It’s not that among all the Asian and Peruvian and Burger and Pizza spots we don’t get out for Argentine food. It’s more that the traditional spots like steakhouses and bodegones rarely serve anything different or creative. There are only so many unadorned steaks or milanesas that I have interest in eating. And the few, though growing number, of creative spots, at least recently, seem more hype and hope than anything else. There have been notable exceptions, like Julia, Picarón, and Manteca, but they are exceptions, and for the most part, I just haven’t bothered to right up the real disappointments. The trio today all fell short of my hopes, but each had something about it that I quite liked, but not enough to want to run back and try more.

Now and again, I have to fit in some red meat in the form of steaks right off the grill, right?

I’m at Lo de Mary, Humahuaca 4099, Almagro. It’s one of those hole-in-the-wall parrillas that neighbors swear by, and virtually no one else ever goes to. Although it was on my list to check out some time or other, it wasn’t my planned destination, a nearby Peruvian spot that turned out to be closed for a private party. The place gets split reviews – people seem to either love it or hate it, with very few in between views. Most of the negative comments are related to service – that the waiters don’t pay attention, are slow to do things, and aren’t overly friendly.

Based on observation, and attention to my table, I’d say they give most of their attention and amiability to the tables with regulars, and those of us who aren’t familiar get short shrift. I sat at my table alone, without a menu, for nearly ten minutes while three different waiters passed by, chatted with other tables, and other than glancing at me, pretended I wasn’t waiting. Maybe they thought someone was going to join me, but no one asked. Finally, one waiter deigned to drop a menu at the table.

They get raves for their empanadas. The crust is quite nice, and it’s a fried empanada. The filling is mostly gristly, fatty cubes of beef, a few bits of tomato and green onion, and as best I could tell, no salt.

Likewise, the half of a flank steak, a medio vacio, which while beautifully charred on the outside, and cooked to a simple rare on the inside, a real plus, since they didn’t ask how I wanted it cooked. It was, however, completely unseasoned – no salt, no pepper. The ensalada rusa was a bit odd – the usual potato, carrot and peas mixture, but I swear that isn’t mayonnaise binding it together. It was more like sour cream or yogurt. And, again, no salt. I’m getting the approach here… no salt, leave it to the customer to add.

Even the chimichurri and salsa criolla were unsalted, so both were very vinegary, though nice and fresh other than that.

I did still finish the steak, and about two thirds of the potato salad. But boy did I have to add salt to things. Overall, service, if you’re not a regular, does appear to be slow and inattentive. But I didn’t find it to be unfriendly as some have claimed. The food was of decent quality, though no more than that. I can’t say I’m fond of the “no salt” approach. Despite BA’s laws about limiting the use of salt in restaurant cooking, they could have added some, at least enough to give the food more flavor, because it’s just not the same sprinkling some atop after the fact. It’s fairly inexpensive, I don’t have the receipt, but for the three dishes plus a bottle of water, and tip, I think it came in under 2000 pesos ($16).  Meh. It’s not bad, but it’s not interesting enough of a place to go back to.

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How about a little creativity on the Argentine front? I’ve been hearing about this place for about a year now, and a couple of us headed out to check out what all the hoopla was about.

Arrabal Cantina Porteña, Santos Dumont 4056, Chacarita. I like the look of the place. And the mural behind the bar is kind of fun. They do keep the lighting a bit low for those of us with aging eyes… it was barely possible to read the menu without added light, and all the food just looked sort of shadowy and dark. Service was friendly, and reasonably efficient.

While awaiting my friend’s arrival, I ordered up a Bloody Mary – it was brunch, after all. One of the better ones I’ve had in BA, so that was a great start, though perhaps a bit pricey at 750 pesos ($6)  for a cocktail? I don’t know… it’s been so long since I ordered a cocktail in a bar….

Two appetizers in particular caught our eyes – sweetbreads over a broad bean puree, topped with crispy sweet potato strips. They might have gone a bit overboard on the latter, and a bit… underboard on the sweetbreads. Still, quite tasty. The other, hanger steak croquettes. Not exactly what we expected – basically large meatballs of almost nothing but ground hanger steak, reasonably well seasoned, but kind of unrelentingly same-same all the way through, and the crispy breadcrumb coating really didn’t add anything to them. Maybe make them smaller, more bite-sized, or put something in them mixed with the meat, like potato, or vegetable. After a couple of them, we left the rest. 990 pesos apiece ($8).

On the main courses we went seafood. A gratin of bay scallops was… well, unpleasant. The scallops were cooked to the point of being chewy and mealy and were just overwhelmed by the bechamel and cheese. The seafood burger, a blend of salmon, prawns, and scallops, was basically just a falling apart mush of seafood in some sort of creamy base – it didn’t hold together as any sort of burger. And the fries were soft, oily, and unsalted – a request for salt, and some sort of condiment for them was met with surprise. We gave up on both plates about halfway through. 1600 and 1750 pesos, respectively ($13, $14.25)

Interestingly, no one asked why we left a third to a half of three out of four plates, they were just cleared with no comment. Overall? Meh. I don’t get the hype. I’d go back for the Bloody Mary and not much else. Hmm… maybe it’s time for a Bloody Mary quest. Locals… any thoughts on who has the best one around? I tried to do this years ago, but there were so few places offering them that I more or less gave it up.

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We had a neighborhood spot for decent, local fare, that just didn’t make it during the pandemic. The spot sat empty for over a year, and suddenly was under renovation.

Corchio, Av. Las Heras 2001, Recoleta. It sure looks a whole lot nicer than it did! It used to be just sort of diner-ish.

Service is, I don’t know, different. It starts from that there’s an assigned person to stand at the door and open it for customers coming in and out. The door isn’t locked, it isn’t a security thing, it’s just an oddity. Waitstaff, for a relaxed neighborhood spot, seem a bit buttoned up and formal. Just relax. The menu is pretty classic local fare, with a few creative touches. I’ve visited twice; once solo and once with Henry. The first time, I got this massive sandwich paper wrapped pile of bread, with two slices of brown bread, two of white, and three… pizza rolls, more or less. For one person. And everyone got the same. Ten days later on the revisit, we got a small paper bag, and inside, two slices of brown bread, one of white, and what appeared to be the heel of a baguette. The bag is nice for taking leftover bread with you.

On my solo visit I started with a couple of empanadas. On the left, a classic carne picante, a spicy beef empanada that was not nice and flavorful, with beef and vegetables inside, but was actually spicy enough to wake me up. On the right, a morcilla, or blood sausage, empanada. I’ve only had a couple of those before at different places, and this one is hands down the best one I’ve tried. The filling is excellent. 220 pesos, $1.75, apiece.

I also ordered up one of my favorite casual lunch/brunch kind of dishes, a revuelto gramajo, about which I’ve written at length. Now, they offer it in two versions at Corchio, one the classic scrambled egg with fries and ham, the other substituting in smoked salmon. I opted for the latter, but got the former, and when I noted that to the waitress, but told her to leave it and I’d try the classic, she just shrugged and said something about not having been sure which I wanted. Umm… so… ask? It was pretty good. Not a wow, but done right. Maybe slightly overdone on the eggs – I like them softer, and at many places they’ll ask you which you prefer, but it wasn’t so overdone as to be dry. Good but not good enough to make it onto my map of favorite spots. 1100 pesos, $9.

On the return visit with Henry, it was a national holiday, and they were offering a locro as a special of the day. We both opted for that. Now, I know that when one is scooping out a stew, it’s kind of hit and miss which bits and pieces you get. This was specified to contain pork shoulder, roast beef, three kinds of sausages, and pigs’ trotters, along with corn, large white beans, squash, and “a secret ingredient that makes the best locro“. I didn’t find any trotter in my bowl, there was a small piece of pork skin, so maybe that was from one, and the only sausage I saw was the salchicha parillera, I didn’t see pieces of either fresh or cured chorizo. Way too much squash – the dish was actually sweet. And a request for hot sauce yielded the response that they didn’t have any, but our waiter did give us each three grinds of black pepper. Overall it was fine, but nothing special. No idea what the secret ingredient is, but it certainly didn’t make for the “best locro“. 1300 pesos, $10.50.

They also charge a cubierto, which for a new spot is unusual – almost everyone opening restaurants these days has realized that that’s a relic from a past era. It’s only 200 pesos, or $1.60, a person, but it’s still an upcharge. On the other hand, they do give you a bag to take home the extra bread on the table….

Overall, it’s a step up from what used to be there before, but a touch pretentious. It’s only two blocks from home, so I’m sure we’ll eat there more, but my sense is, it’ll just be a casual spot to drop in and have a bite now and again.