In which, I revisit some spots I’ve reviewed in the past, a sort of bumping up to consciousness of spots that are worth your time as the restaurant world scrabbles to recover from 14+ months of pandemic restrictions. And counting….

Let’s start casual. Still one of my favorite burgers in town, ever since declaring it the best burger of the first half of 2018. Fat Broder, Charcas 3787, Palermo maintains itself in my top five burgers around the city, and it’s easily the most convenient of the five for me to get to – I can walk there in short order. This time around, after a lovely guided audio tour of the Botanical Gardens’ statuary from friend Frank Almeida, I ordered up their Jack Burger, with bacon, lettuce, jack cheese (not sure where they get that down here, I’ve never seen it, but it tasted right), and barbecue sauce (thankfully not too sweet). Yup, still one of my top burgers. Great fries. And they still offer that amazing smoked eggplant mayo to dip your fries into. 700+ pesos, roughly $8, I don’t remember the exact price. Outdoor seating along the sidewalk.

Off to another part of town and a casual lunch at Maum, Ruperto Godoy 709, Floresta. I’ve mentioned that street, or alleyway, a few times over the years, as a little gastro-destination, and apparently having finally recognized that, the city has up and repaved it, building owners have fixed up a few of the more disheveled properties, and it’s now a much nicer spot to go and hang out. The menu remains pretty much the same – kimbap, ramen, udon, tteokbokki. The lunch special, while still a great deal at 700 pesos, limits you to a hotdog kimbap and simple vegetable udon, but not my favorites. This time around, a panceta kimbap and a tempura prawn ramen (440 and 600 pesos, respectively, total around $11). Outdoor seating on the rooftop, plus a couple of tables in the alleyway in front, though those seem more for just having a quick coffee and pastry, which they also offer.

Although I’ve given a full review to the original Paru Inkas Sushi & Grill in Belgrano, and a short one to their Palermo Chico Paru Deli Inka Sushi bar, I’d only tried their Recoleta based Paru Inkas Sushi & Grill, at Av. Libertador 798 (behind Patio Bullrich) via delivery a couple of years back. There’s not much to say that I haven’t before. I love the little kaniwan fried wontons, and their sushi is top notch, and offers some even more creative selections than in the past. It ain’t cheap, with the wontons, a selection of nigiri, a maki roll, iced tea, and tip coming in at 3200 pesos ($34), so it’s likely to be only a very occasional treat, but damn it’s good, and my go-to spot in Recoleta, Maki is now takeout only and for a similar order would run about 2200 pesos ($23), so still getting up there – sushi has just gotten more and more expensive here. Outdoor seating in a fenced off area with a tent type roof along the sidewalk.

I’ve only been to Mengano Bodegón, José A. Cabrera 5172, in Palermo once, for a solo dinner at the bar, and it was amazingly good. My “complaint” at the time was that the portion sizes were huge and were designed for two people to share, or pretty close to it. With the various restrictions once again in place due to the pandemic, Mengano is now open for lunch rather than dinner, and offering a pared down, more casual style of food with sandwiches, salads, and pastas. This was a Roving Ravenous Horde lunch, with a quartet of us trying four of their dishes. From the top, a barbecued rib sandwich, a tapa de asado milanesa sandwich (basically breaded “rib cap”), tagliatelle carbonara, and sweetbread ravioli in a mushroom XO sauce. You know my penchant for good carbonara, and this was made right, without cream, though in an interesting twist, with interwoven strips of lardo rather than crispy lardons of guanciale or panceta. Flavor delicious, though I kind of missed the textural crunch that the lardons give. The two sandwiches, delightful – I’d like that tapa de asado just as a big milanesa on a plate. And the ravioli? Wow. I could eat plates of those. That mushroom XO sauce was an absolute winner. Again, not cheap, but not outrageous. We had a really good bottle of wine, plus waters all around, and tip, and if I remember right, came in around 1800 pesos each, around $19. Outdoor seating along the sidewalk at tables under the trees lining the street.

Who doesn’t love comfort food? And my favorite spot for Argentine comfort food has been for many years, and still is, Urondo Bar, Beauchef 1204, Parque Chacabuco. Since my first review back in 2006, during my first year here, and right around the time we opened Casa SaltShaker, on through numerous visits to the most recent review about six years ago, I’ve never had a meal that wasn’t completely satisfying. And Javier Urondo has become a good friend here. Imagine my surprise that the rest of the Horde who were available had never been! We ate our way through a good portion of the currently pared back menu – provoleta with marinated and grilled tomatoes, housemade sausages with a spicy salsa criolla, and grilled housemade morcilla with a fried egg; then on to main courses with roasted bluefish and potatoes, wine braised calamari and potatoes; kimchi infused pork belly and mash; and osso buco with mash. Once again, all excellent, and at least one of our group is already talking about going back this week with other friends. With a bottle of wine, waters, and tip, 1700 pesos each, currently about $18.

Price conversions, by the way, are at official rate, we still have the infamous blue rate, for which you could cut all those dollar estimates by a third.