On a back street in Belgrano, near to Chinatown, a steakhouse and butcher shop opened up a couple of years ago. While one of our past members of the Horde had dined here and highly recommended it, none of the rest of us had made the trek. Corte Comedor, at Olazábal 1391, was our destination last week. “Corte” means cut, and in regard to steakhouses, it refers to the a cut of meat. Prior to lunching we briefly perused the butcher shop, which offers a great selection of cuts of beef, plus some lamb and pork, including a dry-aged selection of beef, and artisanal cheeses from Couly, among other offerings.
As part of, I presume, post-pandemic procedures, Corte has set themselves up with a lot of outdoor seating, including both sidewalk tables and a patio in the rear, along with a large dining room. We opted for the patio garden, a lovely shaded spot, and quite comfortable. Officially they only accept reservations at two set times, noon and 2pm, though it was immediately obvious that either they disregard those times in practice, or at least customers do. Folk wandered in over the entire time we were there from noon until around 2:30, and the place never filled up, though it did get reasonably busy. And unless you’re going to allow time to completely sanitize the place between seatings, it makes no sense to do this.
The menu opens with a nice selection of creative sounding appetizers, and then followed by simple grilled steaks and other meats, plus a selection of vegetable side dishes. It all adds up quite quickly – this was easily the most expensive meal the Horde has ever gone out on, even taking into account the current exchange rates – topping out at nearly 4000 pesos ($40) a person.
Service is friendly, but not particularly attentive – they did seem to be a bit short-staffed to handle a lunch crowd. And we weren’t impressed with the misstep of the waiters bringing out main courses before we’d even finished dishing up the appetizers to share. They were trying to clear appetizer plates that we hadn’t even eaten in order to put down the main dishes. We sent those back to await until we were ready. Given their condition when they arrived about twenty minutes later at our request, all they’d done is set them aside under heat lamps.
So, on to the food….
First, an array of sausages, which they are noted for. We’d asked for the pear and blue cheese morcilla (blood sausage) that they’ve gotten a lot of press for, but received a Basque style morcilla (520 pesos!). Still excellent, just not the one we were expecting. A trio of flavored chorizos were interesting – we really liked the jalapeño infused one, and the chicken one (1360 pesos). The herb filled one was… odd, and we kind of toyed with it and didn’t finish it (and we had five of us sharing these plates). The lamb merguez sausages were flavorful, perhaps not as spicy as I’d have expected, but more than made up for with the accompanying delicious hummus, yogurt and onion salad (of which they brought an extra place, in case we wanted more – we did – and definitely the best of the sausage plates at 1360 pesos).
The griddled asparagus were excellent, in a flavorful sabayon sauce and fried capers (630 pesos). I think it was actually my favorite thing on the table during the whole meal.
We’d asked for all the steaks to be cooked medium rare. The ribeye was cooked to a solid well done. The hanger steak was a mixed bag, with sections of it well done and others nearly raw. The leg of lamb was somewhere a shade past medium. Accented by an herb puree and lemon it was the most creative of the three plates, albeit not very. It was all good, but neither something special, nor worth the high prices charged, and all overcooked and a touch dried out (again, probably because it all, as a guess, sat under heat lamps and/or was reheated – but that’s on the kitchen, or the waitstaff, who decided to rush them out). Respectively, these came in at 2740, 2950, and 2660 pesos, for what were touted as roughly 1 pound portions, but I’d be surprised if either the lamb or ribeye were much over half a pound.
A large dollop of oily potato puree at 510 pesos didn’t impress. The roasted “broken potatoes” with rosemary and garlic were a solid winner (and my second favorite thing of the day) at 550 pesos. The grilled broccoli and poached eggs with lemon and garlic were a bit shocking, delivered refrigerator cold (630 pesos) – when you order something grilled, and poached, that’s not an expectation. If the dish had been hot, it would have been up there with the asparagus.
The wine list is likewise pricey. Not so much out of line – most of the wines seem to run about 50% over retail – but the cheapest wine on the list was about 1500 pesos, and they ran up to into the high four figures. A bottle of Alfredo Roca’s Parceles Originales Sangiovese 2018 was a hit, but rang in at almost 2000 pesos (retail runs around 1350).
Overall, I can’t say I was impressed. I like the look of the place, but I found service lacking. And in truth, I wasn’t impressed by the food, certainly not for the prices. I might have liked it more if the meat hadn’t all been overcooked and somewhat dry because of the timing error. It was all good (other than that broccoli dish), but none of it more than that. The group’s reaction was more mixed, a couple of people liked it a lot more than I did, a couple didn’t. For me, it goes on the “meh” list.
