Time for some meat! A trio of steakhouses that have been on my list for eons. Literal eons. Since the creation of the cow. Or, like, somewhere around a decade. Don’t ask why I haven’t gotten to them. I have hundreds of restaurants on my list to try. Please feel free to fund my trying them out. Otherwise, I get to one or two a week.
The somewhat dingy interior of El Gran Mosquito (their napkins only say El Mosquito, perhaps left over from prior to becoming Gran), Juan Peron 4499, Almagro, just a block or so off of Parque Centenario. Although it is possible to order from their not overly long menu, it appears that 99% or more of the folk who eat there go with the parrilla libre, the all you can eat. It’s not a buffet, they bring food to you, in a semi-set order, and you can order more of anything you want as you go. The 6800 peso pricetag (a little over $11) includes all the food you want, two beverages (water, soft drinks, beer, wine), dessert (just one portion, not all you can eat). If it’s good, that’s a steal.
The menu lists the various things you’ll get. At my waitress’ suggestion, I just left things in her hands to bring them “a little at a time, just enough to try everything, and then you can decide what you want more of”. Started off with an excellent empanada, packed with diced steak and green olives.
And then… all this. A plate of fries, an arugula, sun-dried tomato, and fresh mozzarella salad, a provoleta, chorizo, and morcilla. The rest is condiments – lemon, some pickled eggplant, and a trio of sauces – criolla, provencal, chimichurri. The morcilla was the winner for me – one of the better ones I’ve had. The chorizo was fine, if a bit bland, the provoleta was strangely chewy. The salad and fries were good but nothing special.
Then the innards – a thick slice of grilled kidney and two chinchulines, or chitlins, you know, grilled small intestines. The kidney was quite good, the chinchulines needed a little more time on the grill, but were fine.
Surprisingly, she asked me how I wanted my various steaks cooked. “Various steaks” is worrisome, because I’m already starting to fill up, even though I haven’t really eaten more than a couple of fries, a little salad, and just a bite of the provoleta. I guess I did finish off both sausages, the empanada, the kidney, and one of the chinchus…. But a four rib tira de asado and about a four ounce flank steak, both cooked medium rare, seems like a dare at this point. I wasn’t overly fond of the rib – a bit too fatty for my tastes, but I did work my way through about half the flank.
Now, looking at the menu, there was still chicken, pork shoulder, and suckling pig to come. I just couldn’t. I’m thinking, she’s giving me portions for two people, but no, looking around, everyone’s getting this amount of food per person. I throw in the towel, and she chides me a bit, pointing out that she’s no bigger than I am, and she can handle not only an entire first round like this – through to the suckling pig, but usually gets more of her favorites.
I settle for just dessert, from a half dozen choices, the apple crumble appeals, and arrives in short order topped with vanilla ice cream and strawberry sauce. I make it through about half.
If you’re hungry, this is a great deal. With the exception of the provoleta, which just had an off texture, I liked everything. It did all need salt. Not a lot, but some. I could see going back and just ordering the parts of the all-you-can-eat that I’m more fond of, and being quite happy.
Closed! That’s what it says. Then again, that’s what it always says. Behind this vaguely abandoned looking storefront is Parrilla SecreTiTo, Dorrego 2720, Las Cañitas. You ring the bell, or, really, if you stand in front of the place, the young women guarding the gates tend to peer out every couple of minutes to see if someone is waiting. On entering, there’s the roaring fires of the steakhouse kitchen, and some jammed together tables in a relatively small dining room.
But, there’s a stairway towards the back that goes up to a second level that’s basically 100% seating area, with a blurry view out over the avenue. I was the first one in on this day, sans reservation, which earned me a mildly disapproving glare, and an admonition that they needed the table back in an hour and fifteen minutes.
I ordered a pingüino of wine and the highly recommended provoleta rellena, a stuffed version of this grilled cheese. My waiter immediately offered up that their portions are huge (and they seemed a bit pricey), are intended for 2-3 people to share, but that anything on the menu is available in a half portion. Now, this is bigger than almost every provoleta that I’ve ever had, and is jammed with layers of ham and topped with what has to be an entire large onion sliced and cooked down with herbs. This, by itself, is enough for 2-3 people as an appetizer – I have trouble imaging the full portion.
The top recommended cut here is their slow cooked vacio, or flank steak, which is braised for six hours and then seared on the grill. This, is the half portion, again – each of those four is an entire steak from my perspective – it had to be a full kilo of meat. I ate one and a half of them and called it quits. Too, the half portion of a guarnición, in this case ensalada rusa, was massive. That’s a dinner plate it’s on, not a side plate – rough estimate, 8″x5″x2″ – had to be well over a pound of salad. Now, you pay for it – as I said, the menu looked pricey with the full portions (half portion prices aren’t listed for everything, but seem to run around 60% of the full portion price), and these halves were, respectively, 2400, 5500, and 1600 pesos.
After making my way through a bit less than half of each plate, I had the rest packed up to go.
Overall? Not overly impressed with the ambiance, but the service was excellent, and the food was very good. It’s easily one of the best ensalada rusas that I’ve had here – the balance was just perfect. The quality of the meat is high, everything was well seasoned. I just don’t recommend going alone, unless you’re really hungry or want at least one meal’s worth of leftovers. And, make a reservation.
The Horde headed out on a recent steak-y venture to check out a place that seems to be an “in-the-know” favorite. In fact, after posting on Instagram about Don Zoilo, Av. Dr. Honorio Pueyrredón 1406, Caballito, two local friends were like “oh yeah, that’s a great place”, and I’m like, “so why have you never mentioned it before?” We were a bit charged up after seeing the dry-aging chambers, and we actually got seated at a table in the room with them, but, unfortunately, none of them were ready for consumption (they basically stick a half a cow into each, and they’re ready on a rotating basis, after 45 days, and we’d missed them selling out the last one, and the next one wasn’t ready yet.
For four of us, we ordered up a single entraña, or hanger steak, and a portion of the lomo, or sirloin. The former was about an 18-20″ long strip, and the latter was three roughly six-ounce medallions. Perfectly seasoned, butter tender to cut, cooked right, accompanied by mounds of decent fries. Great place indeed!
Also tried by one of our folk, a platter of sweetbreads, cooked right and seasoned right; and, another had a milanesa, which was massive, and somehow I didn’t get a picture of.
We finished off with a trio of shared desserts – a bread pudding, a chocolate mousse, and a tiramisu. The last, the best I’ve had in Buenos Aires. The bread pudding quite good. The chocolate mousse was just… no… pass.
Given that the steaks are easily enough for two, it makes the prices of 6-7000 apiece very reasonable. The sweetbreads and milanesa, running the same, and being individual orders (albeit the milanesa was easily enough for two people), would also be recommended as shared plates. Good wine list, with reasonable prices.
All in all, fantastic atmosphere and ambiance, great service, great food. I do want to go back and try it again, but I think this spot might just move into my top five for steakhouses.
