First off, I have returned to Zadvarie DOC twice since my last post. I remain a huge fan. Both of these trips were for the purpose of trying the famed ceviche, and both times it came through in the clutch. Both the "ceviche mixto" (calamari, shrimp, and mero) and the "ceviche de lenguado y camarones" were delicious. My other pleasant discovery is the licuado (essentially an argentine smoothie) version of chicha morada which is, according to saltshaker, a traditional Peruvian soft drink made with purple corn. (the foto at left was also taken from saltshaker) I'll address it in my final post, but I think Zadvarie is an early favorite to make the favorite places list.I have mixed feelings about restaurants without signs, and about restaurants that are named for their address. The unmarked "Ocho 7 Ocho" (878) fits into both of those catagories. Try as I might, I can't really bring myself to hate it. After being turned away from Thymus we headed into Villa Crespo to find 878 which is behind an unmarked set of doors at 878 Thames. Drumm and I shared an order of tender mussels in olive oil and garlic and an order of delicious hand-cut lomo carpaccio. Drumm went for crochettes de lomo, which were breaded pieces of meat served with mashed potatoes. I had the melo (that cod-like fish) that was served with an excellent spicy tomato marmalade and a warm lentil salad. We washed it all down with a Bodega Weinart Cabernet Sauvignon that I liked. After dinner we headed to the bar to sample the impressive collection of whiskeys. Though we passed the flight of whiskeys is a good deal including four 1 oz shots of Johnnie Walker Blue Label, Caol Ila, and others.
Putting the modern food aside, we headed to El Trapiche (in my case back to, but it was Drumm's first time) for more meat.
Again it was packed with Portenos who all seemed to be in a remarkably good mood. We were determined to order a ridiculous amount of food and despite the resistance of our waiter managed to convince him to give us a morcillo (blood sausage) and a Palta American (Avocado filled with shrimp and heart of palm) for our entrada course. After disposing with those our waiter delivered our meats. I don't like to take photos of my food in restaurants (I prefer to eat it), this is a time I regret it. Jorge (our waiter) brought us four foot long skirt steaks (Entrana) and three of the biggest pieces of pork flank (Matambrito de cerdo, the house specialty) you've ever seen. An injured Drumm struggled gamely to eat his share, but provided no support at all when it came to the 1997 Luigi Bosca Cabernet Sauvignon, which was delicious but was overwhelmed a bit by the meat. In the end we had to admit to Jorge that our eyes were a bit bigger than our stomachs, which prompted affectionate laughter. I love this place, nothing pretentious, just good food.
4 comments:
All this talk of blood sausage has been making me anxious to try it, partly as cuisine, partly to inoculate myself.
it's damn tasty. drumm likes it raw, i prefer it cooked, but it's good both ways.
That's what she said...
that's borderline retarded
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