What has The Roving Ravenous Horde been up to? The question on everyone’s lips.

First up, a visit to Manteca Restó, Uriarte 1657, Palermo. Trendy, sleek, looking a bit like an IKEA showroom, this spot has been getting some great press, and seemed a perfect spot for our foursome of the day.

Scallops ceviche, with two or three bay scallops inside each shell, cured in a well balanced leche de tigre. Rather than stock the liquid with chili, traditional Peruvian style, they’ve opted to put a dab of a fiery little hot sauce at the back of each shell, allowing those who don’t want the heat to avoid it, while the rest of us could mix it in. (950 pesos)

An interesting take on gambas al ajillo, one of our favorite dishes of prawns cooked in garlicky oil. Here it’s served atop a puck of lightly crispy polenta. (900 pesos)

I think this might have been a favorite on the table, crispy sweetbreads stop a creamy onion puree, and topped with a potato crisp, and (out of sight), a baton of fried humita, basically a fresh corn version of tamale filling. We ordered two plates of it. (980 pesos)

Over many seasons of many cooking competition shows, we’ve all come to know that even professional chefs have a hard time, it seems, getting risotto right. But the chef here doesn’t have that issue, and this three mushroom and almond version is easily one of the best risottos I’ve had in a long time (that I didn’t cook myself). (980 pesos)

An unexpected treat for an Argentine menu, a reasonably classic Beef Wellington served up with rosti potatoes and an intense beef jus. A trifle underdone on the Wellington – not so much the meat, which at a clear rare to medium rare was just fine with us, but the crust was still a bit doughy. Another few minutes in the oven would have worked wonders for what turned out to be a “just good” version of this dish. (2120 pesos)

And, a lovely bottle of wine to split, from a favorite boutique producer, Mosquita Muerta, a phrase that literally means dead mosquito, but refers to a person who everyone agrees has little to no potential for anything, who ends up being a resounding success. This was a first time try for all of us for the particular wine, a 100% Malbec called Cordero con Piel de Lobo, or Sheep in Wolf’s Skin, a reversal of the usual saying. (960 pesos)

We loved the space, we loved the food, and service was impeccable. Made it worth the somewhat steep price tag, given that we shared four appetizers, two main courses, two bottles of water, and a bottle of wine, plus tip, came in at 9000 pesos ($90).

---

Our second outing features a bit more of an outdoorsy setting. Oh, Narda Comedor, Sucre 664, Belgrano, has an indoor space, and quite a nice one. But it was such a beautiful day, and, when and where possible, we’re still opting for outside seating. The sidewalk tables were full (or, reserved, which was interesting, since according to their social media, they don’t accept reservations), but they have a bunch of picnic tables setup in the park across the street, so we grabbed one of those.

The menu changes, pretty much daily apparently – looking at the currently posted menu versus the one from the day we were there, five days difference, there are half a dozen changes to it. They link it online on their Instagram account, as well as, surprisingly, printing out new ones each day rather than the more common now, dropping a QR code on the table to read it on your phone. The menu is vegetable heavy, though nothing on the menu tells you if things are vegetarian or vegan, and my sense is that most things aren’t, but could easily be made so. There also seem to be one kind or another of nut on almost every plate (at least the ones we ordered), and not always noted on the menu, so if that’s an issue, ask, which you probably would anyway.

They have a small selection of wine and beer, and, hard ciders. Three of us opted for the latter – one each of apple, elderberry, and pear. Really good. I’ve had the pear cider from Pülku before and really liked it, and it was nice to see these on a restaurant menu. One service note – apparently two waiters didn’t show up for lunch service, so they were really understaffed, and things came out slowly and sporadically. Our waiter didn’t have enough glasses for all of us on the outdoor service station, and we were left one short – and it took him almost fifteen minutes to show up with the last glass.

The palta que lo parío…. “que lo parío” is basically a crude way of saying “wow”. And, a palta is an avocado. Our waiter’s explanation was somewhat lacking, leaning towards the technical in a listing of some of the ingredients. Turned out to be two halves of an avocado, the cut face grilled, topped with peanuts, red onions, quinua, parsley, all in a sort of ginger, soy, possibly a vague, almost, maybe hint of chili dressing, with a piece of griddled cheese on the side and lots of crushed peanuts and quinua around the plate. We sat and stared at it for awhile, because along with the missing glass, we had no silverware or napkins, and it wasn’t until he returned with the missing glass that we were able to get his attention for those. A bit pricey for this plate at 900 pesos ($9), even in today’s market.

Dishes continued to show up at random, now and then, so let’s just leave that part aside for now. Here, a half head of akusay, napa cabbage, over and topped with an herb and anchovy cream, and a whole lot of slivered almonds and dill. Half a soft-boiled (probably sous vide) egg on the side. We really liked the simplicity of this dish, I think I was enamored of it more than everyone else, but we finished everything on the plate. 870 pesos (you can do the math – these days, the peso is roughly 100 to the dollar).

Four fried artichoke halves, beautifully done, and topped with a bagna cauda that’s been emulsified into a mayonnaise… so really, a garlic and anchovy mayo. Lots of breadcrumbs, some hazelnuts and pieces of anchovy draped about. Delicious, and felt a bit more substantial. 900 pesos.

Our fourth appetizer (four of us ordered four apps and two main courses to share, as recommended by the waiter) didn’t show up. Instead, our two main courses came out next.

A spice, mostly cumin, rubbed pork, charred on the outside, moist inside. Served over a carrot and apple puree and garnished with a ton of fresh peas and green beans, plus some halved stalks of asparagus thrown in that weren’t mentioned, and a lot of parsley. Loved the vegetable part of this dish more than the pork and puree, but it was all good. And, the only dish to hit the table that didn’t have nuts. 1650 pesos is way up there for a plate of this size.

But, even pricier at 1900 pesos, a piece of slow braised osso buco in its braising liquid, atop some mashed potato and garnished with hazelnuts and broccoli. A bit lacking in the broccoli department, especially in comparison to the nice amount of vegetable accompanying the previous dish. For me, this was the least interesting dish on the table – lacking in salt and flavor, and kind of ordinary.

At this point, a different waiter came to clear everything and ask how lunch was. We pointed out that we’d never gotten our fourth appetizer, which set in motion a series of visits of him and our waiter, back and forth to us and each other, to make sure we knew that they were on the case… time that would have been better spent with one of them heading to the kitchen to actually get the dish made and brought to us. Don’t know if it was waiter or kitchen error… well, even if kitchen error, our waiter normally should have caught it, but probably given the number of tables he was handling, just missed seeing that we didn’t get it. Eventually…

A trio of very thin, very soft morcilla sausages, grilled nicely, but kind of lacking in flavor, atop a beautiful, silky, and flavorful cauliflower puree, and accompanied by a spiced bacon, cabbage, almond, and green onion salad (only the cabbage part of which was mentioned on the menu). Personally, I’d have just gone for the salad and the cauliflower and left the morcillas off the plate, they added nothing to it. And, at 1100 pesos, the most expensive appetizer on the menu.

So, overall… ambiance, hard to say. It was a beautiful day, so sitting outside was our choice, and hey, it was the outdoors, what’s not to like. Maybe a little more shade provided would have been nice – a few strategically placed patio umbrellas? Service was friendly, but just overwhelmed. Whether the claim of two waiters not showing up is true or not is hard to say. The outdoor picnic tables and sidewalk tables were being attended to by the same two waiters, which meant that between them they were handling about fifteen or sixteen tables. That’s a lot, especially for a restaurant of this caliber (it got named, last year, as one of Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants).

Food. Everything good to very good. Nothing wow, or, I should say, que lo parío. Heavy reliance on handfuls of nuts as garnishes, almost too much. And, for what we got, leaning a bit pricey, though not outrageous.

I’d be hard pressed to put this in my personal top fifty restaurants in Latin America. It might, perhaps, squeak into my top fifty for creative cooking in Buenos Aires. Maybe.