Relatively new to the Palermo Soho restaurant scene, Aipim is one of those special gems where everything on the menu looks like something you’d want to order. All the factors that make a restaurant great are there: attentive service, a keen eye on presentation, and of course, banging food. It’s the type of place where you instantly feel welcome, treated by the owner like a regular, and begin planning your next visit before you have even finished your meal. Open for dinner four days per week, and midday only one, I brunched it up Domingo-style with an impressively elaborate six course meal.Owned by the young and talented cocinera Naiara Calviño, this Latin American-influenced menu offers dishes inspired by the chef’s travels, using only fresh and in-season ingredients. An intimate cozy space with only about 20 covers, the underground converted loft-like style has bricks covering the high-walled space. It’s like a puerta abierta kind of spot, where although you are actually in a real restaurant, there is still the onda that you have just stepped into the chef’s apartment, decorated with photos and books from her South American cooking travels.Aipim, the Portuguese word for mandioca (or yuca), has not only a Brazilian influenced menu, but also Latin American flavors and ingredients from Argentina, Peru, Paraguay, Chile, Colombia — and even some sprinklings of Asian flavors. The dinner menu changes seasonally, but you can expect dishes like pork with black beans, fried plantains and a salad of red onion with orange, mango and cilantro — or duck bread with sopa paraguaya and caramelized peaches.The brunch menu changes weekly, but always starts off with the best way to start the day: a bowl of fresh-baked breads. Packed with carbolicious wonders, a homemade high quality panera is the ultimate litmus test that sets the tone for the rest of the meal. And expectations were mighty high since Naiara was in charge of pastelería at one of my favorite Buenos Aires restaurants, Urondo Bar.This bread basket passed the test, it was the type of bread basket you’d like to stuff what’s left into your purse and save for later, but your fatty ass eats it all before you can begin the purse stuffing. Served with a grapefruit butter and raspberry marmalade, I could have eaten the focaccia and rye bread (with honey, oats, raisins and apricots) all day long.  The croissant-like medialuna might just win the award for top 5 medialunas in the city – flaky, buttery, warm, with layers of doughy insides – butter me up.It seems like 2012 has been the year of yogurt casero. The capital city of Buenos Aires is demanding their yogurt, and demanding it homemade. This version is made with granola, fruit and brown mascavo sugar – simply creamily delicious. Next up an egg dish, which varies from week to week. This was a scrambled egg on top of a crispy sweet potato croquette, in-house cured salmon, asparagus and cherry tomato confit. Possibly a bit too much going on, it didn’t really matter because each individual component was well seasoned and very tasty on its own (especially the croquette and salmon).I wasn’t a huge fan of the consistency of the ultra-creamy puré-like scrambled eggs, but the flavor was on point.This might have been my favorite course of the meal – bondiola CASERA (homemade strips of pork shoulder) served with caramelized mango and a few hojas of arugula silvestre.  I wanted to pop ten more of these mango-bondiola bites into my boca. Sweet n’ salty, I really hate it when people use the lame term ‘party in my mouth’ – but it really was a fucking fiesta on the tongue, dancing away on MDMA all over my taste buds. Ooooo how lovely and refreshing it is when a cook can actually tempura properly, perfectly, in a juicy yet non-greasy way. This Asian-influenced white salmon tempura-ed, roasted corn and pickled cucumber and radish with a hoisin sauce really made a beautiful dish. It’s a dish I’d like to eat again, but didn’t think it meshed together with the rest of the brunch. Fried food is my BFF, but being quite full from the other four courses + bread basket, and eating the sweet potato croqueta that was also fried, I wanted something a bit lighter.Remember what I said about fried being my BFF? It was welcomed with open mouths for this pre postre: a little cylinder filled with guayaba, and served atop of a piece of brie cheese. The good? I wanted more, many more. The bad? Although pre-warned about the temperature, it was way too hot to eat as served.

One of my favorite Buenos Aires desserts of all time – this vanilla bean panna cotta was topped with a passionfruit granita and a nuggety crumble. Vanilla bean specks galore, the maracuyá shaved ice and sugary buttery crumble, not only had incredible flavors, but all the textures went together like a happy Polygamist family.This dish totally reminded me of my other favorite Buenos Aires dish: the lulo mousse from Hernán Gipponi restaurant in the Fierro Hotel. And it makes sense, Naiara used to work in the kitchen at HG. 
New restaurants always have a few kinks to work out. But luckily Aipim offers great food with interesting inventive flavors, beautiful presentation, a comfortable ambience and friendly service — where the chef/owner makes sure to set the tone with her pure buena onda presence in the front of the house.

Aipim
Thames 1535 (Palermo Soho)Villa Crespo
Tel: 4833-3223
Friday & Saturday: 8pm – close
Average price: AR$230 (dinner)
Reservations required

**NOTE: Aipim is now open in a new location as a closed door restaurant 

There’s something about a good caipirinha that just makes me happy. It’s like a sip of Ipanema in a short glass, minus the sand and hot Brazilian bodied thonged sungas. Despite the close proximity of the two countries, and the large number of Brazilians in Argentina, for some strange reason Buenos Aires only has a handful of Brazilian restaurants, most of which do not do Brazilian food justice. But now little Brazil has reached Palermo Hollywood, making Boteco do Brasil a solid spot to get your dose of Brazil on a plate, with some extra cachaça on the side.A top pick for the local Brazilian community living in Buenos Aires, this eclectic cantina-style restaurant is legit: authentic dishes and a wide selection of caipirinhas — all run by actual Brazilians, from the cook, to the bartender to the servers. This tiny spot on Bonpland is decorated with kitschy Brazilian knickknacks and paintings of Brazil. There are only a handful of tables inside, and a handful more on the sidewalk. It’s hard to go to this place and not order a caipirinha. Sipping on one of their maracuyá-lima caipirinhas and I was instantly transported to the block parties in Lapa, attempting to booty dance with a bunch of big booties way out of my league. They make several different flavors – but I’ve found the ultimate combination is the lime-passionfruit.The menu consists of about a dozen of salgadinhos and appetizers, main dishes, vegetarian options and sides. Word to the wise: don’t go too hungry – service, although super friendly, can be somewhat slow.This empadinha de camarão (savory pie with shrimp) can do no wrong — it’s buttery, it’s seafoody, it’s a winner. I only wish it had less buttery pastry crust and more shrimpy insides.Make sure to order a spicy ají pepper sauce on the side — while it doesn’t have the insanely spice quality that they warned me of, it still had a picante kick.I know, I know, who goes to a Brazilian restaurant and orders chicken wings? Almost as bad as my KFC Kentucky Fried (Grilled?) Chicken when I was in Rio. But these were cooked nicely, crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside — pour a bit of molho de alho (garlic sauce) and molho de pimenta (spicy sauce) and you’re good to go. They also do a tabla where you can taste a bit of everything on the appetizer menu — and a seafood platter, which I didn’t taste, but I bet it’s a good thing to picar while sipping on some caipis. In this city you can really judge a cook by how they cook shrimp. So many times I experience mushy shrimp, rubbery shrimp, shrimp that still has the poop-shoot vein in tact — it’s very rare to come across a perfect bite of the shelled fish critters, but Boteco did it right in this Bobó de camarão: a mandioca puré with coconut milk, palm oil and shrimp.The main dishes are quite large – and come with sides – so it’s good to share. When I lived with Brazilian girls in college, they would cook pasta with cut up hot dogs in marinara sauce — this Brazilian food is much different. Feijoada, Stroganoff, ossobucco, fresh fish and a good ole’ carioca sampler with rice, black beans, farofa (manioc flour mixture), french fries and meat or chicken.

On Sundays they have live Brazilian music — the very talented Renato Dos Santos took over with some contagiously happy buena onda music, perfect for a little samba on the sidewalk.And if you are lucky, they might even throw an instrument in your hand and ask you to join the band. 

Boteco do Brasil
Bonpland 1367
4776-4806
Tues – Saturday: 11am – 12am
Sunday 5pm – 12am
Average price: 75 pesos

Summer is finally here, and even though the world didn’t end, I’m still eating like there’s no tomorrow.  Spring was filled with food fairs, chef stalking, bar hoppings, educational cocktail courses, urban gardens, computers breaking, hamburger discoveries and lots of Toddy cookies. Here’s a recap of the good, the bad and the butt ugly of my favorite time of the Buenos Aires jacarandá year.So there was this little food fair November 16 – 18 that you might have heard about called Masticar. Organized by the ACELGA organization (an org of chefs, cooks and restauranteurs) who teamed up with the government’s ‘get healthy’ campaign, Masticar marked a very historic day in the Argentine gastronomic scene. In a country that now has the highest rate of child obesity in Latin America, Masticar aimed to raise awareness to promote healthier, more conscience eating, highlighting local products that are affordable. The fair had some pretty BOMB food available, made fresh from the celeb chefs themselves. Some of Argentina’s biggest rock stars in the culinary world played a starring role, and I got the chance to get up close and personal at the press event. Culinary boners popping left and right, I was totally starstruck by the amount of cooking talent in one room.
While on the topic of chef stalking, I got the chance to attend GAJO’s latest pop-up dinner at Hernán Gipponi’s restaurant. An incredibly memorable food experience, my favorite dish of the night was the squab by Juan Pedro Rastellino. First time ever eating pigeon, and man was it good.I even got Pietro Sorba’s fabulous new book Nueva Cocina Argentina, featuring recipes from notable chefs, and the GAJO edition of El Gourmet magazine. Offering to sign my copy, with utter shameful excitement the chefs passed around the books for an autograph. Best.night.ever. Things are definitely changing in the Buenos Aires culinary world with what looks to be a very bright and delicious future.Honor y Causa is the perfect example of two young chefs who are doing big things.

As is Aipim and their wonderful brunch.

Asado season officially kicked off — talk about an international parrilla: Australia meets Colombia meets an Argentine grill.

Santi and Vanesa from ILatina are arepa-making Gods.

Eating in the aire libre season also kicked off so I made a massive Palermo list of the best places to eat outdoors.

I have to mention that I was almost out of the game, with my computer running on its last few legs. Spinning wheel of death syndrome in full force, I took my Macbook to the lord, savior and laptop repairman Oscar The Geek and he made it work better as new. Go to him if you are in computer dispair.

#TIA at Parrilla 22 and I’m not a fan. Stale fries, overcooked meat, dry chorizo, no gracias.

The time had come for a Buenos Aires expat club Korean BBQ / Chess Club Karaoke excursion. While I hear there are some new great Korean restaurants in Flores,  Mido can never really disappoint.My unhealthy and crack addiction to Toddy cookies somewhat subsided, but luckily I found a way to make these artificially enhanced cookies even worse for you: TODDY COOKIE CHEESECAKE!

I went on a bit of a salad binge, and found that these were the best spots I tried. I remember back in the day when you would order Caesar, and they’d bring you lettuce drenched in mayonaise. The past three Caesar salads I’ve tasted, at Baking BA (shown above), Kansas and even Decata (although expensive) were all really good.

 The Caesar at Home Hotel, however, missed the mark.

Back to Baking BA and their REAL English muffin breakfast sandwich with crispy bacon and Kraft-singles-equivalent cheddar cheese. Absolute perfection, it’s how I like to start my unhealthy mornings. Add a bit of egg in there, and I might travel to the centro just for that.Keeping up with the baking-breakfast sandwich theme, Café Crespín’s new spot Don opened in Villa Crespo. They have Krispy Kreme inspired doughnuts, decent bagels ($5 each), a toasted egg sandwich and iced coffee.Don, Crespin’s American-inspired to-go style deli.

Why does Indian food in Buenos Aires have to be so expensive? Luckily Akbar 72 in Recoleta exists, a fast food, take out only rotisserie owned by a family from Bangladesh. A decent option if you are in the neighborhood and want some cheap buffet-style Indian. I tried the garlic naan and samosas, both good (not great).

Till Bistro is just a few blocks away, and another nice spot. The polenta medallions were really tasty.

Almagro is the next Villa Crespo – gastronomical mecca here we come! La Cresta in Almagro is also the bomb – makes the 2012 best restaurant list, and it’s not even a full blown restaurant. Go there if you haven’t already. You’ll be pleased.  

Their wraps look good enough to smoke and tasty enough to eat.

In the same realm of good tasting, inexpensive fast food done right, La Puerta Roja is another spot that makes the best dressed list.

Páru inkas sushi & grill just re-opened in the fancy Vilas Club. This Osaka rival made mean Peruvian-Sushi fusion dishes with banging tiraditos, cocktails, ceviches, causas and grilled shrimp.Oh yeah, and they have an impressive display of salmon.

Pretty obsessed with all things Brazil related, Boteco do Brasil became my go-to caipirinha hang out. Because everyone needs a caipirinha hang out.

Everyone also needs a coffee hangout. In the middle of the San Telmo market, Coffee Town is the place to be.

In the attempt to curve my eating habits, the most logical thing for me to do was to start drinking more and writing about bars. So I did. And visited a bunch of them.

But the problem is, once you start drinking a lot, you end up eating even more. Oh well. It would be hard to give up a wine and cheese spread at my new favorite neighborhood wine bar, Bar du Marché. 

The new tasting menu at HG also makes the cut. Not only is the menu a winner, but those guys at Fierro sure know how to pair their wines – standouts were the  Zorzal Sauvignon Blanc 2012 + mollejas, Escorihuela Gascón Pequeñas Producciones Rosé + Chubut langostinos and my favorite, the Alegoría Gran Reserva Chardonnay + a grand truchón. I’d also like to eat this mega trout dish on a daily basis.

I have also been making a shitload of jarred goods – think chutneys, pickled onions and pickled peppers.

On a health kick, this has been my go-to dinner when I don’t know what else to cook: brown rice, lentils with tomatoes and a shitload of spicy Indian spices, topped with shredded cabbage, tomato, green pepper dice in a mint-cucumber yogurt dressing.I also put it in lettuce wraps. You can put pretty much anything inside lettuce wraps.

My health kick drastically was put to a halt after a Jauja ice cream incident — 14 flavors in under two hours, that’s gotta be some kind of record. Jauja ice cream is really something special. It was a special tasting/game where you had to guess the first 7 flavors, and if it had cream or egg, and the last 7 you had to try and guess the flavor blindfolded. I was one Aussie short of winning. Totally screwing the idea of any sort of diet, I thought it would be a good idea to embark on a hamburger tour, to find the best hamburger in Buenos Aires. Despite high hopes for new resto bar MAD in Belgrano, their signature burger disappointed, and while the salmon, chicken and lamb burger were all tasty, they were definitely not worth the hefty 70+ price tag. *And while I can appreciate the excellent bottle selection (they have Cristal for only $4,500) I also can’t help but mentioning the elevated prices all around – FORTY PESOS for a small Heineken?! MADness!

After countless dry, flavorless, expensive burgers — I just about gave up, too depressed to keep eating underwhelming burgers. Until I stepped into the Oasis Clubhouse and KAZAAAM – coming straight from the burger heavens, not only is this by far the best burger in Buenos Aires, it’s one of the best I’ve ever eaten.

Inspired by the Shake Shack model, this perfectly medium rare patty was pimped out with just the right ratios of cheese, lettuce, tomato, SPECIAL SAUCE and served on a pillowy-soft-as-a-bosom bun. Oh, and the seasoned fries were pretty bomb too. And I cannot help but give a WAZZUP shout out to the mini pork sliders. Perfection in a few small bites, it had that sweet, tangy, crunchy, porky, savory textures and flavors that appear in my pork-induced dreams. Well done, Clubhouse.
And due to popular demand, I’m whipping out on my best sausage charming flute and like a hungry chorizo-eating pied piper, leading food tours throughout the deliciously mean streets of Buenos Aires.

It has been quite the exciting year for the Buenos Aires food and restaurant loving community. Once was a subpar food city, Buenos Aires has quickly taken the spot for one of the world’s rising star food destinations. 2012 put Buenos Aires on the food map with young talented cooks emerging, great new restaurant openings, innovative and adventurous chefs doing what they do best, sommeliers and mixologists taking the spotlight and food fairs and markets receiving widespread attention. While top ten lists of 2012 are soooo 2012, here are the best new Buenos Aires restaurants, cafés and bars of 2012.

GAJO - Pop Up Restaurant Events

One of the most memorable meals I’ve ever had, what do you get when a dozen talented young Argentine cooks come together to form the ultimate mega gastro-mogul team? An insane culinary frenzy with too many chefs in the kitchen. Who is cooking the dinner? Hernán Gipponi (HG), Matías Kyriazis (Paraje Arevalo, Local, Casa Arevalo), Soledad Nardelli (Chila), Hernán Griccini (Mansión Algodón), Fernando Hara and Yago Márquez (Unik), Rodrigo Castilla (Las Pizarras), Gonzalo Aramburu (Aramburu), Juan Pedro Rastellino (Allium Catering), Antonio Soriano (Astor), Darío Gualtieri (Casa Umare), Juan Gaffuri (Four Seasons Hotel) and Martín Baquero (El Almacén de los Milagros).

I Latina - Villa Crespo

A taste of the Caribbean has finally made its way to Buenos Aires. Colombians are invading Buenos Aires, and bringing tasty Latin American flavor bursting treats. The Colombian brothers at this closed door Villa Crespo restaurant are striking gold with their Caribbean-style puerta cerrada. While they are known for their by-reservation only dinners Thursday – Saturdays, my personal favorite is their Sunday afternoon brunch that is just absolute perfection on a plate.

Bar du Marché – Palermo Hollywood Despite being a major wine destination, Buenos Aires overall lacks in the wine bar department. But praise to the Malbec Gods, a French style spot has emerged on the café-hub Nicaragua street. Offering over 50 wines by the glass, a rarity for the bottle-loving drinking culture, this adorable spot makes a killer cheese platter, offers daily lunch specials and is run by knowledgeable sommeliers. Oh, and upstairs there is even a Japanese closed door restaurant.

NOLA - Palermo SohoNew to the Buenos Aires closed door restaurant scene, this spunky New Orleans chica quickly climbed to the top of Trip Advisor with her rustic southern, Mexican and French influenced home cooking. Liza Puglia teams up with rising star mustached wine specialist Francisco Terren for one of the only traditional communal table puertas cerradas still left in Buenos Aires: inviting an intimate group of diners into their home for a 4-course spice-filled menu + wine pairings. For a more casual and affordable taste at NOLAchef’s cooking, the weekly Mexican night pop up dinners at Tout le Monde bar are definitely worth a visit.

Gengis’ House – Recoleta Healthy, flavorful, vegetable packed – this choose your own stir fry spot should be opened with welcome arms, and quickly franchised to multiple locations throughout the city. If I had it in my neighborhood, I’d be a weekly regular.

Coco Marie - Palermo SohoEver think that a bathing suit shop would make you want to eat? Neither did I. But Coco Marie’s garden is just too cute to pass by. The ultimate Palermo café oasis, it’s a wonderful breakfast / lunch / merienda spot where you can feel so good, and bad about yourself, all at the same time.

Aipim - Palermo SohoAnother young chef with mad skills, Aipim brings a mix of Latin American flavors to Palermo Soho — all in a cozy and inviting atmosphere. It also makes my list for one of my favorite brunches in the city. *Aipim has closed their space on Thames and opened up as a puerta cerrada.

Rey de Copas - Palermo SohoThe vibe doesn’t get much better than this French-Moroccan style Palermo spot. Head straight to the back to lounge in the dimly lit room, sipping on carefully selected wines and downing cocktails made with some skill. (Photo by Rey de Copas)

La Cresta – AlmagroOne of my absolute fave new spots of the year, this healthy fast food modern take away rotisserie owned by a Brit-Argie couple, excels in everything they do. High quality ingredients, bright intense flavors, inventive salads, an ever-changing dinner menu, if you live near La Cresta, or even not that near, it’s hard to stay away.

in Bocca al Lupo - Palermo HollywoodThis café on Bonpland just screams Italy – Italian coffee, Italian specialties and even an Italian radio station playing in the background. A super comfortable space with a winning patio, I like hoarding a table for hours, sipping on coffee, and a portion of focaccia-like pizza.

Baking BA – MicrocentroAnother winner in the healthy fast food take away game, Baking BA does everything right: fresh salads, low fat/low cal options, tasty wraps, sandwiches, guilt free desserts and the only place in Buenos Aires that makes a KILLER English muffin bacon breakfast sandwich.

Decata – Palermo HollywoodMy favorite go-to spot to do work, Decata has an all-star terrace that’s ideal for coffee drinking, massive cakes and ample plugs and strong wifi connection. The Caesar salad, which runs on the pricey side, actually is the real deal. (Photo by Decata)

The Lost Asian’s Hidden Kitchen - Palermo SohoYoga instructor, acupuncturist, photographer and food blogger Frances Ren Huang has compiled a team of the ultimate food lovers to bring the flavors of China and Taiwan to Palermo Soho. Inspired by familiar Asian flavors and family dishes, Frances whips up a truly unique BA culinary experience. Rumor has it this pop up restaurant might not pop up too much longer, so make your reservations before you have lost this Asian completely. (Photo by The Lost Asian)

DON – Villa CrespoCafé Crespin’s baby sister, it’s an American-inspired to-go style deli featuring salads, sandwiches, wraps, and baked goods. Go to fix your donut craving and hang out while stealing their fast WiFi connection.

Honor y Causa – Palermo HollywoodA wonderful new addition to the neighborhood, more young talented chefs are popping out of kitchens, bringing their own refined and creative style to Argentine cuisine. The menu is small to focus on excellent execution and presentation for each dish.

Street Food - Barrio ChinoThe food kiosks have been around for some time in Barrio Chino, but in the past year, several spots have sprung up other than just the usual weekend spring rolls served inside some of the supermarkets. One next to Asia Oriental, another across from Casa China and a third across from Ichiban supermarket, food on a stick finally makes an appearance. The grilled pork is especially delicious.

Coffee Town - San TelmoCoffee lovers make your way to the San Telmo market and hop up on a bar stool to get comfy and cozy with a cup of the strong stuff. Brought to you by the Centro de Estudios del Café, these people know their coffee.

Le Ble Palermo – Palermo HollywoodThe favorite Chacarita/Colegiales French bakery has opened up a Palermo location, serving big-ass coffees, killer croissants and fresh baked breads. It’s a prime go-to outdoor pastry-coffee kinda spot, sipping on the giant mug and downing an ultra flaky croissant. Or just go Tuesday - Friday at 7pm-8pm for their 2×1 on all baked goods – now that’s my kinda happy hour!

Latino Sandwich – MicrocentroA great spot in the center to grab a quick sandwich, these guys know how to make the perfect two bread-insides-with fixins-combo. Affordable and creative, those who find themselves in the downtown area should pop in for a quick lunch.

Local – Palermo HollywoodLocal is the second spot from From Matías Kyriazis and Stef Di Benedetto, of Paraje Arévalo fame, offering a more relaxed menu than their 5/8 course PA madness. They have also opened up Casa Arévalo next door, a pop up restaurant where guest chefs rotate taking over the wonderful space.

La Monumental – Palermo HollywoodNot a restaurant, but this spot on Ravignani y Santa Fe has been my go-to verduleria for the past few months. A rise in self-service vegetables stands, this produce mecca has good quality shit for the best prices I’ve seen outside of Mercado Central.

Le Pain Quotidien - Palermo Botanico
The popular chain from Belgium that swept across Europe has made its way to Buenos Aires with this café and bakery, serving croissant and pastry perfection. (Photo by Argentina.ar)

Other restaurant openings of 2012 that is on the list to visit in 2013:

Mullu – Retiro – Peruvian
Le Grill – Puerto Madero – High end parrilla
L’Osteria – Puerto Madero – Italian
Casa Umare – Almagro - Modern Argentine -
Cocu – Palermo Soho – French Bakery
El Tejano – Palermo Soho – Texan BBQ Pop Up
Chambre Tres – Belgrano – Argentine/Asian
Ocho Once – Palermo – Modern Argentine
Yagalchi – Flores – Korean
El Burladero – Recoleta – Spanish Tapas
Puerta Abierta – Pop Up
Fleur du Sel – Belgrano – French
Mazzo – Villa Crespo – Café
Oum’s – Palermo Soho
Vintage Coffee – Palermo Hollywood
MASA – Mexican pop up

What other new restaurants are on your list to try in 2013?

Part wine bar, part cheese bar, part French bistro and part closed door Japanese restaurant, Dear Bar du Marché, here’s a big fat sloppy wet beso bienvenido to the neighborhood. Praise to the sashimi-loving charcuterie gods, this adorably charming go-to spot breaks from the Palermo Hollywood bruncheando-café Nicaragua street norm and offers a petit piece of Paris with a secret sushi sampling on the side.Oh, how I’ve longed for that all-in-one spot where I can grab a quick (and good tasting) morning coffee, brunch it up on the weekends, stay for the well priced and delicious lunch special-sandwich-café menu, continue the fun with a cheese and wine-filled WiFi work merienda session and extend my welcome for French inspired bistro specialties or a top sushi grade puerta cerrada dining experience.Bar du Marché is a place where wine lovers, wine wannabes and plain old winos can come together in wine-derful harmony. Sometimes I just don’t understand why a city that shows so much love for their vino tinto is really lacking in the wine bar department. Luckily this small Hollywood haven has become a quick fix for the 5′oclock afternoon wine-cheese cravings, that I’m sure overcomes us all. So what’s so great about this wine bar? It’s one of the only spots in the city that offers a large selection of carefully chosen wines by the glass, rather than wines by the bottle, with 50 different labels to be exact, a rarity in this bottle-centric town.Since most spots only offer a handful of wine choices available by the glass, it’s refreshing to have a place that specializes in the smaller sips, giving drinkers the chance for just a taster, full glass or wines by the bottle for all price ranges. They get most of their wines from Siete Spirits, a wine store neighbor that specializes in New World wines. Think a mix of Australian, New Zealand, South African wines, with some Italian and lesser known high end Argentine and Chilean wines.You’ll probably need some cheese (and cured meat) to go with that wineywhine. Order from their special premium selection, trying cheesy types like gouda, gruyere and gorganzola, ranging from the cheesing animal trifecta: goat, sheep and cow’s milk.I’m a big fan of their tasting menu where the sommelier chooses three wines (tasting size pour) to pair with three cheeses of his choice (80 pesos). It comes with a little plate of olives, pickles, bread (warning: sometimes it’s stale) and high quality olive oil for dunking.On to equally important things: the food. In the morning Bar du Marché offers the standard café staples, a bit elevated, with the coffee (Nespresso), medialunas, tostadas (with bread from L’epi) and juice biznass, with a brunch on Sundays. For lunch during weekdays, in addition to their salads-sandwich-tarta-sushi menu, they have a pretty solid lunch special that includes main dish, water, small glass of wine and dessert. I’ve had some hits and misses during the lunchtime menú ejecutivo, finding that some days there are fabulous specials, like great fish dishes or chicken, while other days the offerings are a bit less interesting. For example, the tarta with panceta and puerros was pretty killer — buttery, flakey, creamy and bacony.Pasta salad is one of those dishes probably not restaurant ordering worthy, since it’s not that difficult to make. While I probably wouldn’t order it again, I was super satisfied with the large bowl of grilled Italian vegetables, spinach and PENNE pasta. Teeheehee.The wok had less success, and while the crispy salmon chunks might have been one of the most flavorful, best cooked salmon I’ve had in the city, the rice wok mixture was a bit meh, lacking flavor. Rule of thumb: stop ordering woks and pasta salads at restaurants, they are almost always disappointing.

The daily specials come with dessert, and in my case I ordered mediocre cheesecake with a strange hard and grainy consistency. Already not in the mood for something sweet, I ordered it out of pure cheapo-fatdom, since it’s annoyingly not possible to be substituted for coffee.Going the café-sandwich route, they offer a number of great sandwiches, like the sophistically simple ham and butter combo and a burger with fries that looks legit. A more refined French spin on my fave Jew sandwich, the pastrami with tomatoes confit had salty yet sweet addictive quality where each bite had equal parts tomato-pastrami ratio. When I first found out that they served French bistro food PLUS a sushi menu, I thought it was quite weird. Choose one or the other, but why both? Generally the best sushi restaurants specialize in sushi, and just that. It’s rare to find a great sushi spot that also serves pasta, milanesas and Chinese food — and yes, these places do exist. But Bar du Marché seems a bit different, bringing ex-sushihombre from sister restaurant M Buenos Aires in San Telmo, Fabian Masuda, to take over the second story with his closed door restaurant Omakase. A secret staircase behind a hidden trap door to the left of the bar leads to the Japanese closed door haunt, which has one communal table that seats 12 (reservation only). Omakase means “I’ll leave it to you” in Japanese, “let chef decide” or “in chef we trust.” It’s a common expression at many sushi restaurants as it leaves the selection of the meal in the chef’s hands, letting him take full control to wow and please with a five course tasting menu, a Peruvian-inspired Nikkei mix of fresh quality items like sushi rolls, sashimi, tiraditos, tempura, spring rolls, soup and Japanese style platitos. I have yet to try it myself, so cannot personally attest to the sushi-nikkei greatness, but reliable sources give it a thumbs up.The staff is super knowledgable and friendly. Skilled sommelier Juan Pablo Villar has quite the knack for selecting wines, and even a more remarkable skill at remembering which wine you drank during your last visit. But perhaps a downside, especially for us tall grandote freaks-o-nature, the place is small, with only about 10 tables that are a bit cramped and close together, PRIME for eavesdropping aficionados, not so hot for long legged Lurches. But it’s still ideal to grab a table outside on my favorite tree-lined Nicaragua street, go for the lunch special, or order an afternoon glass of wine, some quesos to picar.

Bar du Marché
Tel. 4778-1050
Nicaragua 5946, Palermo Hollywood
Sun & Mon: 11am-6pm, Tue-Sat: 9am-close
Reservations recommended (dinner)
Reservation only for Omakase

One of the biggest restaurant hits of 2012, the Colombian boys at I-Latina opened up shop in Villa Crespo, bringing upscale Caribbean cuisine to Buenos Aires. A reservation only spot, this closed-door private restaurant made quite the impact on the local gastronomical scene, quickly climbing the rankings as one of the best restaurants in the city. While I’m a major team I-Latina dinner fan, there’s something about their brunch that’s extra special, ultimate Sunday perfection.

I should start off with the good news and bad news. Good news: I-Latina offers probably one of my favorite brunches in Buenos Aires. Bad news: They now only offer it once per month. 

There are just some of those Sunday brunches where you leave incredibly happy and satisfied, despite the Monday morning dread, where you just want to press pause, rewind and go in for round two. I-Latina’s brunch features a multiple course mega meal, including coffee, champagne and a killer freshly baked bread basket. Brace yourselves for some extra sultry pornfoodtography. NSFW.Sparkling wine starter.

Oh hello breads: banana, mandioca, crackers, chipá, homemade flavored butters, jams. It’s kinda one of the best bread baskets evaaa.

Look at that cute lil’ jar. Don’t you want to shove it in your purse and take it home?

Bring on more jars! I know the whole jar presentation thing might have been all the rave last year, but in BA it’s just recently catching on. And I’m kinda into it.

This jar was served with homemade yogurt, fruit and topped with crispy quinoa. Hell to the yes.

Lovely fruit cocktail salad that shows off Chef Santiago’s killer knife skills.This might not just be one of my favorite dishes of the day, but favorite dishes of the year. A lot of components on the plate, this patacone (fried crispy plantain chip) was topped with an avocado salad and served with a perfect arepa and pulled beef.If in front of me, I could down probably 15 of these patacone-palta chips.

Look at the sexy lil’ eggplant’s sword wounded knife strokes.

Pretty enough to paint.

Not thinking anything could top the prior dish, out comes a perfectly cook egg, with a firm yolk that still intact, sitting on top a creamy ají shrimp mix with micro greens and potatoes.Shrimp-seafood chef theory tested: if you can’t cook shrimp properly, you should probably get out of the kitchen. Luckily, this shrimp was cooked perfectly.Dessert key lime cheese cake. Happy Birthday to me.

If you are a fan of stalking chefs, making them feel a bit awkward while cooking, I’d suggest grabbing a seat by the open kitchen and watch Santiago and Vanesa work their magic.I know, I know… I’m a huge brunch tease. Even though I-Latina is only offering special brunches sporadically once per month, they still are excelling at their dinner menu Tuesdays thru Saturdays. Last week I got to sample their new tasting menu – six delightful courses – with highlights that included a salmon tartare with heart of palm emulsion and plantain chips, tamarind sauced duck with avocado mousse and a goat cheese arepa, Ecuadorian chocolate topped with thick cracks of sea salt and doused with olive oil for pre-dessert, and pisco sour pie for the postre. All paired with Lagarde wines, as always the service and food made for just about a perfect night.

I-Latina
Villa Crespo (exact address upon reservation)
Tel. 4857.9095
Tues – Sat: 8pm – close, Sunday: check for brunch schedule
reservas@ilatinabuenosaires.com
Facebook
Twitter
Average price dinner: AR$380 with wine pairings. Brunch: AR$180

Sometimes I get attacked by a dark hole of self-induced extranjero depression, where just whipping out an old BA guidebook, glancing at an outdated travel article, or deciphering a price crossed out pizzería menu gives me the uncontrollable urge to play the Inflations-A-Bitch pity party game. With restaurant costs catapulting skyward, inflation at a ridiculous high, it’s difficult not to partake in the beloved porteño pastime of price complaining.

Soaring restaurant prices have become a city-wide phenomenon, where it seems like even the seediest bodegón has the huevos a caballo to charge a $10 peso cubierto charge. So how can we look beyond pizza and empanadas, to find winning restaurants where we can stuff our faces without unstuffing our wallets? If you are fond of eating out but don’t have the pesos to support it, look no further: I have searched far (and somewhat wide) to find the best deals Buenos Aires has to offer for less than $50 per person (or about US$5.70 at the dolladollablue).*

Parrilla

Las Cabras 
Fitz Roy 1795, Palermo Hollywood

It’s always insanely busy, the service is kinda-sorta-really abysmal, the dishes can be hit or miss, but despite all the downfalls, Las Cabras still is a great spot for a cheap meal. Order the parrillada para dos, which can feed at least four people (ten if you are a group of Argentine girls), or get the gran bife Las Cabras, which is a big chunk of bife de chorizo, French fries, fried egg, pumpkin puré, grilled vegetables, white rice and provoleta (grilled hunk of cheese). It’s a big ass mother. Order some cheap house wine in a penguino pitcher, a sifón of soda water (and few empanadas if you are wanting a splurge), and you’ll be set for the night.

Don Niceto
Niceto 5255, Palermo

It’s cheap, it’s tasty, it’s a no-frills barrio joint that hasn’t Palermo-tized or extranjero-nated quite yet. Good quality meat - entraña and bife de chorizo - choripan, anchuras, provoleta, it’s a prime go-to spot. Order some cheap wine and violently squirt a few streams of soda water, plop in some ice cubes, and you’ll fit right in. (Photo: LiveIt LoveIt BlogIt)

Club Eros
Uriarte 1609, Palermo Soho

Man do I hate it when those annoying BA expats can’t stop yammering about the good ole days, “back in those days (2008), I remember when a steak was a nickel!” While they kinda deserve a big, juicy chori-slap to the face, hypocrisy aside, Club Eros seriously used to be the ultimate cheapness, just check out this menu. Prices have adjusted as it has citywide, but while this old school boliche soccer club surely won’t be the best meal in Buenos Aires, it’s still a solid, inexpensive spot with a great Argie atmosphere. (Photo: Brando)

El Lomo Feroz
Fitz Roy 1666 & Serrano 1449, Palermo

Oh, those wonderful nights when it was clearly time to be in bed, but yet I find myself waiting in line, stuck in between a rat-tailed pibe wearing a beaded necklace and a deep-V’ed douche named Facundo. But even for food at 5am, El Lomo Feroz is pretty prime late night grub serving massive steak and chicken sandwiches on homemade foccacia bread. Gourmet shit. 

La Gran Hollywood
Bonpland 2205 (esq Guatemala), Palermo HollywoodThere are a lot of places like La Gran Hollywood, it’s the type of parrilla that is always full, and you aren’t quite sure why, but you continue to go and contribute to its capacity. La Gran Hollywood makes for a solid cheap barrio spot, with chivitos that may not rock your world, but it will give it a good tremble.

La Esquina 
Sucre y Miñones, Belgrano

An infamous corner spot that doesn’t really have a name, it is part butcher/part parrilla/part utter awesomeness. Sillydelicious choripans and crazygood mollejas. It gets very crowded, so beware. (Photo: Facebook)

La Doña
Azucena Villaflor y Achaval, Costanera Sur

A break from the same old chori-bondi-paty-pan offering, La Doña mixes it up with a chicken sandwich, served on flatbread with that perfect char right off the griddle and topped with an assortment of untraditional fixings like eggplant escabeche and chili peppers. It’s greasy, it’s cheesy, it’s oily but ohsogood. One sandwich can easily feed 2.5 people.

Mobile Parrillas – Street Food Central
San Telmo, Bosques de Palermo, Costanera

I’m a huge proponent of the mobile choripan carritos: lomo sandwiches, bondiolas and my beloved choripans, my favorite spots in the city to get frisky with some dirty street food sausages are on the Costanera Sur (Mi Sueño & Alameda Sur), El Rey de Chori & Nuestra Parrilla in San Telmo and Puestito del Tito in the Bosques de Palermo.

Peruvian Food

La Primavera Trujillana
Franklin D. Roosevelt 1627, BelgranoPrimavera Trujillana has been my longtime front runner as a favorite Peruvian restaurant in Buenos Aires. This spot has affordable food, fresh high quality products and a passion fruit pisco sour that could school any of the expensive cocktail bars. The lunch menu ranges from 28 – 35 pesos, and includes my favorite guiso, with quinoa and goat cheese.

Chan Chan
Hipólito Yrigoyen 1390, Congreso

This has been one of the favorite Peruvian restaurants since I remember eating Peruvian food. It has an odd decor and the tables are very close together, but the ceviche is always fresh, shrimp in coconut milk always spot on and service friendly. It’s remarkable the prices haven’t changed that drastically in all these years. Oh, and their advertisements are incredible bad ass.

Contigo Peru
Echeverría 1627, BelgranoIt’s hard to beat a 35 peso lunch special that includes main dish, dessert and drink. Contigo Peru spices it up with their ají de gallina, ceviche and other daily specials like lomo salteado and grilled fish with rice.

La Rica Vicky
Ecuador 467, Abasto

Before I knew anything about the BA food scene, I was a silly study abroad girl living in Almagro and La Rica Vicky was my go-to cheap lunch spot. It wasn’t until a few months ago that I rediscovered this Peruvian wonderland, shimmering with beautifully braised seco de carne and a lunch special that still doesn’t top 25 pesos. Other good, cheap Peruvian spots in Abasto: Mamani (Agüero 707), Los Trujillantos (Av. Corrientes 3564). (Photo: TKGO)

El Peruanito Ray
Fitz Roy 2299, Palermo Hollywood

I’m all about the Peruvian sandwiches. Pollo parrillero or Crispy Chicken, with the mandioca fries and extra sauces (mayonesa apio, picante rocoto y casera) is what it’s all about. If I’m ordering delivery, I tend to do a BAdelivery remix, with the unassemble  crisp it up on a cast iron and reassemble again for the ultimate fat girls bite. Yes, I am THAT crazy, and I’m (kinda) not afraid to admit it. Sandwich + guarnición = 38 pesos.

Carlitos
Anchorena 635 / Av. Corrientes 3070, AbastoA good ole’ fashioned pollería, who needs KFC when you have massive portions of Peruvian chicken paired with gasoline juiced Inca Kola? The arequipeña are great for an appetizer while the weekday lunch special includes soup, main and a drink. (Photo: Guia Oleo)

The Glorified Kiosco – Fast(er) Food

La Cresta
Bulnes 829, Almagro

Fast food to go, La Cresta made a killing in 2012 becoming Almagro’s pride and joy in tiny fast food form. Known for their rotisserie chicken, La Cresta’s wraps, salads, dips, sauces, burgers and pretty much everything they serve makes for a winning combination. It’s the type of place you’d travel to from afar even though you’d have to eat it on the curb. The wraps are in the 30 peso range while the 1/4 chicken + salad combo is 40 pesos. Every night they offer dinner specials, with portions that are big enough for two people.

Latino Sandwich
Tacuarí 185, Centro

One of my favorite lunch spots in the city, Latino Sandwich knows what’s up when it comes to sticking something good in between two pieces of bread. That’s what she said (it will never get old). Martin Pons is in the kitchen mastering the art of the sandwich, making up inventive combinations while also putting a modern spin on traditional classics. The platos del día change daily but are always good, think ceviche, hamburgers, fried rice, meatballs, soup, braised beef with mashed potatoes, you get the point – BALLIN’. Nothing on the menu will rarely top 30 pesos and everything will be utterly scrumptious.

Marfa
Santa Fe 5299, Palermo Hollywood

I think that I haven’t moved from Palermo Hollywood because I don’t want to lose out on Marfa delivery. Wraps, sandwiches and veggie burgers are all in the 30 peso range. My usual order (to share between 2): Teriyaki chicken wrap + broccoli, red pepper veggie burger + soup of the day. Happy Fork.

Akbar 72
Azcuénaga 1150, Recoleta
Owned by a family from Bangladesh, this tiny take out spot serves both the Indian persuasion along with Argie favorites. A combo of naan, samosa, chicken curry and basmati rice won’t set you over 45 pesos.

El Banco Rojo
Bolivar 914, San Telmo

Every time I’m in San Telmo (which comes out to a handful of times per year), I have to stop by and get me some Banco Rojo, even if it’s just a lamb empanada to go. The lamb doner kebab is a must order, while really everything on the menu is worth a try. Wraps and sandwiches are in the mid 30 peso range but they also offer a happy hour Monday – Friday from 5pm – 8pm with cheapcheap beers (2 Quilmes for 15 pesos), and food to picar for 20 pesos. The food at La Puerta Roja (Chacabuco 733, San Telmo) the bar run by the same owners, is also cheaply legit – known for their 30 peso (?) curry + pint of beer night on Mondays.

Suckewer
Reconquista 886, CentroReconquista, the pedestrian street downtown, is like a mini food mecca filled with lunchtime quick eats. Suckewer is pretty awesome, making tasty sandwiches and wonderful daily specials. There are a few tables outside to sit, but they mostly do take-away.

Brocos Deli
Carranza 1505, Palermo Hollywood

Wraps, salads, sandwiches, if you live or work in Palermo Hollywood, you should be a regular customer at Brocos Deli. I’m a big lover of their bagel, cream cheese and smoked salmon sandwich — and at only 32 pesos it’s definitely a contender for best in BA. They sell my favorite muffs in town too, made by the muffin man himself Kelin Cakes, and the owner Josefina even makes her own spicy sweet chili sauce that I’d like to buy in bulk.

Fitz Roll
Fitz Roy 1841, Palermo HollywoodFitz Roll offers massive wraps the size of your arm for 24 pesos where you can opt for chicken, beef or vegetarian and load your wrap with the toppings of your choice. Make sure to plan accordingly, the line gets long around 1pm, and they tend to run out of food at 3pm.

Baking BA
Suipacha 747

I fell in love with Baking from the moment I walked in and smelled the sweet Tollhouse recipe chocolate chip cookies in the air. They offer one of the best versions I’ve had of Caesar salad (36 pesos), with dressing that is a far wail from mayonesa and mayonesa sauce that’s normally drenched atop leafy greens. The wraps, sandwiches, ‘toasties’, low cal desserts and homemade yogurts are also bomb.

Patatas Bravas
Suipacha 714
When I worked on Suipacha and Viamonte I’d go to Patatas Bravas every single day. Massive tartas, awesome tabbouleh and great grilled calabaza was my go to order for just 11 pesos. I’m sure the price has gone up since then, but they still make a healthy, affordable, Argentine lunch that’s just a few notches better that what the others are offering. You can find their daily menu here.

Middle Eastern

Sarkis
Thames 1101, Villa Crespo

Very popular Middle Eastern / Armenian restaurant that is a favorite for the Armenian community, locals, families and tourists. If you like food, and are in Buenos Aires for a good amount of time, hitting up Sarkis is kinda obligatory. Order the Belén salad (eggplant, roasted red pepper, almond, golden raisin mix), Lamb or beef kafta complete (shlong in yogurt sauce), chicken kebab, tabbouleh, babaganoush, and stuffed grape leaves. Don’t order: Falafel or hummus, unless you like peanut buttered-garbanzos.

Parrilla Al-Zein
Arce 488, Las Cañitas

It’s a greasy hole-in-the-wall that serves a damn good shawarma, falafel, babaganoush, pita bread and lovely creamy yogurt sauce. I always order delivery, but you can also head to Las Cañitas and watch the masters carve your shaved meaty morsels in person. Some would say that Al is working on constructing a shawarma-fataier-sfija empire to take over the world one fried falafel ball at a time. (Photo: Guía Oleo)

Falafel One
Araoz 587, Villa Crespo

Arguably one of the best falafel spots in the city, this tiny comida arabe kiosco-sized spot serves a mean falafel, shawarma, tabbouleh, yogurt sauce and all the fresh vegetable fixings at extremely accessible prices. The owner is from Syria, and knows a thing or two about Middle Eastern cooking. Prices are in the 20 and 30 peso range.

Medio Oriente
Cabrera y Malabia, Palermo Soho
The small Middle Eastern bakery on the corner of Cabrera and Malabia fills up on Fridays and Saturdays where their devout following flocks for a taste of their mouth o-facing shawarma (28 pesos). There’s no seating, so the crowd congregates on the sidewalk greasing up their shirts and shoes after every shawarma-y bite. They also make banging hummus, baba ganoush, bright red stuff that’s good but I don’t remember the name, and thick yogurt that’s also for sale in to-go containers.

El Gourmet de Medio Oriente
Mercado de Juramento, Belgrano

This is the best shawarma I’ve had outside of Middle East. Right inside the Juramento market, this small bakery mostly serves food to go, but they do have a sit down area.

Asian Cuisine

Shan Dong Restaurant
Vera 683, Villa Crespo

Some people claim that they reuse the soy sauce, and while I can’t personally attest to that, I can say that Shan Dong makes a great massive dumpling platter, shrimp fried noodles, chicken wings and tofu with cabbage — all under 35 pesos per dish.

Green Curry
Tucuman 271, CentroBelly warming spicy curries, salads, wraps, nothing on the menu at Green Curry tops 40 pesos. The ingredients are super fresh and have a good amount of heat — I’m still making my way through all the curries, and so far I haven’t been let down.

Asia Oriental Food Counter
Mendoza 1661, Barrio Chino

One of my favorite spots in the city for Chinese, who doesn’t love stuffing face while getting major whiffs of pungent fishy odors. Prices are super affordable, where you can be quite full (and happy) after spending 30 pesos on dumpling soup and peanut sesame noodles. Work your way through the menu and you’ll be happily surprised with the overall freshness.

*Gengis’ House
Riobamba 1179, RecoletaIf Gengis’ House was in my barrio, I’d probably go there at least once per week. It’s a do-it-yourself stir fry with fresh ingredients, big portions and super healthy, all for just 39 pesos50 pesos. Ideal for both meat eaters and vegetarians who are looking to change it up with a plate of healthy rice or noodle stir fry. *Update: another one bites the inflations-a-bitch dust.

Chifa Man-San 
Peru 832, San Telmo

This Chinese-Peruvian fusioned spot is a San Telmo joy for big massive plates of greasy Chinese food, Peruvian specialties and all around cheap prices. Portions are huge, sizes that can easily feed two hungry people yet they still maintain a 30 peso price range.  (Photo: Wander-Argentina)

Sushi Colors
Delivery to Capital Federal

In the cheap world of sushi delivery, I’ve tried my fair share of really terrible sushi spots. But in the search, I came across the colorful Sushi Colors that has yet to fail or disappoint. Order the Pink combo, 10 pieces of salmon rolls-sashimi-niguiri, for 45 pesos, and you can request for none of dat queso crema nonsense. If you order early (7pm-8pm) Tues – Thurs, you get a 15% discount on your order.

The Vegetarian Chinese Tenedor Libres

The tenedor libre (all you can eat buffets) of the Chinese persuasion can be good, cheap bang for your buck options (especially for lunch). Los Sabios (Corrientes 3733, Almagro) and Spring (Guatemala 4452, Palermo Soho) are my two winners when in the mood for a veggie fest where I pretend to be healthy, but really just eat everything out of the fried section of the buffet. There are also those Chinese food buffets para llevar, where you weigh the food, and can leave with a massive portion that will cost less than 20 pesos. But while most of them look good for a hot minute, after a few greasy bites, they may make you insanely regret the recent consumption. Stick with these vegetarian spots and you (probably) won’t feel disgustingly naush after you finish eating: Wok Garden (Reconquista 286, Centro), Rotisería Vegetariana Tucuman (Tucumán 719, Centro) y Virtudes de la tierra (Bonpland 1616, Palermo Hollywood).

Other good cheap shit

Cumaná
Rodriguez Peña 1149, RecoletaFrom the same owners of Las Cabras (and Las Cholas), this tiny Recoleta spot fills up quite quick and has lines out the door of locals and tourists alike. The food is solid, offering a mix of regional Argentine cuisine, sandwiches, salads and pizzas. Order a mix of empanadas and a main dish of locro, lentils or a cazuela, and your final bill will stay under 50 pesos.

Caribe Riqueño
Montañeses 2108, Barrio ChinoThis lovely Barrio Chino spot might just look like any other rinconcito you’d easily walk by without a notice, but this one serves up authentic and stomach-smiling Cuban and Puerto Rican greatness. Think Cuban sandwiches, carnitas, tostones, ropa vieja, beans, rice and all that good stuff. The owners are super friendly and even speak perfect English.

Burger Joint  
Borges 1766, Palermo Soho

Finally a bomb ass burger joint has graced its juicy, meaty presence in Palermo Soho. A hamburger haven that with very accessible prices, Burger Joint is serving up killer burgers and fries, offering some untraditional combos like the Jamaican – a homemade patty with grilled pineapple, panceta, cheddar, pickles, tomato and a whole lotta love grease. (Photo: Burger Joint)

El Nono Amigo
Guatemala 5800, Palermo HollywoodI don’t want to move away from Palermo Hollywood because that would mean I’d leave El Nono Amigo. They serve great untraditional empanadas (eggplant, artichoke, corn) and even make killer sandwiches that are all in the 30 peso range. Plus, the picadas are kinda the hotness.

Gambrinus
Federico Lacroze, Av. 3779, Chacarita
It’s a classic barrio bodegón that serves traditional German food like sausages, sauerkraut, and all that good stuff. But what truly is the best deal is there milanesa napolitana and fries, where a massive portion is enough for two people to share. (Photo: Guia Oleo)

La sartén por el mango
Gascón 1417, Palermo

The ambiance is nothing special, but this is one of the only spots in the city left where you leave with a super full stomach and not spend all yo’ pesos. Most all of the dishes are in the 30-45 peso range and include an Argentine spin with plates like cuadril sandwiches and grilled salmon with puré. Mediodía they offer a great lunch promo. (Photo: La Nacion)

La Esperanza de los Ascurra 
Aguirre 526, Villa Crespo

La Esperanza is just an all around cool place. Vermouth bar with great drinks, delicious Spanish tapas, good music, friendly service, funky arty atmosphere — what more can you ask for? It’s ideal to go with a big group and order a bunch of plates to share, where you can choose between single portions, half portions and full (check out the menu here). It’s especially affordable during happy hour (6.30pm – 8pm) where their already cheap tirada beers are 2×1.

Don Ignacio
Rivadavia, Av. 3439, Almagro

Don Ignacio is an Almagro favorite, where many locals claim they have the best milanesas in the whole city. It has a fun, rustic bodegón decor where the walls are covered with music memorabilia. They also serve parrilla, pastas and other porteña cuisine classics with huge portions and affordable prices. (Photo: Proyecto Napola Tour)

Cusic
El Salvador 6016, Palermo HollywoodCharming Palermo café by day, every Thursday night Cusic takes out the candles and makes a special dinner with a weekly rotating menu. There’s no price for the meal, it’s a la gorra, or pay what you think the meal is worth. Dinners have ranged from homemade hamburgers and pizza, ribs, Paraguayan cuisine, Italian food, Indian food, the list goes on.

Deli House
Juan Ramirez Velasco 1153, Villa Crespo

Hidden tucked away on the no-man’s land side of Villa Crespo, Deli House is a quaint little wifi haven with great, affordable lunch options, pastries, and sweets. They offer a lunch special for just 30 pesos (including drink), a wide range of sandwiches, salads, meriendas and breakfasts all in the low-mid 30 peso range. They even serve a very large brunch on Saturdays for under 50 pesos. (Photo: Deli House)

Full City Coffee House 
Jorge Newberry 3663, Chacarita
The Colombian coffee wonderland not only serves some of the best (and most affordable) coffee in the city, but they know what’s up in the kitchen and have very buena onda service to match. They offer daily lunch specials, salads, sandwiches, a good burger and Colombian food like arepas and patacones. If you are lucky to come in on a Saturday, Allan (one of the owners) might be preparing a special English breakfast or traditional fish n’ chips.

90grados Resto Bar
Delgado 1208, Colegiales

A resto bar on the corner of Delgado and Virrey Arredondo, there’s nothing special about the decor, service can be slow and the menu is a bit all over the place offering breakfast, lunch, pastas and beef, but they do make a nice ‘lil brunch on the weekends. For just 50 pesos, you can get a huuuge plate of scrambled eggs or eggs Benedict with bacon, yogurt with granola or a fruit plate, medialunas and unlimited coffee. It’s enough to easily feed two people.

Oui Oui
Nicaragua 6099, Palermo Hollywood

A longtime Palermo brunch favorite, Oui Oui still offers pretty solid breakfast specials including my personal favorite, the Tony: eggs benedict, potatoes and coffee or tea for 42 pesos. Just don’t go on a weekend.

Nac & Pop

Nac & Pop has frozen their prices on eggs for all of 2013, need I say more?

Food Happy Hours

My favorite kinda happy hour is a food happy hour, says the fat girl. Roll your eyes at the thought of going to Benihana (Arenales 3310, Alto Palermo) but they make great sushi (for local standards) and offer a wonderful drink and food happy hour everyday from 4pm – 8pm. Kansas (Libertador 4625, Las Cañitas) is another longstanding classic, their drink list remains to be a good bargain, and even if you are anti-Kansas, you can’t fault them for making a consistently good portion of potato wedges, chicken tenders, French fries and honey mustard sauce. Infamous tourist breeding La Cabrera parrilla offers a daily happy hour from 7pm – 8pm, where they give you 50% off on your entire menu. Just make sure to eat quick. Oui Oui also offers a different kinda discount, when all of their baked goods shoot down to 50% off, one hour before closing time on weekdays (8pm – 9pm). Or you can head to Le Ble for a 2×1 discount on their whole selection of bakery goods, like beautiful massive bread loaves for just 15 pesos (7pm – 8pm weekdays).

Let’s talk discounts for a hot minute – Guía Óleo offers a pretty awesome discount club where all you really have to do is print out the coupon and you get anywhere from 20-50% off at a good selection of solid restaurants. Sign up for Club La Nacion,
and you’ll have a shitload of restaurant/café/bar/delivery discounts available too.

If you have any awesome cheap Buenos Aires restaurant finds, don’t be stingy and share the food knowledge!

*Disclaimer: You may notice that prices in Buenos Aires change awfully quick, so by the time you read this (post March 21, 2013) it’s probably already out of date.

Original article can be found in the Argentina Independent’s October 2012 Print Edition.

If in Bocca al Lupo was single, it would be quite the catch. Good looking? Check. Great personality? Check. Appealing to the taste buds? Check.Check. Stronglikebull coffee? Triplo check. A wonderful welcome to Palermo Hollywood, this Italian café has what it takes for coffeehouse marriage material.

In Bocca al Lupo quickly became my go-to spot for breakfast, lunch, coffee, meetings, coffee meetings, and day-long work squatting sessions. From the moment I first set eyes on the lovely spot in early 2012, I knew it had that something special. Right when you walk into the spacious café, eyes are glued to a display case of breads and pastries, with the shiny red snazzy coffee machine glistening in the background.

Opened in 2012 by Italian Enrico Aguggiaro,  in Bocca al Lupo offers a winning combination of awesome coffee, freshly made (all in their large kitchen lab) pastries, breakfasts/meriendas/weekend brunches, sandwiches, salads, homemade Italian food, a comfortable lounge area, a outdoor patio, a large upstairs salon, lots of plugs/wifi, and beautiful decor to match.

It’s not easy to find a café that gets all the tick marks, but look at those light fixtures. They are tea cups and tea pots! And check out the other ones, chandeliers of spoons, SPOONS!

You may need a food dictionary when reading the menu, it’s all in Italian and only part of it is translated into Spanish. The breakfast and merienda specials, offered all day long, have an Italian twist while they also offer many of the items a la carte at an extremely affordable price for a café of such quality.

My favorite breakfast special, Il Rustico, includes a caffé/capuccino, prosciutto and cheese sandwich on a homemade baguette (two huge halves) and a large glass of wonderful fresh squeezed orange juice.

For those on a budget (or with little appetite), the pizza (15 pesos) is a great option, more similar to a focaccia with various choices of toppings. The uovo strapazzato con panceta or scrambled eggs with big chunks of panceta is especially fab, as is the healthier yogurt and granola and fruit salad — each of these are smaller portions, and don’t top 20 pesos.

The cornetti (medialunas), is made fresh daily, quite large and stickysweet on the outside, with a buttery flaky inside.

They also come stuffed with ham and cheese orrrr with gooey NUTELLA. Fattyfatfat.

The baguettes to go, each one of these long rods are only AR$4 each. That’s what I call a bargain, it’s how much flour, water and yeast should cost.

Other than breakfast and merienda specials, the rest of the menu is filled with a combo of salads, sandwiches, pastas and a daily lunch special that includes main+drink+coffee. These dishes are a bit more costly than I’d usually spend for lunch (in the 50s range). The Zia Patrizia salad is one of my faves (and only one I’ve ever ordered) with greens, confit tomatoes and avocado with mini veggie burgers, while the Tempo sandwich with marinated chicken, artichokes, confit tomatoes and arugula is a winner.

The menu includes about 5 different pastas, all homemade, with dishes like tagliatelle alla bolognesa (above), penne con verdure grigliate (penne with grilled vegetables), eggplant parmigiana, and on weekends, in addition to their special brunch menu, they serve lasagne.

I’m a big proponent of outdoor spaces, especially when they are covered and heated for winter.

I’m also a huge fan of cacti tree sweaters made by Knitting Baires.

The coffee is some of the best I’ve had in Buenos Aires, definitely ranking in the top 5 of the city. They use Illy (one of my faves), but make it in such a perfect way, I don’t know how it tastes so damn good. Really, I can’t just go for one cup of coffee — I set up shop next to a plug and get all cracked out to work and procrastinate. And with the service so nice and friendly, you only feel somewhat bad hogging a table all day long.

Maybe I’m gushing too much, but it’s not easy to find that all-in-one café – in Bocca al Lupo definitely has what it takes to start a long meaningful relationship.

In Bocca al Lupo Caffé
Bonpland 1965, Palermo Hollywood
Tel. 4774-3692
Hours: Sun, Tues – Thurs: 9am – 8pm, Fri – Sat: 9am – 9pm
Average price for breakfast / lunch: AR$40 – AR$65

Follow the smoke signals and the barbecue parrilla smells to escape the Sunday San Telmo Market bustle and enter into a parking garage turned sausage wonderland. Chorizos, bondiolas, beer, wine and live music — you’ve never quite seen an Argentine chorizo fiesta quite like this one.

You’ve seen one market, you’ve seen them all. While the San Telmo market and antique fair is definitely something to cross off the site-seeing list, I’ve never been a fan of big crowds and pushy vendors. But thankfully now I can have my own fun while I take out of towners to the Sunday San Telmo mercado. And that fun comes in the form of a choripán.

Try to avoid stepping on the vendors market junk goods, and hang a sharp louie on the corner of Defensa and México and enter in the sausage garden of the meat Gods. By weekday it’s a parking garage, but come Sunday afternoon, it’s a greasy, meaty, asado haven.

Before you become totally mesmerized by the meaty display, make your way to the ticket booth and pay for your poison: choripan + wine/beer. True, this spot might win the award for one of the more expensive choripans in the city, the rest averaging between AR$10-AR$15 pesos, but given the San Telmo hotspot location, all the toppings, live music and overall atmosphere, they can have those extra 8 pesos.

Once you pay, take your tickets over to the main show: chorizos lined up by the dozens on the front parrilla, bondiola (pork shoulder) and bife de chorizo (sirloin strip steak) grilling on the back grills, and sauces placed on the side table for self servicing your plate. It’s quite a wonderful interactive asado spectacular.

These asadores know what’s up. Give them your ticket before they start the hard core piropos.  This chin-pubed grillmaster ordered me to give him a big fat beso after I took this photo… and if I didn’t, he wouldn’t hand over my chori.

So one greasy cheek kiss and handsy grab later, alas the prized choripán was in my paws. Naturally my next step was to slather on chimichurri, salsa criolla and hot peppers — I was in for a treat.

It’s important to step back and appreciate the killer condiment spread: tomatoes, chimichurri, salsa criolla, chili peppers. Check it. As much as I love the parrilla hole in the wall on Carlos Calvo, it just doesn’t offer condiments like these. So many times a banging choripán is overcome by stale bread and underwhelming toppings.

Salsa criolla will always be my go-to Argentine condiment. Chopped onions, red pepper, tomato, green peppers and vinegar. Drench it on top liberally, don’t be shy.

It’s not like chorizos are lacking any grease, but I wish all Argentine food would come with a side of brightly colored spicy chili oil.

Before and after, I may or may not have eaten some of that oiled up paper towel.

On the way out I couldn’t help but snapping a photo of the big bucket of chorizos: both the best and the worst images I’ve seen in a long time. Gloriously disturbing.

Two thumbs up for choribesos.

El Rey del Chori
México and Defensa, San Telmo
Sundays only, 1pm – 6pm
Average price AR$35 pesos

Maybe I’m spoiled, hard to please, or just turning into one of those irritating food snobs, but rarely do I encounter a truly memorable restaurant dining experience. I’m talking about the big L, the big O, fireworks, a big brass band mind parade, the whole shabang. So imagine my delight when I found out that the capo in the kitchen, famed Argie chef Hernán Gipponi, began organizing a new way to dine on Monday nights at his restaurant in the Fierro Hotel: Hernán, one table, wine flowing like beer, and a feast inspired by seasonal market ingredients. Sign.Me.Up.Porfis. 

So here’s the deal: it’s called One Table, and there is.. yes, you guessed it, one massive communal wooden table that sits 12-16 people. It’s like family style meets a fine dining tasting menu meets a closed door restaurant meets a top Argentine chef meets a top Argentine sommelier, meets a lot of meetings.

Each week the menu changes and isn’t confirmed until the last minute. The menu includes a welcome drink (bloody Mary!) and fried baby squid skewer. Seriously, how can you not feel the welcoming love when given those two lil’ joys upon arrival?

Next up the starters. Four of them. Served by Hernán himself directly from pan to plate, with the leftovers laid out family style to share on the table.

Dear Provoleta, even though you give me stomach aches, you can still do me no wrong. Especially when made with goat cheese that’s perfectly crispy on the outside, gooey melted cheesy insides, and topped with a sweet and tangy kumquat chutney. FLAVA Flaaaaaaaav in da houz.

A basket of fried tempura vegetables – like broccoli, onions and snow peas served with a wasabi lime mayo. There was something about the tempura batter that came out bitter, but somehow it worked once you doused it in the wussssssabi mayonnaise.

You know when something tastes so good that mid bite you realize your manners are so horrendous it’s like you were raised in a zoo? Yeah. I shouldn’t gush too much, but these lil’ Puerto Madryn prawns came out beautifully, especially when served with a creamy herbed garlic mash on the side.

I didn’t think anything could top the other three starters (yeah, we are just starting), until Hernán pops out with a pan of txistorra a la sidra, a Basque sausage (kinda like a longaniza), drenched in meaty cider flavored gravy juices.

Look at that table side service, definitely a crowd pleaser. Hernán sure knows how to please the ladies.

And the gentlemen.

And the me.

The starters were paired with Sidra Pülku, an awesomely refreshing dry cider made in Patagonia. Next year, this will be my drink of the summer.

I also have to mention all the little details put into the night that makes everything extra special and can’t be overlooked: insanely delicious fresh baked bread baskets along with homemade flavored butter and crystalized sea salt, and the massive pickling jars casually placed on the table so diners can scoop and pass around as much of the pickled vegetables as they please: pickles, onions, carrots and beets.

Oh shit, we haven’t even gotten to the first main course yet. An egg cooked at 63 degrees C, served on top of lentils with panceta and cuartirolo cheese. I’m sure any smart food obsessor would agree, that the best part of a grilled cheese sandwich is the gooey cheesy bits that make its way to the pan for that cheesy crispy crunch — well that’s how the cheese in this dish was cooked before being table serviced (again) with a pouring of vegetable broth.

Hernan’s whole kitchen crew came out for the next course. Kinda awesome witnessing the line of cooks in action, plating and serving in real time.

Sauce. Plate. Garnish. Serve –> Puff. Puff. (extra) Puff. Pass.

 
The final draft: fish of the day with roasted red peppers, potato and mussels.

Hernán Gipponi has been coined a local rice expert, so even though by this time my stomach was slowing down, I had to try the next course: a vegetable risotto-like seasoned rice with a tender piece of lengua de cordero. The ex-vegetarian in me can’t quite write it in English. I’m sorry, little lamby.

Just as I thought I couldn’t take it anymore, vowing to only take a bite of the next course, out came the magret de pato, duck breast with a wonderful browned crispy sear, served on top of a pear puré with a roasted sweet potato and a shaving of turnip. Salty, sweet, tangy, fruity, earthy – yup. All the taste buds have been hit.

The dinner was paired with a selection of killer wines, all chosen by Mr. Sommelier Argentina aka Andrés Rosberg. Andrés is not only an international all star sommelier, but he’s the president of the Argentine Sommelier Association and happens to be head sommelier at Hernan Gipponi Restaurant.

So it wasn’t surprising that the wines chosen were all great pairs: Lorca Poético Viognier, Vicentin Blanc de Malbec 2012 (White Malbec!), Inédito Bonarda Pura Passionate Wines 2012, Escorihuela Gascón Pequeñas Producciones Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, and Saint Felicien Sémilion Doux. (Photo of wines by HG)

 

By the time dessert came around, I knew I was in trouble. Hernan’s yogurt mousse is one of my favorite things to eat of all time. He’s made other variations for HG brunch, but something about this one was extra special: airy fluffed yogurt, passion fruit granita, lychees and candied pumpkin seeds — all the flavor and texture combos were a total MJ slam dunk.

HG One Table is not for picky eaters, anorexics or bodegon-only traditionalists… it’s for lovers of food, chefs, cooking, communal tables, restaurant details, and for someone who can put their stomach’s trust entirely in Hernán’s magic-working hands.

Hernan Gipponi Restaurant - Fierro Hotel
Soler 5862, Palermo Hollywood
Tel. 3220-6820 – Reservations required
One Table is Monday nights only
Price: AR$380 pesos (welcome drink/bite + 4 tapas + 5 courses + wine pairing)

If you walk around Palermo Hollywood, your dog-like senses may lead you towards a wondrous scent of glorious, fresh and homey baked goods. No, this isn’t a factura-filled bakery or a medialuna-café haven, it’s a cookie factory hidden on Guatemala street that sells some of this country’s best baked up goodness like cookies, biscotti, brownies, bagels, budines, scones, savory munchies and muffins.

An absolute pioneer in the Argentine cookie world, Sugar & Spice was the original cookie monstruo in Buenos Aires. The company began baking back in the early food revolution days (2002) during a time when cookies didn’t really exist, except for Argie kiosco galletitas that don’t really count as real cookies.

Started by a Chicago native and his Argentine wife, Frank Almeida is living the expat dream: he moved to Argentina before it was cool to live here and he started Sugar and Spice before most locals even knew how to spell cookie. The idea was to make a great, high quality store-bought gourmet cookie that didn’t taste store-bought. And that’s exactly what they did.

Sugar and Spice first offered a modest selection of their packaged sweetness before quickly boosting production to a full force factory and store front. S&S know what’s up when it comes to making the classic chocolate chip loaded cookie, but they also change the game around with a blueberry white chocolate, dulce de leche and passion for chocolate, all fresh tasting with not the slight staleness or processed flavors, making it hard to believe these cookies come prepackaged.

While their cookies are kinda my jam, the buttery, savory biscuit-like copetín and almondy mini biscotti are both pretty bomb. And come the holiday season, their infamous budines are quite the hot commodity. All of the packaged goodies are pretty easy to find — the S&S shop in Palermo Hollywood has the most variety, while S&S products are sold widely across the city in kioscos, supermarkets like Disco and Jumbo, duty free, and specialty food stores.

If you are one of those fatties like me who can’t buy a whole package of something delicious, in fear of eating all in one go, now you can head over to the S&S store for a daily dose of the fresh stuff right out of the oven, taking home individual units of the baked good-ness.

S&S doesn’t quite yet have their own café-sized space, but they do sell Illy coffee to go, and also have a small bar stool to pop in for a quick sweet bite, and drool over this killer view…..

C is for Cookie and free samples.

Fruit-filled squares, blueberry muffins, cheese muffins, oh my.

Corn bread and cheese scones, it’s gettin’ hot in herrr.

More scones, and these are the real deal.

Pecan squares, choco coconut squares, eye candy like woah.

Chocolate brownies, praise the dioses.

And legit bagels?! Si, señor.

I should also add that Frank and I both share a common love for Cookie Monster. It’s pretty obvious why Frank is a fan of this cooking gorging blue monster, but as a Sesame Street kid myself, I grew up glued to the PBS classics for the greater years of my childhood. Cookie Monster holds a special place in my heart: my cousin is the puppeteer beneath the hand and voice of Cookie Monster. Yes, it’s true – it’s my claim to fame, my winning ticket in the Kevin Bacon game, and my go-to choice while playing those two-truths-and-a-lie type ice breaker games.

Sugar and Spice
Guatemala 5415, Palermo Hollywood
Tel. 4777-5423
Mon – Fri: 10:00 am – 7:00 pm, Sat: 9:00 am – 1:00 pm
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In a country praised for the prime meat, it’s always baffling how so many of us are on an endless quest for a decent burger. Ground beef mix, quick high flame sear, toasted sesame bun, toppings, sauce and burger me delicious. But sadly BA has been stuck in a world of dry, flat, overcooked, unseasoned mooburgesas that always seems to disappoint. Luckily there’s a new joint in town, a fine ass juicy burger joint that is grilling the real deal. Yo Burger Joint, nice to meet ya… you lookin’ damn fine between that sliced bun. 

I got the hot tip a few days after Burger Joint opened in February of this year. I was told to get my fatty culo to Palermo Soho fast because these bad meaty boys were where it’s at. A legit spot that served juicy meat patties cooked correctly, ran laps around the other “Patys,” and were also double frying up Bourdain’s favorite french fries? That sounds like an exciting addition to Buenos Aires culinary game ➜➜➜ so I followed the neon sign.

Inspired by the US burger culture, owner and burger obsessor extraordinaire Pierre Chacra spent the past years in NYC perfecting his burger baby. And while so many other joints try to imitate the beloved US burger joint and serve an Argentinized copy, Burger Joint knows what’s up.

It’s always refreshing to see a simple spot that doesn’t get too fancy and sticks to what they know how to bust out best: burgers and fries. And just that. Burger Joint sells only four different types of burgers: La Clasica, La Mexican, La Jamaican and La Bleu. While they sell each burger solo, you can also opt for the combo to include fries + drink or fries + beer.

The too cool for school space centers around communal wall writing art and kitschy movie and music posters. Diners are encouraged to grab a marker and start vandalizing, it’s cool, it’s interactive and it’s expressive without being too forced or gimmicky.

Peace, Love, Kung Fu and Burgers.

We are one. One is burger.

Star Wars for the nerds, BiggieSmalls-2Pac for the gangstas, Zach Galifianakis for the funnies, Board for the skaterz, and #FUCKJustinBieber for all.

If being burger happy is wrong, I never wanna be right.

Okay, okay, enough with the decor and “inspiring” wall phrases. Let’s get into the real good shitty nitty gritty: Drumroll please…. 

Ring the alarm, start the parade, call da poooolice because a juicy, delicious, ohsodreamy lipsmacking greasesmacking burger has arrived. La Jamaican is made from wonderfully seasoned mix of beef, with just the right beef:fat ratio. It’s topped with a grilled pineapple, “cheddar”, jalapeño, tomato, honey mustard, love, pickle and (not-so crispy) panceta. I think it’s the extra ingredient of that love juice that makes it slap da bass all over my taste buds.

I’m also a big fan of La Mexican. A no-mames-wey-sexyMexi-can burger stacked with HOT jalapeños, guacamole, HOT HOT sauce, red onion, tomato and cheese. Just watch out for the jalapeños, sometimes they load way too many on that isn’t pleasant, verging on inedible, even for spice lovers.

My only issue is with the buns, while they aren’t as appalling as the norm Bimbo bread (because they have a great charred toast to them), they are still no Big Al’s Badass Brioche Buns from the former The Office in Las Cañitas (who has actually started to pop up again!).

I wish I were a burger, so I can get between those buns. BOOM.

La Bleu is their newest creation: homemade ground beef burger topped with blue cheese, caramelized onions, portobello mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and arugula. Wonderful combination and the grill master certainly didn’t skimp on the toppings. Insane bite of juice bursting flava flaves, so many burgers suffer from charred well done disease, this bad boy was perfectly medium, with a char on the outside that sealed all the wonderfulness in.

This isn’t just a regular burger: it’s a double. And it was a beast. My only issue is that they initially messed up the order, making the Jamaican a double and the blue cheese a single. Normally it wouldn’t be an issue, but I wanted me my Jamaican burger mon and sadly I’m not man enough to handle the double whopper. When they corrected it, they half assly changed it around by scraping off the toppings, pulling an ole switcheroo, leaving the double blue creeping with some yellow fake cheddar, and the single Jamaican became extra greasy after being double stacked. A fatal case of soggy bottom bun grease.

My eating partner totally pussed out on the mission. Frightened of the dribbly mess of that double monstrosity, he ultimately grabbed a fork and knife to start eating. Totally pulled a Mr. Pitt, what’s next — eating M&Ms with a spoon?!

I want to take this time to give Burger Joint’s French fries the BA papa award of the year. These pomme frites are blessed with the anatomy of my perfect fry: well done, ultra crispy, crunching like a chip but with the middle still soft and fluffy, and lightly yet evenly salted. BJ’s fritas are totally meant for me.  Rumor has it the fries follow the same recipe as Bourdain’s favorite fries. And if Bourdain likes it, it must be true.

They also make their own insanely addictive curried ketchup and other tasty saucy squirting condiments.

I think next time I’ll have to put on this uniform and get weird with some burger-fry gear.

I do have to be honest that I didn’t have luck after my first few visits to Burger Joint: My first time they changed the hours without notice, telling me to come back in a few hours when they “officially” opened. Ever get turned away with a mean face when you are hyped for a burger? It’s not a nice feeling. Another time the burger came out quite rare, verging on raw, but only in the hidden inner center, this was the same trip as that topping mixed up debacle. Tough life, I know.

Definitely inconsistent at times, all of these instances were during prime time peak busy hours. Obvious note to crowds-hating self: don’t go to Burger Joint (or anywhere near Plaza Serrano) on a beautiful, busy weekend afternoon.

But despite all these slip ups and inconsistencies, I’ve been swindled by the power of the B-U-R-G-E-R. Out of all the non-smokeable joints in this world, Burger Joint wins my vote.

Burger Joint
Borges 1766, Palermo Soho
Tel. 4833-5151
Mon: 6pm – 12am, Tues-Thurs, Sun: 12pm – 12am, Fri & Sat: 12pm – 2am
Average price: 65 pesos

PSA: Argies, please stop spelling BURGERS, ”BURGUERS.”

Don’t confuse Burger Joint on Borges in Palermo Soho with Burger Joint in Puerto Madero that sells “Burgas de Autor,” a spot I’ve never tried and can’t attest to its holy burger-dome.

I’ve searched far and wide, from Costanera Norte to Sur, on an endless quest for Buenos Aires’ best bondiola sandwich. After upsetting the treif heavens (sorry Rabbi) on many failed attempts, I’m happy to announce this porky oinky life achievement. 

Walk into one of my favorite places in Buenos Aires, through the fairy tale-like trees in the far edge of the Bosques de Palermo park and you may come across a little red hut that is extra special in my life. Right on the Bajo Belgrano border, passing the Golf Club but not quite hitting the Costanera Strip, it’s Argentine street food at its very best, a dirty makeshift shack that pumps out a memorable pork shoulder sandwich.

One of the only food carts in this neck of the bosques, the greasy grillers at “Bizzarro” (yes, with two z’s) have been around for quite some time, opening up shop every day rain or shine, who have become somewhat of park legends. While these two grillers make all the street food favorites, steak sandwiches (vaciopan) and sausage sandwiches (choripan), you gotta go for what they do best: bondiola.

Bizzarro’s bondiolas are the absolute bomb, the type of sandwich that would make any Kosher go goy. A beautiful slowly cooked pork shoulder, sliced to order and slapped on a hothot grill, squirted with the grill master’s own squeeze bottle love juice (water, lemon and garlic mix) until the edges get crispy burnt, but without drying out the middle.

Order it completa (with cheese and a fried egg), or just a naked version, before you pile on your own toppings, which are laid out on the ledge of the cart in fancy plastic and styrofoam containers. Stay away from the overly dressed salads and stick with smothering the fantastic slab of grilled pork with spicy chimichurri, fresh salsa criolla and bright red pickled cabbage. 

In disappointing BA street food fashion it’s served on the standard stale bread that every spot serves in the city, and handed over on a small square of paper towel that is just as absorbent as those wax paper mini napkin sons of bitches. But all that doesn’t really matter, one bite of pork perfection and you’ll be happy you live in a world of 20 peso (3 dollar) grilled meat sandwiches.

My favorite time to eat the bondiola of my vida is during the week, when the park is fairly empty, except for the fields filled with dogs. If you are a dog lover, this will be Disney World, a magical place where all the dog walkers come together and you can prance around dog park central, creeping on all the packs of dogs.

If you are not into the whole dog scene, with your sandwich in hand head over to the communal tables, pop onto a tree stump (with waterside manmade lake views), and get into that heavenly delight. Or, if you are lucky to have planners in your life, organize an epic bondiola picnic in the park.

Special shout out goes to Señor Mychael Henry from POKE who led me to this food cart gem and recommends you order your bondiola “completa with a Fanta.”

Bizzarro Food Cart
Valentín Alsina y Tornquist – Bosques de Palermo
Open every day, Aprox hours: 11am – 6pm (closes before dark)
*Tip: Daytime this park is filled with runners, bikers, bladers, doggers and all in between, but at night it quickly turns into Trannyville central for a totally different type of eating pork in the park.

Food festivals, #MAPA, new restaurant favorites, old restaurant favorites, Peruvian food orgasms, aperitivo tours, food tours and Latin America’s 50 best: spring has sprung, bringing the rain, Jacarandás, and extra calories just in time to get your body ready for the upcoming potbellied sunga cocksock season. And of course this is why you’re fat, Spring 2013 edition.

Masticar

The second annual Feria Masticar proved to be another success where over 78,000 people headed out to El Dorrego during a four day gastro filled event with food, seminars and great local products. Chefs, restaurants, journalists, food experts and local producers were all in attendance to celebrate all things Argentine food. (Ph: Mass)

Feria Raíz

On to the next food fair, this time at Tecnópolis.  Raíz is a first annual “feria popular” that was created to celebrate Argentina’s culinary diversity, culture, and identity. An all star list of restaurants were in attendance, like Aramburu making bomb burgers that should have their own food truck, La Crespo, El Banco Rojo, Astor, Chan Chan and Aipim, along with an impressive beer garden, Francis Mallmann dangling 400 chickens over an open fire spit and a king of asado con cuero impressively throwing down manly hunks of cow.

The New Malvón

Villa Crespo brunch hotspot Malvón now brings their New York style café charm to Palermo Botántico, opening a second bread loving location. The space, which doubles as the bakery production camp, features the same Malvón favorites: English muffins, rye bread, monkey bread, and maracuyá cheesecake. The back garden is prime, with a front row view to watch the bakers at work in the open kitchen.

Chan Chan

There’s something about Chan Chan that will always have a special place in my heart. It brings back those Buenos Aires yesteryear memories, a slutty time I started an amorous affair with ceviche. The prices haven’t changed much since my first visit in 2006, and the crew is still banging out killer ají de gallina, ceviche, pescado a la plancha and some of the best advertisements in the city.

Astor – Manduque Porteño

Antonio Soriano‘s new Colegiales food haven ticks every box as the perfect multi purpose restaurant. Daily menu for leisurely lunchers? Check. Bar for solo diners? Check. Romantic candle lit tasting menu? Check. Affordable prices? Check. Ultra market fresh food? Check. Unique modern Argentine menu? Check.check. Astor is already a contender for best new Buenos Aires restaurant 2013.

Pain et Vin 

Sourdough bread, great wine, awesome coffee, wine tastings AND fabulous sandwiches?! I’m FANGIRL #1 of newly opened Palermo Soho spot Pain et Vin. Go. Now. Eat. Bread. Drink. Wine.

FUUDIS Aperitour

FUUDIS has gotten into the DRYYNKS business teaming up with Gruppo Campari and the maestro of aperitivos, the grand Ambassador Martin Auzmendi, to lead a boozy-ful bar hop of aperitif-campari-cynar-aperol persuasion. Every month a group of 20+ set off on a culinary cocktailing journey hitting up three bars to discover Buenos Aires’ wonderful aperitivos. More info on Aperitours here.

#MAPA (Movimiento Aperitivo Argentino)

Speaking of aperitivos, this season premiered the most twitter twalked(?) about cocktail contest in the great history of Argentina. Over 180 drink lovers transformed into cocktail mad scientists to come up with their own original aperitivo recipe, that had to include at least Cynar, Cinzano, Aperol and/or Campari. With cocktail in hand, each Movimiento Aperitivo Argentino participant then wrote a creationist story behind their drinkable invention. 10 finalists were chosen by a band of gastro-celebrity judges before the winner was named and crowned a trip to Italy. Oh, and everyone was invited to a Downton Abbey esque day drinking party at a palace that should invoke insane amounts of jealous envy for anyone who didn’t attend.

Florería Atlántico

Bloody Fucking Mary, you complete me. Not only could Florería’s Bloody compete for best in Buenos Aires (anyone for a BA Bloody Mary making competition?), but it has potential to stand alongside any of the worldwide greats. The “Mitaz Bloody Mitaz Gazpacho” is packed with homemade roasted tomatoes, Tanqueray, dry sack Sherry, and spicy goodness. Problem? One Bloody is never enough, you’ll want this on tap.

Tomo 1

Delicious food, incredible service, simple yet complex flavors, great wines, there’s a reason why Tomo 1 is one of BA’s longest standing top notch restaurants.

La Mas Querida

I’ve finally been able to give mad endless love to an Argentine-style pizzería –> enter La Más Querida. That cracker thin crust brilliantly charred on a dirty grill, pizza a la parrilla is kinda underrated.  This small pizza mecca in Barrio Chino has been making the good stuff for years, grilling up massive pizzas with unique winning flavors: pesto, tapenade, enchilada, gruyere + panceta, smoked salmon + mushroom. The biggest plus? The pizza comes with three dipping sauces, one of which is actually spicy. DIPPING SAWWCE.

Fukuro Noodle Bar

Ramen soup, pork buns and gyoza dumplings have graced Palermo with it’s homemade noodle presence. Inspired by noodle bars like Momofuko and steamed bun house Bao Haus in NYC, Fukuro brings a fresh cool space that is totally different to anything that exists in Buenos Aires. And they serve bomb ass cookies and milk for dessert.

Il Ballo de Mattone

I love me a good executive menu, especially one that serves a big bowl of pasta with arty outdoor garden seating and loads of campari and cinzano.

Teamim

Gracias a hashem I got a hot tip from a fellow Israeli food lover about an Israeli owned shawarma hole in Almagro/Parque Centenario. The space itself is nothing special, there are a few wooden bench tables inside for a quick and delicious face stuffing, but most of the orders are to-go (and only open during the week). Shabbat Shawarma.

Latin America’s 50 Best

This year marked the first annual 50 Best Restaurant Latin America awards in Lima in early September. A chance for Latin American restaurants to be put on the international map, Argentina led as the country with the most wins: Tegui (#9), La Cabrera (#17), Tomo 1 (#18), Oviedo (#27), Chila (#28), Sucre (#29), Aramburu (#31), Pura Tierra (#33), 1884 (#37), El Baqueano (#39), Unik (#40), Paraje Arévalo (#44), Casa Umare (#45), Hernán Gipponi (#49), Elena (#50). I was ever so lucky to check them all out in action at Oviedo, where all the restaurants and chefs showcased some beautiful dishes.

Mistura

The biggest food festival in Latin America, Mistura is a heavenly place where food dreams are made, celebrating the wonders and diversity of Peruvian cuisine. More details on this later, but it was a culinary experience of a lifetime. (Check out a recap of the festival I wrote for Eater.com)

Tarí

The first thing any food obsessor should do when visiting a new country is head straight to the market, followed by a trip to the supermarket. In Lima I picked up the best saucy buy ever: tarí. I know this crema de ají is packed with terrible-for-you chemicals and fats, but once that creamy golden spicy crack-addicting sauce hits your lips, it’s just so good. For now I’m rationing, but it will be a sad day when it’s all gone.

#ComidaRuta

Food touring is the next phenomena to hump Buenos Aires by storm. After a year of organizing personalized food whoring hops, I’m teaming up with the photog wonders at Foto-Ruta for a mega street food photo tour: #ComidaRuta. Because we all know it’s cool to take pics of our food, and we know it’s even cooler to hashtag it.

Guido’s 

If you don’t know about Guido’s by now, you probably should. It’s an infamous tiny barrio Italian spot in Palermo Botánico that has been around forever. There are no menus, Guido just brings course upon course of Italian family style eats. Insanely good antipasti and pastas, go with an open food mind and a hungry stomach. (Photo Jocelyn Mandryk)

Hanan

Walk into the community center-like salon greeted by an Arab mannequin (with a permanent sign that reads “credit cards momentarily suspended”), sit at a large round table, and begin to order Middle Eastern delights: hummus, fried eggplant, tabbouleh, mtabal, Fatush salad, empanadas arabes, stuffed grape leaves, and chicken or steak kebab.

Spice Smuggler

Some girls like shoes and clothes, I like cheese, spices, sauces, and kitchen appliances. After an impromptu visit to the US, I stuffed my suitcase with important goods: cheddar cheese, turkey bacon, English muffins, tortillas, coffee, maple syrup, agave honey, chipotle, guajillo and ancho peppers, curry pastes, a food processor, juicer (RIP), blender, barbecue sauce, hot sauces, Indian spices, and Thanksgiving fundamentals.

Bardepán

WiFi connection = Home. Bar with drinks = Home. Resto/bar with fresh bread + drinks + WiFi + awesome atmosphere = heaven.

I Latina

There’s a reason why this private puerta cerrada restaurant continues to make the rank as top in Buenos Aires: the exceptional food. Dishes are smartly and beautifully created, using textures and flavor combinations that hit all the right places. Highlights of the new menu included: the award winning bread basket with lime butter, coconut ceviche with mango and lychee, shrimp with pineapple and fennel, and cacao with olive oil and sea salt. (Photo of chipa: I Latina)

Mamita Bar

There’s nothing more exciting than moving to a new neighborhood and finding that go-to barrio gem. Any bar that serves massive glasses of wine and Fernet, and has plastic Serrano ham legs hanging and a bigger than life size statue of Homer Simpson as decor – all that should win some kind of award. (Photo Jocelyn Mandryk)

La Cresta

Almagro (and BA’s) #1 casa de spiedo, La Cresta continues to make a killing with their insanely delicious wraps, salads and daily specials (all to-go). So fresh, so seasonal, so good I have been known to make my own personal delivery boy bike over for a La Cresta drug run.

4th Grade Breakfast

My mom is a hoarder. She saves things like school papers, fallen out baby teeth, and almost every art project I’ve ever made. My recent finding was this 4th grade master pottery piece where I channeled Walt Jr. and made a clay plate of breakfast. Pancakes, son.

Fast fattening this-is-why-you’re-fat facts for spring:

Astor –> Ciudad de la Paz 353, Colegiales

Pain et Vin –> Gorriti 5132, Palermo Soho

Teamim –> Diaz Velez 4431, Parque Centenario

Fukuro Noodle Bar –> Costa Rica 5514, Palermo Hollywood

Chan Chan –> Hipolito Yrigoyen 1390, Congreso

Malvón Botánico –> Lafinur 3275, Palermo Botánico

#ComidaRuta Food Tours

Il Ballo de Mattone –> Gorriti 5737, Palermo Hollywood

La Más Querida –> Echeverría 1618, Belgrano

Hanan –> Julián Álvarez 1272, Palermo

Tomo 1 –> Carlos Pelegrini 555, 1st Floor Panamericano Hotel

Florería Atlántico –> Arroyo 872, Retiro

Guido’s –> República de la India 2843, Palermo Botánico

Bardepán / La Prometida –> Virrey Arredondo 3486, Colegiales

I Latina –> Murillo, Villa Crespo

Mamita –> Alvarez Thomas 487, Colegiales

La Cresta –> Bulnes 829, Almagro

Festival Raiz Photos

Mistura Photos

FUUDIS Aperitour

#MAPA 

If I was the type to play a pointless hypothetical stranded-on-a-desert-island game, I’d choose to be stuck with some hot bread, sensual cheese, sexy wine, and erect jolty coffee. So imagine the utter rejoice shed when Pain et Vin in Palermo Soho opened its doors for a wine-bread-cheese-coffee-Palermonites dream come true.

A wine lover’s paradise serving freshly baked sourdough bread, delicious top quality cheeses, properly made coffee, insanely scrumptious sandwiches, and all with a patio, and wine tastings, and wifi, affordable prices, and buena onda owners who also double as the chef, sommelier, cook, and mozos. It’s comfortable, it’s boozy, it’s delicious, it’s a place where you want to hang out for a while.

Pain et Vin began as a passion project between the Argentine ex-physical education teacher turned sommelier, Eleonora Jezzi, and her husband the Israeli chef turned master bread baker, Ohad Weiner. Both wanted to fill a Buenos Aires void: create a relaxed and inviting space to enjoy handpicked top notch wine, and excel at serving two key daily staples that were lacking in this city – bread and coffee.

After a stint in NYC culinary school and working in top kitchens in Tel Aviv and Buenos Aires, Ohad retired to be his own boss, built his own wood fire oven, and got down and dirty with some badass bread. All kinds of wonderful sourdough masa madre breads with a quality you won’t find in many other Buenos Aires bakeries: pan de campo, whole wheat, olive, grains, rye, and herbes de Provence.

The menu is short and oh so sweet: four sandwiches, two salads, two picadas, desserts, croissants, coffee and wine (by bottle and glass).  Really, what more do you need than that? So many spots overcomplicate their lives serving an encyclopedia of dishes, it’s refreshing to see a simple concept perfectly and consistently executed.

Okay, enough with the restaurant ideology concept gushing, let’s get to the good shit –> SANGUCHES, NENA. SANWICHESSSS.

A take on the BLT, this bacon, lettuce, tomato sandwich is drenched in a homemade aioli-like mayonnaise and served on country style bread. Proof that you really just need a few high quality ingredients to make a killer sandwich. I’d happily eat this every day, and happily suffer the hefty kilo consequences.

I had heard that their grilled eggplant induced serious pleasure jolts, so even though I am notoriously disappointed by many sad grilled vegetable sandwiches in this town, I had to give this berenjena a shot. And oh oh yes yes si si oui oui כןכן: thinly sliced eggplant, goat cheese, sun dried tomatoes, this may be one of my new BA faves. 

After two sandwiches down, my eating partner decided to keep going. I suggested a sensible quinoa salad, but I was vetoed by an eye roll and forced to order the prosciutto and arugula sandwich. Fact: Jamón crudo will always win in a fight against salad.

Oh the joy to receive a cup of café that actually makes you say out loud, “Damn GINA– now THAT’S good coffee.” PyV gets their coffee from the Red de Baristas Argentinos, grinding it in-house with their beautiful Italian-stallion coffee machine. The coffee beans change seasonally, and I was lucky to try a wonderful stronglikebull Nicaraguan-Brazilian blend.

Open all day long, the menu stays the same for breakfast, lunch, and merienda. While Ohad’s croissants are pillows of glazed buttery flaky angels, I’d have the happiest fork in the whole entire world if Pain et Vin began serving Israeli breakfast. Just the thought of Israeli salads, shakshouka, and real pita bread in Argentina, I can hardly contain myself. Seriously, Buenos Aires needs some Israeli breakfast and I will start a Change.org campaign to make it happen. Oh, and chisme has it that on special occasions some mean pizzas also come out of that wood fire oven.

In addition to the café aspect, PyV also organizes weekly wine tastings (with cheese!), both open to the public and for private group tastings. Eleonora, who studied wine in Argentina and France, makes for a wonderful host and shares her knowledge about wine eloquently and unpretentiously. This sommelier can relate to both wine beginners and snobby wine douchehat.

Word on the street is that during the next few months Pain et Vin will be offering a School of Wine: 4 meetings to learn the basics of wine. Anyone who wants to learn more about wine, sign up for this class. Or if you don’t want to learn about wine and just want to eat bread and excellent quesos, Pain et Vin is still for you.

Pain et Vin 
Gorriti 5132, Palermo Soho
Tel. 4832-5654
Tues – Sat: 9am – 9pm, Sun: 10am – 7pm
Average price: AR$50
Check out their Facebook page to find out about wine tastings

A big lispy spit filled Pfffft in yo face if you are the type who says it isn’t possible to get the ingredients to make a proper Bloody Mary in Buenos Aires. You don’t need no fancy tomato juice, V8, or Bloody Mary mix to make this spicy morning ruby love nectar. While this recipe does call for a handful of specific ingredients you probably don’t have on hand, once you buy the Bloody Mary staples, you’ll be whipping up so many of these brunch time delights, your loved ones will begin to think you have a drinking problem. But it doesn’t matter, because you’ll want to marry (or civil union) this Mary.

Homemade Roasted Tomato Bloody Mary RecipeBloody Mary Mix
1.5 kilos very ripe tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cartons tomato puré (puré de tomate 520g per carton)
2 cups water
3 Tbsp dijon mustard
3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp prepared horseradish (rábano picante or krein/jrein)
2 Tbsp Tabasco or other hot sauce
2.5 oz lemon juice (juice of 2 lemons)
1.5 oz lime juice (juice of 2 limes)
2 Tbsp olive brine, or pickle juice
1 tsp celery seed (semillas de apio)
2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 tsp sea salt

The Other Stuff
2 oz decent quality vodka
Ice
2 Large bottles with a lid or cap (at least 1.5 L)
Cocktail shaker

Garnish (optional)
Celery stick
Olive
Tajin fruit seasoning or crushed chipotle peppers
Cracked pepper and sea salt

Directions

1. Quickly blanch tomatoes. Slice in half and place in a roasting pan. Drizzle olive oil and put in the oven on high for 20 minutes. Once the tomatoes are roasted, food process or blend until smooth. Add one cup water and process for another 30 seconds. Then, place the tomatoes through a strainer or sieve to remove pulp. Pour the remaining strained tomato juice in a pitcher or big jug and add tomato puré and water, mix well. Chill in the fridge. **The lazy not-as-good versions: 1. don’t strain the tomatoes for a pulpier gazpacho-like drink. 2. Don’t use fresh tomatoes and just puré de tomate + water.

2. To make the homemade Bloody Mary Mix, mix together the dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, Tabasco, lemon juice, lime juice, olive brine, garlic powder, celery seed, fresh ground pepper, and sea salt  You should try to combine in a container that has a thin mouth or spout, like a large measuring cup, since you will need to evenly pour into different containers. Add more or less Tabasco depending on desired spice level.

3. Pour the tomato juice into two plastic bottles (I used these Fuze tea empties) and evenly pour in the Bloody Mary mix mixture. Put the cap on and shake very well. Taste the tomato juice, if it is too thick, add more water, or if too watery, add more tomato puré. Stick in the fridge or freezer to chill. Adjust other seasonings to taste.

4. For a fancy Bloody Mary, grab a glass and rub the rim (that’s what she said) with a lime wedge. Roll the lip of the glass in Tajin or Valentina fruit seasoning,  spicy pepper flakes, or mixture of salt and cracked pepper. You’ll want the rim to be fully coated (gigglegiggle).

5. Grab a cocktail shaker and fill with ice and 2 oz vodka – it’s wasteful to use good vodka like Grey Goose but also a waste of a good Bloody if you shit it up with Peterson’s. Pour in about 6 oz of your Bloody Mary Mix (3 parts mix to 1 part vodka) and shake well. Then, strain into your prepared glass. *Personally I don’t like adding too much ice because it waters the Bloody down too much.

6. Top with a sprinkle of celery seed, a crank of cracked pepper, a squirt of Tabasco and or the garnish of your choice. Guzzle that Bloody down/

**This recipe was created for those poor human beings who do not have easy access to tomato juice. 

BONUS track recipe..

Slutty Mary Popsicles 

If you only have enough Bloody Mary mix left for one bloody, and many people who want to drink it down, make yourself some Slutty Mary Popsicles for everyone to enjoy.

Ingredients:

Leftover Bloody Mary Mix + Vodka
Popsicle molds (if you don’t own one, you should)
Freezer

Directions:

1. Mix together the Bloody Mary mix with vodka as if you were making a drink. Pour the drink into popsicle molds and stick in the freezer until frozen, about 4 hours. (Yes, even though there is vodka in there but the popsicle will still freeze)

2. Whip the bloody out of the freezer and slut it up, sucking on Mary hard.

Photo Jocelyn Mandryk

Slow clap it up because 2013 was a helluva year, pushing Buenos Aires closer to that culinary destination in the sky. Let’s reminisce and gush over master bartenders paying homage to their aperitivo Argentine roots, while also giving an erect salute to the eclectic mix of restaurant openings that have continued to show that Buenos Aires is oh-so-much more than parrilla, pizza, and empanadas. As we enter into 2014, with full stomachs and even higher blood alcohol level, let’s do what every other publication does and round up the whole year in one article listing the best top new restaurants, bars and cafés of dos-mil-trece.

The Top 10 New Restaurants

ASTOR · manduque porteño

Antonio Soriano’s long anticipated restaurant Astor wins my fork’s award of the best new restaurant of 2013 and here’s why: the seasonal menu that changes weekly brings a fresh face to Nueva Cocina Argentina in a relaxed and unpretentious setting. Ideal for a quick lunch sitting at the bar that overlooks an open kitchen, or perfect for a romantic multi course dinner on a special occasion (that still won’t leave you with an empty wallet), Astor is the type of place where you want to become a regular to try many things on the innovative menu, and can actually afford to do so. 

Pain et Vin

It’s hard not to have mad love for a wonderland that offers an excellent wine selection, great strong coffee, insanely tasty baked sourdough breads, stomach orgasming sandwiches + lime tart, and ultra friendly service from owners who have a passion for what they do. Pain et Vin, thank you for existing.

Burger Joint

If I had to choose my favorite type of joint that is unable to light a spark, burgers would probably be involved somehow. You know it’s meant to be when a cool spot slings bomb burgers, banging fries, homemade condiments, hates Bieber and the Kardashians and shows crazy amor for Seinfeld. It may not be the original NYC burger joint but BJPalerrrrmo4life. 2014 news flash: The jizzoint will now be serving homemade buns. Put that in your bun and smoke it.

Fukuro Noodle Bar

OMG, could it be?! Pork buns, ramen and Momofuku Milk Bar style cookies and sweet milk have slurped into Palermo for the city’s first ever noodle bar. Everything is homemade, down to making the noodles by hand, slow cooking the flavorful broth for hours, and fresh baking the cereal candied cookies.

El Perlado

A retro bistro boasting a modern Argentine-French menu, El Perlado makes for a tiny gem in Congreso that’s a great date spot, especially for those who want to impress but are on a budget. Day time executives head for their lunch special while the nighttime crowd can get down with good cocktails and killer appetizers. Tip: since it’s right next door to (and partially the same owners as) Chan Chan, it’s a solid plan B for when the wait at the Peruvian powerhouse is fuera de control. (Photo: Buenos Aires Connect)

Chipper

Homesick Brits now have their fryer prayers answered: a real fish n’ chips shop splashing big in BA. The fish always comes out perfectly cooked, juicy on the inside with a crispy fried crust, something that is difficult to attain in the overly greasy fried world we live in.

Peron Peron

Peronistas, Kirchneristas, Anarchistas, Anti-istas, no matter what you align with politically, there’s one thing that everyone can agree upon: you’ll want to give sweet long sensual besos to Peron Peron’s ossobuco empanadas. The Peronist themed bar/restaurant has an entirely new face in the kitchen, with the chef Gonzalo Alderete Pagés launching a totally revamped menu.

Casa Cruz

We have all heard of Casa Cruz. Perhaps we visited once back in 2007 when it was a fancy pants restaurant costing a hefty price and dishing mediocre food, but never really had a burning desire to return. But fast forward to this year, Aldo Graziani (of Aldo’s Vinoteca) and Inés de los Santos (of the rockstar bartender that she is) come back to join forces and offer something completely different: true Argentine bodegón classics, kicked up a notch, served alongside special house cocktails (by the glass and even by the jug), impressive wine selection, and all in a luxurious comfortable setting. Start with some tapas like the tortilla española and pickled eggplant and continue to gorge on the entraña marinada with puré de papas. Also, be sure to take lots of selfies in the impressive wine cava bathroom.

Olaya

With a new lime tattoo on his forearm, Jose Mendivil Castro (chef who brought us Sipan, Osaka, Mullu) is back with his latest Peruvian fusion creation. Olaya isn’t just another Peruvian-Japanese nikkei experience with sweet maracuyá sauce on top, instead it combines Peruvian food with other worldly cuisines: Japanese, Chinese, Indonesian, French, and Italian. The space is crazy cool and extravagant, with massive wall paintings, pisco bottle displays and a whole fish on ice next to the open kitchen. It’s where big spenders meet trendy Palermo scenesters meet elaborate Peruvian flavors.

Nuestro Secreto

Both Elena Restaurant and Pony Line in the Four Seasons hotel premiered late last year as a winning restaurant-bar couple, and now, a year later, Nuestro Secreto comes flaming in for a meaty kill. Held in an impressive space, NS is all about fire: using different types of wood to cook locally sourced meats on the parrilla and wood-fire oven. This photo above is of the ice cream line at Four Seasons, Dolce Morte, which alone merits a visit: Chokotorta and Dark After Eight — allz you need to know, hijo.

The Top 10 New Bars

Floreria Atlántico

What happens when two Buenos Aires drink lords join forces and put together an all star staff of top bartenders, cooks, and sommeliers? From the creator of 878 Bar, Julián Díaz, and the brains behind Principe de los Apostoles gin (and really, all things good drinks-related in BA), Tato Giovannoni, Florería Atlántico is one of the best things that has happened to Retiro. In just one year of existing, it has already won the top spot for best bar in Latin America, and that’s not even why it rocks: the design makes you feel as if you accidentally wandered into a magical cocktail bunker, where upon embarking you have entered into Florería’s Lion, Witch and Cocktail Wardrobe – creative (masterfully mixed) drinks bountifully flow while all the food proudly parades and sizzles atop an INDOOR PARRILLA.

Verne Club

Fede Cuco, the pride and joy of all porteño tenders of bar, shakes it up with a winning cocktail club, paying homage to the great poet Jules Verne. First class drinks become the star of the show, innovative and original, jetsetting around the coctel globe to put a modern twist on classics (including an ABSINTHE fountain brought specially from France, which is highly recommended for those nights when you’d like to make bad decisions and have foggy memories about said decisions). The bar itself is quite an impressive futuristic construction, as is the massive Kraken that rises behind the bar shelves, creeping alongside bottles of beautiful alcohol. If you are a lover of cocktails made by a pro, aperitivos, and gourmet hot dogs (the food menu is basically a pancho fellator’s dream), Verne Club should become your watering hueco. 

La Esperanza de los Ascurra

The Villa Crespo vermouth bar has made the move to open up a second location in Palermo Hollywood, offering the same sampling of tapas plates and simple aperitivo classics. Head upstairs to the terrace which has become one of the hottest spots to beat the heat, especially when you order a spread of gambas, tortilla española, and burrata, alongside a cinzano and soda, all topped off with maracuyá pie for dessert.

Leitmotiv

What more could you want in a bar than a bunch of hot hipster chicks in retro dresses carrying around hand-held blow torches to inflame delicious drinks? Sexy, I know, contain your cocktail hard on. Climb up to the rooftop bar, tell the bartender what you’re into, and have them whip you up a refreshing summer drink. (Photo: Leitmotiv)

Boteco do Brasil

Ditching its small location on Bonpland, Boteco has moved a few blocks away into La Maison’s beautiful space for more sungas, samba, and caipi fun. Their patio is ideal for either a romantic date night or group eating-drinking action (just make sure to reserve).

The Temple Bar

With only a handful of options in Palermo for true beer aficionados, The Temple Bar is welcomed with open chilled cerveza arms. They serve a substantial offering of beers by the bottle (from over 15 countries) and a solid selection of artisanal beers. Head for happy hour (2×1) or with a group (they offer good promos for groups with pizza libre), and watch your beer panza expand before your eyes. (Photo: Temple)

Pony Line

Not many hotel bars are actually cool for locals to visit, but Pony Line breaks that rule, busting through the hotel-bar stereotype and becoming just “bar.” You can bet that any drink you order will be good, especially the mate inspired tereré and other seasonal creations. And yes, yes I know, Pony Line technically opened at the end of 2012, but it’s worthy of a mention anyway because I do what I want. (Photo: Pony Line)

The Harrison Speakeasy 

The makers of Frank’s, Palermo’s favorite (and only?) speakeasy, are back at it again with another Prohibition Era 1920s inspired bar. Part sushi restaurant Nicky New York, part secret password protected cocktail bar, it’s the type of place that’s kinda so pretentiously trendy you don’t want to like it, but the bartenders know how to concoct insanely good drinks (the menu was designed by the capo of cocktails Seba García) and space is really awesome, so you don’t want to miss out. (Photo: Viaresto)

BASA Basement Bar

It’s not common to find a spot that serves both great food and awesome cocktails, but BASA manages to make that seamless crossover and keeps Buenos Aires classy with a new take on a trendy restaurant and lounge. Ludovico de Biaggi, who has generations of cocktail juice running through his veins, takes over the bar serving top notch drinks with style.

The Steve Bar

Welcome the newest (and awesomely decorated) bar this side of Juan B Justo. The outside fountain and cocktails sold by the jug give it lots of extra points.

The Top 5 New Cafés 

Malvón (Botánico)

The New York style café that took Villa Crespo by storm has now opened a second location in new culinary hotspot Palermo Botánico. English muffins, fast WiFi, and a beautiful patio overlooking the open kitchen / baking factory. Go for the bakery goods and freshly made breads, stay for the weekend brunch, fri-ta-tas and bruschettas.

Ninina

You had me at great coffee, a glass enclosed kitchen, lovely cakes, a breezy sleek space, and kale juice. (Photo Ninina Bakery)

Birkin Coffee Bar 

It’s a little piece of NYC in Botánico – insanely good coffee (especially the cappuccino and iced coffee) and a killer brunch that offers unlimited refills of that wonderful coffee. Birkin is a total winner.

Full City Coffee House

Hellz to the yes it’s like we are having a Palermo coffee revolution. One of the top spots to get Colombian coffee in Buenos Aires has moved from their Chacarita space to centrally located Soho.

Grand Café

Retiro can now have some good New York style café loving too. The two level spot is run by the same owners of BASA and Gran Bar Danzon, but this time with a relaxed coffee shop feel serving sandwiches, meriendas, brunch and coffee. (Photo Grand Cafe)

Honorable mention goes to Smooothway and The Factory, both bringing healthy alternatives in the form of a smoothie and juice bars in Palermo.

And it wouldn’t be a year in review without presenting an award for Mr./Ms. Argentina Culinary Master 2013. This fabricated award goes to someone who has made a huge impact for the bright future of the Argentine gastronomy world. Martín Auzmendi – journalist, writer, Argentina’s Campari Ambassador, and all around swell guy – receives my golden blonde fork for helping to bring the food scene in Buenos Aires into the spotlight. Every food event he touched this year became an instant success: an integral player in organizing Festival Raiz at Tecnopolis, #MAPA (the Argentine aperitivo movement), the Mozzarella pizza 5k marathon, The Tales of the Cocktails, and authoring the hit book Cocteles en el Camino, stories that chronicle his personal journey through bars that span across the globe.

Other new restaurants on the list to visit in 2014: Mesa 524, BOW, Oporto Almacén , 180 Burger bar, Kensho, Nolita, Chira, Partenope, M Palermo, Rocco, Nana, Peugeot Lounge, Primafila, Victoria Brown and Dogg.

Buenos Aires Best New Restaurants, Bars, Cafés 2013 Hotspot Quick Facts: 

The Restaurants

• ASTOR · manduque porteño - Ciudad de la Paz 353, Belgrano. Tel. 4554-0802
• Chipper - Humboldt 1893, Palermo Hollywood. Tel. 4777-6760
• Pain et Vin - Gorriti 5132, Palermo Soho. Tel. 4832-5654
• Burger Joint - Borges 1766, Palermo Soho. Tel. 4833-5151
• Fukuro - Costa Rica 5514, Palermo Hollywood. Tel. 15-3290-0912
• Peron Peron - Carranza 2225, Palermo Hollywood. Tel. 4777-6194
• Casa Cruz - Uriarte 1658, Palermo Soho. Tel. 4833-1112
• Olaya – Humboldt 1550, Palermo Hollywood. Tel. 4843-1751
• El Perlado - Hipólito Yrigoyen 1386, Congreso. Tel. 4382-8689
• Nuestro Secreto - Cerrito 1455, Recoleta. Tel. 4321-1552

The Bars

• Floreria Atlántico - Arroyo 872, Retiro. Tel. 4313-6093
• Verne Club - Medrano 1475, Palermo Viejo. Tel. 4822-0980
• La Esperanza de los Ascurra - Fitz Roy 1818, Palermo Hollywood. Tel. 3533-7122
• Leitmotiv - Cabrera 5696, Palermo Hollywood. Tel. 4777-0743
• Boteco do Brasil - Honduras 5774, Palermo Hollywood. Tel. 3979-2970
• The Temple Bar - Costa Rica 4677, Palermo Soho. Tel. 4831-5430
• The Harrison Speakeasy - Malabia y Costa Rica, Palermo Soho. Tel. 4831-0519
• BASA Basement Bar - Basavilbaso 1328, Retiro. Tel. 4893-9444
• The Steve Bar - El Salvador 4968, Palermo Soho. Tel.  6056-9099
• Pony Line - Cerrito 1455, Recoleta. Tel. 4321-1552

The Cafés

• Malvón - Malvón 3275, Palermo Botánico. Tel. 4774-2563
• Ninina - Gorriti 4738, Palermo Soho. Tel. 4832-0070
• Birkin - República Árabe Siria 3061, Palermo Botánico. Tel. 4843-7470
• Full City Coffee House - Thames 1535, Palermo Soho. Tel. 4833-6774
• Grand Café - Basavilbaso 1340, Retiro. Tel. 4893-9333

Disclaimer: I am aware that the majority of these recommendations are based in P-town (because we all know Palerrrrrmo is the capital of the Buenos Aires universe). I graciously invite you to send me your favorite new restaurant-bar-café. Especially in Colegiales… because that’s where I live.

It’s only natural for Argentina’s favorite cooking contraption to mate with the number one fast food to form an illegitimate food baby. Some would say it’s the antithesis of what porteño pizza is all about, and maybe that’s why I love it so much: thin crust, a plethora of adventurous toppings, and dipping sauces on the side, it’s time to get into La Más Querida’s beloved pizza a la parrilla.

For those devout pizza eaters whose stomach only considers a pizza when it is adorned with obscene amounts of cheese, pervy pools of grease, and accessorized with the napo-muzza-fugazzeta-jamon y morron-palmitos y salsa golf toppings, you may want to move along, La Más Querida’s pizzas are from a different school.

Tucked behind the Barrio Chino train station on a dead end street, this small pizzería has only about 12 tables, each with a front row view to watch the star attraction: the asador’s  pizza making station and live grilling performance.

Before we get into all the cheesy pizza details, you’ll need an introduction to Buby. Buby Van Asperen, a self proclaimed ex-hippie and master at sporting a Hawaiian shirt, opened La Más Querida in 2005 to bring a quality pizza a la parrilla to Buenos Aires. With a background in catering to the stars, (really, he was a caterer for some of the biggest musical acts to come to Argentina in the 1980/90s — ask him to tell you about Whitney Houston’s utensil demands) he wanted to create a space that catered to his personal likes: using high quality ingredients, unique flavor combinations, spicy sauce options, all in a tropical resort-y like atmosphere strictly filled with a big laugh of buena onda. And he’s managed to do just that.

The menu includes about 10 different pizza flavors, ranging from mixes like the signature “La mas querida…pizza” with smoked salmon, mushrooms and arugula, “de queso brie” with brie cheese, sun dried tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella, and “Tapenade” with black olives, capers, anchovies, tomato and mozzarella cheese.

Even before the pizzas came out I knew I fell madly in love for La Más Querida when 3 glorious sauces were dropped on the table. Mediterranean with garlic, chopped tomatoes, olive oil and basil, Andina with pepper, chilis, onion, vinegar and huacatay, and PicaPica EXTRA hot with CHILIS, lots of sexy sultry spicy chilis.

Okay, now let’s get into the first act. The pre-cooked dough is set on wooden slabs before being adorned with tomato sauce and cheese (ask for extra tomato sauce on your pizza).

Next, it’s loaded with toppings. You can choose from combinations already on the menu or pick from the make-your-own selection for a dream pizza (extra sauce, little cheese, please). Unlike many other pizzerias, there are no pizza rules here — a medium pizza can have 2 flavors, and a large pizza up to 3. Once toppings are loaded, the asador slides the pie onto the grill and waits for the magic to happen.

Finally, the magic happened. After about 15 minutes, the long rectangularly oval pizza is taken off the grill, drizzled with olive oil, cut up into pieces and delivered right to the table.

Let’s talk flavors. The Mediterranean is my go-to order, it has tomatoes, basil, mozzarella, and pesto squiggles. I always order that and you should too – garlicky, cheesy with fresh bright basil pesto. The other half: grilled vegetables, also a good order, although the eggplant was cut a bit too thick and didn’t cook all the way.

Cheesy pesto ready for a close up.

Going cross the pond Eurapeein style with the Francesa – a pile of caramelized onions with cubes of panceta and loads of gruyere cheese is hard not to be a hit. I mean, CHEESE+BACON+ONIONS, a natural winner even if it’s too cheesy for my lactose hating stomach. It was shared halvsies with the Rúcula y Panceta, which is just as it sounds: Parmesan cheese, arugula and crispy chunks of panceta.

Now time to drip the sauces on your pizza, and rub it on your privates (?).

One large pizza could easily feed 3 normal people, happily stuff a hungry couple, or fake-fill up 6 porteñas. They come in two sizes, medium and large, but who are we kidding, always order the large.

La Más Querida
Echeverría 1618, Belgrano (Barrio Chino)
Tel. 4788-1455
Hours: Tues – Sunday, 8pm – close
Average price per person: 90 pesos, cash only
Delivery to the neighborhood

The pioneer in the Buenos Aires brunch movement, Oui Oui has been around since the beginning of breakfast time, brunchificando the hell out of Palermo before brunchear even became a verb, and Palermo took the Hollywood suffix.  

It’s the original of porteño culinary gentrification. One of the first spots to put a modern twist on the classics, this little French inspired café offers so much more than medialunas-tostados-caféconleche. In an era with little variety, people traveled from afar to experience Oui Oui’s buttery croissants, inventive salads, sandwiches, breakfast specials, brunches, massive coffees and *GASP* lemonade with ginger and mint.

Fast forward to today, with a second location that opened up half a block away from the first, and Oui Oui continues to be a raving hit. Sure, some could say the clientele is sometimes nauseously overly trendy. And maybe at times the service can be somewhat lacking and forgetful. And on weekends, you can absolutely forget about getting a table. But there’s something about Oui Oui that keeps hooking us in: consistently cooked food and baked goods.

Both locations have a similar vibe (although I prefer Oui Oui Almacén on the corner) with pink picnic table and chairs, fresh roses, and cutesy signs around. It’s totally girly, yet there’s still an overwhelming amount of tables filled with bromancing bros who brunch. 

Perfect for a weekday breakfast-lunch-brunch-brinner-lupper-mericena-lunchienda, you can’t go wrong with one of their breakfast specials. Unlike other cafés who have strict breakfast hour rules, Oui Oui serves their promos all day every day.  The “Tony” will always win high marks in my world: eggs Benedict alongside roasted potatoes, mixed greens and coffee or tea.  Sure, it may not be the exact replica of eggs benny abroad, but the eggs are poached nicely and it’s served on top thick cuts of brioche, with ham, and a light Hollandaise sauce.

It’s so good it smiles on the plate. And has runny egg yolk nose.

Roll your eyes and call it a breakfast snoozefest, but sometimes all you want in the morning (?) is some homemade granola fruit, and yogurt. The Gallo is that healthy breakfast winner.

Pavita (turkey) sandwich also does the trick, as does the poached egg on top of a mountain of greens.

In the wintertime it’s worth checking out the soup + tarta specials.

Or anytime the French toast or even more so the waffles smothered in dulce de leche and/or nutella.

Croque Monsieur for the manly. (Photo Oui Oui)

Salads are the best when pile drived with burrata. (Photo Oui Oui)

And who could ignore this insanely large portion of chocotorta? (Photo Oui Oui)

Probably one of the things that Oui Oui mostly excels at is the bakery selection, minus the glossygreasy faux-bagels (they ain’t the real boiled-baked deal). But luckily the croissants will always make top marks with its flakey pastry that leaves your fingers extra buttery and mouth extra satisfied.

**INSIDER’S TIP: every night an hour before closing all the baked goods are half price.

Oui Oui // Almacén Oui Oui
Nicaragua 6068 // Nicaragua 6099, Palermo Hollywood
Tel. 4778-9614 // 4776-4442
Hours: Mon – Fri: 8:00 am – 8:00 pm; Sat – Sun: 10:00 am – 8:00 pm
Average price: AR$75 peso per person
Oui Oui on Facebook

*Original post from 2009, updated 2014

It’s time to forever bid farewell to your favorite pancho stand, because a beautiful all beef salchicha has hit the streets of BA. Packed with juicy beef, grilled on the parrilla, nestled inside a pillowy fresh bun and served with a glorious selection of fresh toppings and interesting sauces, all of our long and pink wiener-y hot dog dreams have finally come true.

Once you go DOGG, you’ll never go back.

When I first heard about DOGG, a small weekday lunch spot in the microcentro, I took in their whole hot dog spiel with some skepticism: inspired by the same hot dog recipe that Polish immigrants used in Brooklyn during the 1920s, made with 100% Aberdeen Angus select with added “secret” spices. Sounds maybe like some good chamuyo marketing to me, but would it be a real good ole Yanqui hot dog as it claims or another sad Argie imitation?

Oh holy hot dog, you do really exist! It’s true what they say, you don’t realize how much you have truly missed someone until he is plopped in front of you on a plate and smothered with sauce. Unlike its plastic and processed pancho cousin, this skinless dog is cooked in its natural casing, where each bite snaps in your boca, exploding with all the flavors and seasonings.

Chef and food stylist Máximo Togni, along with his partners Pablo Capara y Yesica Vissani, are behind this project, and it’s obvious Team DOGG have done their hot dog homework. During a long stint working in New York restaurants (and as chef at the Argentine embassy in Washington DC), Togni not only has the experience, but he must have eaten a lot of perros calientes to truly nail this salchicha recipe. Every component comes together in perfect pancho harmony: grilled beef schlong + homemade bun + toppings + sauces + love. (Photo credit of hot dogs grilling: DOGG)

DOGG joins the club of affordable fast food spots con onda (21 pesos for a pancho!)with a limited menu focusing on a few different dishes: sandwiches, wraps, salads, sides (including cheddar fries and Café Habana style grilled corn) and, of course, PANCHOS. Obviously it’s obligatory to order at least one hot dog. And easily plausible to order two.

These dogs don’t see the dirty bath water like so many of its kind, instead it’s placed on the grill, sizzling away, where it gets a charred crispy outside. Once you order your pancho, you then get to have the hot dog masters dress it up. The menu includes a handful of recommended flavor combinations, but there are over 11 different toppings for you to make your dream machine dog.

My number one choice came with the love trio of sauerkraut, pickles and relish – acidic, sweet, beefy and with all the right texture crunches to make the ideal bite. It’s served on a super fresh soft bun, the kind you’d like to buy by the dozen and use it for all your bread needs.

I would feel like a bad Amurrrrican if I went to a hot dog shop and did not order a chili dog. Ground beef, smokey chili sauce and loaded with red kidney beans, watch out Buenos Aires Chili Cook Off, you may have a new fierce contender for next year’s competition.

Next up, the cheddar cheese hot dog showered with squiggly bits of panceta. If I closed my eyes, it was like I was transported back to somewhere in the Midwest, scarfing down a cheese dog with that processed bright orange queso sauce that comes out of a magical pump. The cheese tastes just like dispenser cheese should taste: fake, warm, smooth and delicious – all in the best (and worst) possible ways. You can tell the panceta, a fine quality oinker, was once porky and crispy, but unfortunately it succumbed to the soggy and sad dark side after probably sitting in a prep container too long.  Still, not a deal breaker.

OH MY SAUCE we stand before the holy motherload of all sauce walls! Sriracha, French’s mustard, Frank’s Red Hot, and Trader Joes BBQ Sauce all represented. While I wonder how long these imported sauces on this glorious treasure shelf will actually last, we should all take advantage while full in stock.

And generously douse a hot dog in guacamole and Sriracha. (Photo credit Sriracha: DOGG).

You can add fries to the panchos for just a few pesos more, and while they are needed to fully take advantage of prime sauce dippage, I definitely missed out with a fresh batch — these tasted as if they had been sitting under a heat lamp for a bit too long.

I’m already planning my next visit in which I design my own pancho to honor my hot dog loving hometown with a take on a Chicago style wiener: yellow mustard, chopped onions, tomatoes, pickles, sweet relish, sport pepper and celery salt.

DOGG reinvents and redefines what panchos should taste like, bringing high quality class and flavor to show a whole new world of hot dogs. I wouldn’t be surprised if the DOGG house opens up locations all across the city.

RIP regular panchos. You will not be missed.

DOGG
San Martin 657 (y Viamonte), Microcentro
Tel. 4313-9735
Hours: Monday – Friday, 10am – 5pm
Average price: AR$45