Exotic Social Paradise

Pablo, our opera singing Spanish teacher who hates to party, recommended two places in Palermo, the first, already chronicled here, was Zadvarie DOC, the second is Social Paraiso. Social Paraiso is a small family run restaurant that cooks modern Portena food. I've been twice, both times for lunch and both times I had el menu del dia. They offer two choices for the entrada and two options for the plato principe. My first excursion I had a cold lentil and chicken salad followed by bondiolas of pork with onions cooked sauteed in red wine and mashed potatoes. Both were excellent. The second visit I had a salad of grilled vegetables followed by grilled pieces of "melo" which I think is type of cod... i'm working on that. Again, both were successful. The menu del dia

Most workers break for lunch around 1.00P here, and it's very common to see groups of workers out to lunch together around this time. Many of the restaurants in Palermo have a mixed crowd, with people ranging from young to old with the odd tourist mixed in. The service veers more towards the Italian model, meaning that there isn't a whole lot. (The club was an exception, more on that later)

La Dorita proved an effective version of a Parilla. We were craving a meat bonanza, and a meat bonanza was delivered. We started with a tostada with jamon y queso and a morcilla (blood sausage) just to warm up. after that we dug into a half portion of skirt steak and a full portion of tira de asado (ribs). Whoever decided on portion size in Argentina is clearly out of their mind and wonderfully so I might point out. A half portion of skirt steak was two foot long steaks, and the portion of ribs was three racks of ribs cut through the bone (like Kalbi for example).

Don Julio is not chic, which is to say it's exactly as a parilla should be. The brown leather on the tables and the open grilling station (see left) are both good signs. I stopped in for an Argentine lunch; a half portion of Lomo (tenderloin) with a simple side salad. Something so simple, yet so delicious. The cut of meat was cooked jugoso (rare) as requested, but the meat was so tasty that it was not chewy at all. Drumm will be headed here on his own after I depart so for a more complete discription you may have to wait.

Needing a break the day after the aforementioned "meat bonanza" we headed across the tracks to Palermo Hollywood to a restaurant called Azema Exotic Bistro. The Argentines who frequent my favorite restaurant review site gave this place one of the highest rankings in the city. The food is a mix of creole, french, and various asian foods. We started with a small plate of Vietnamese spring rolls that tasted like, well, Vietnamese fried spring rolls. They were served with two sauces, one sweet and one hot, and I have do admit the hot was hot, which made me very happy. We shared two entradas, a passion fruit infused salmon tartar, that was chunks of Salmon as opposed to the more normal ground technique, and a dish called "Pate Creole," which truned out to be an empanada filled with shredded chicken and pork. As for the plato principe, Matt had pork ribs, his second attempt at pork ribs in Buenos Aires, which were fine. I had a sesame lamb dish that was small pieces of sesame encrusted lamb served with vegetables in a curry sauce. Again, it was fine. At the waiter suggestion, we drank a nice Rutini 2004 Malbec - Cabernet that was delicious.