening because they can’t offer the kind of experience they want to. On to the food!
La Birra Bar Recoleta, Uriburu 1068, Recoleta. I have to admit, I got kind of excited when months ago I saw that a new branch of the expanding La Birra chain was opening up a mere five blocks from home. With the pandemic and quarantine, things were delayed, and even now, it’s open limited hours, particularly during the day when the only lunch that it’s open is Friday. Now, I refer you back to my review of the original La Birra, which swiftly moved into my top five favorite burgers in the city. This, unfortunately, is not that. It’s a pale imitation. It’s a decent enough burger on its own, but you can see immediately if you compare, this doesn’t have the same sort of bun, the cheese is just sort of slopped on, and those really good steak fries have been replaced with wan, fast food style fries, albeit a lot more of them. They don’t offer the amazing housemade condiments, just packets of commercial mayo, ketchup, and sweet mustard.
And, their highly recommended “Oklahoma Burger”, made “in homage” to the US classic, is not. An Oklahoma burger is a smashed patty burger where the onions (and as much onion as there is beef, or more) are smashed right into one side of the patty, and then grilled until browned and crisp. This was a decently made and seasoned patty (though cooked well past the offered medium rare) topped with a spoonful of gooey soft caramelized onion (despite the menu saying it’s topped with crispy fried onions), and a candy sweet mild chili sauce. Not at all what I was hoping for. 530 pesos ($6.50 official, $3.60 blue). Maybe that’s good. If a place with burgers as good as the original spot was open five blocks from home, I’d probably be eating there twice a week. This one is fine, though doesn’t top the best burgers available here in Recoleta, like the burgers at Pony Line Bar or Abocado Cantina. [See comment below for an update]
Bar San Martín, Paraguay 2309, Recoleta – This one popped onto my radar from a recent article in a local online magazine where chef Dante Liporace, who has showed up on these pages from Moreno, to Tarquino, to Bourbon Brunch & Beer, (and now two others spots that I haven’t yet gotten to, Uptown Bar and Mercado de Liniers) was offering up his favorite spots to eat in the ‘hood. He highly touted the cantimpalo sandwich as “a beast”. It comes in two sizes, one a wan, cold version of a few slices of the sausage topped with cheese, on a classic pebete sandwich roll, which the counterman unequivocally did not recommend. The other, a large split and butter toasted pita bread, filled with a whole lot of both sausage and cheese, and then broiled until golden brown and gooey. A beast indeed, and one I’ll be back for more than once. It is a bit on the heavy side, and could use a touch of something to cut that – I’m thinking maybe the next time seeing if they’re up for adding in a slice of tomato on each quarter… (350 pesos, $4.25 official, $2.40 blue).
Mozart Kosher, Larrea 715, Once – One of two branches of this kosher deli, the other in Palermo. Limited menu – a few sandwiches, some salads, and a couple of main course type items. It’s a milchik kosher spot, i.e., dairy based, so not meats other than fish. I can’t resist a good deli smoked salmon sandwich, and though was offered the option to adorn it with my choice of garnishes, opted to go with the house classic of sliced avocado, heart of palm, and mayo. Yum. That’s a combination I’d have never thought of myself, but it works, and works really well with the smokiness of the salmon. A little bit messy to eat, you almost want to use a knife and fork, and worth every bite especially at 300 pesos ($3.70 official, $2.10 blue). Also excellent boios (sort of like a round ball style knish), particularly the mushroom, cabbage, and onion stuffed one.
La Fina, José Hernández 1395, Belgrano – Hmm… I have to admit, I’m not sold on this place. Especially with the proliferation of really good Neapolitan style pizza spots over the last year or two. It’s cute – it’s a counter in an old garage, with outdoor seating only. The boys who work their are even cuter. But that’s kind of where the draw ended for me. It’s not that it’s a bad pizza, it’s just not as good as the other spots around that we’ve tried. The dough is kind of bland, white bready, and it’s not cooked to the point where you get that lovely char, it’s not raw, but it’s not quite… done. The tomato sauce is decent, as is the mozzarella, but no more than that. And then, for whatever reason, the mortadella topping it is ice cold, just draped there. Why? Mortadella cooks up beautifully and tastes even better with a touch of browning. Plus the whole ice cold versus hot thing. Likewise the tasty pesto drizzled over it was refrigerator cold. And, it’s small – notedly smaller than the individual pies at many of the spots we’ve been. Kind of a yawn. 410 pesos, $5 official, $2.80 blue.
Viejo Mundo, Av. Warnes 2702, Paternal – This spot got on my list back when the city of BA was doing these online competitions for various categories of “Best of” in your neighborhood. There was pizza, burgers, parrillas, and, if I recall, bodegones, or essentially, old school dives. The kind of places you go hang out with your buds, but probably wouldn’t take a date to until you’ve known each other a good while. Perfect spot for the Roving Ravenous Horde to set down for our 88th outing! It took a bit to get out to where it’s located, and I’m not going to say you don’t feel like you’re in a bit of a sketchy part of town – but it’s relatively easy by bus or cab. All outdoor seating (there might be a couple of tables inside, but can’t be more than a couple – instead, awning covered sidewalk areas, with the option for when weather’s bad to seal up the sides and outdoor heaters provided.
We really didn’t know what to expect. One thing notable is that their menu touts, extensively, their specialties of various escabeches and other dishes made with less well known meats – things like nutria, vizcacha, yacaré, conejito, and more. They’re also noted, particularly, and in the original article that I saw the place in, for their seafood dishes.
So what’s a group of five of us to do? Sampler plates, of course! We ordered up their most recommended dish, the Picada de mariscos, a mixed shellfish platter, which for the price of 2300 pesos, about $28 at official rate and $16 at the “blue rate”, plus we then got a 30% discount on it for reserving through TheFork app, was beyond generous. It’s a huge whopping platter of mixed grilled and fried seafood – fried cornalitos, cod, baby calamaretes, and calamari rings, grilled calamari and octopus, mussels, shrimp, and prawns – beautifully cooked (only the octopus was a trifle overdone) – probably about a kilo and half of food. Served with lemon wedges, and a sort of weird sauce that wasn’t quite tartare sauce – something that would have made a tasty dish even better.
And, on the meat side of things, there’s a selection of different parrilladas, or mixed grills, and we went with the house specialty, which came with shortribs, pork shoulder, chicken, and a whole mix of innards – sweetbreads, kidneys, chitlins, chorizo, and morcilla sausages. Again, cooked properly – other than the intestines, which could have been cooked a bit longer. Rocking good chimichurri with a hefty kick of chili. (1600 pesos, $20 official, $11 blue, and again, a 30% discount on that!) Wine, water, and much happiness all around.
Great service, especially given that there was only one waitress and a busboy handling about twenty tables. Way too much food – the two platters were advertised as being for 3 and 2 people respectively, but all five of us could have happily eaten just the shellfish plate and still been sated. With discount, and tip (on the undiscounted amount), we ate, with plenty of leftovers to take home, for 720 pesos apiece, $8.80 official, $5 blue.
[…] 4092, Saavedra, at the north end of the city. This is the second restaurant opened by the owners of La Fina, which I’ve reviewed before on a solo visit. One thing I didn’t note, actually […]
A recent return to La Birra Recoleta. This is the “Lover Burger”. I’ve been on a bit of a “pickle burger” kick recently, and so I just asked the guy at the counter which burger would be the best for that. He started with this one, though pointed out there were several that included pickles. But the jaw dropping part for Buenos Aires was the off-hand comment, “of course, we can just add pickles, or extra pickles, to any burger on the menu, you can do that with any of our toppings”. What? In Buenos Aires? Add things to your burger to get it your way? These guys would win my vote just for that.
But better, is that unlike that first visit when they first opened a year or so ago, the burger is on point, like the original location, and even the fries are back up to snuff. The Lover Burger, by the way, is a double patty, topped with bacon, emmenthal cheese, red onions, crispy onions, pickles (and extra pickles at my request), and aïoli. What’s not to like?