Savouring the Contributions of Immigrants — Quest for Ethnic Cuisines in Upstate New York…

8-11 August 2017

After a bit of a rest from my long South America trip I headed to Upstate New York for a few days of hiking and exploring, sort of a trip down memory lane. I spent several years of my life up there, and I’ve rarely returned, so I figured why not.

I made my way to Syracuse and cabbed it downtown — to get my rental car. Pro tip — your car rental may be 50%+ cheaper off-airport… Explored Syracuse and its vicinity for the day, a town I’ve not spent time in since 1991 when I was in town for a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert, to be told there was 2 opening acts I’ve never heard of at the time — Smashing Pumpkins and Pearl Jam. Wow, right? But Cazenovia Lake was gorgeous, and I didn’t enjoy falling into a stagnant swamp during a hike east of town…

With all the rhetoric going around in the US and the lack of seriously good dining ideas for this trip, I decided to seek out ethnic cuisines in the area instead for the next few days. The region is dominated by Italian food, so I was looking for anything but. So for Syracuse my choice was Polish, at Eva’s European Sweets on the west side of town.

I got to Eva’s European Sweets early enough, and it was already getting busy. I sat at the counter of the old-school diner, and having not eaten all day with all the hiking behind me, I ordered 2 mains — kiełbasa and gołąbki. With beer in hand, I chilled out. Then soon the food arrived. The kiełbasa was okay, filling enough. Pretty ordinary stuff to be honest.

Unfortunately the gołąbki was nothing special. I don’t quite like how they did the filling, a bit too thinly minced, through the cabbage wrap was done well. To this day I still have not had better gołąbki/holubtsy than the one my late, dear friend Eugene Iwanciw made…

I had to take a bit of this voluminous dinner with me as I headed out, thanking the hard-working staff. It’s a bit sanitised for local palates, but it does its job well. Love to see more Polish restaurants tho…

The next day was more of a trek down memory lane as I slowly wound down to Ithaca. I did more hiking during a few stops, made a few cemetery visits — including in Auburn, where major figures of history like Harriet Tubman and William Seward are buried — and Watkins Glen, which should be visit for more than the racing. But eventually I made my way back to Ithaca, my home for 4 years during the early 1990s.

I had a bit of time so walked around and had horrible flashbacks all afternoon. Looking up (and down) Libe Slope didn’t help… I also went to visit a few local cemeteries, paying my respects to folks like Carl Sagan. Then I went back to Collegetown, which has changed in 20 years from anything I recognised. I went back to the only bar that I remembered…

After a few hours of drinking at my former “local” Rulloff’s (I lived upstairs for 2 years), I retreated to the venerable Souvlaki House (where I lived for a year before that). Again, looked about the same, and I sat at an unfamiliar table to the past to get a different view. I ordered and enjoyed some wine…so, so weird to be back in a place I’ve not been in over two decades…

The food soon arrived. First off the dolma, my usual start here. Not bad, brought back tons of memories of me chomping on these things while working on problem sets (before I left my engineering physics department for the poorer soils of the social sciences…).

Then the main, the moussaka. Well, brought back more memories. Not good, just damn filling. That was the point back then, and sadly, the point this evening too. I finished, thanked the staff, and made the tiring trek up that sharp hill to get to my car…and drove out of Collegetown forever…

Now this trip down memory lane is over I zipped out the next day for the other edge of New York state — Watertown. I’ve not been up this northern edge of the state since the early 1990s so it was good to relax along the lake and do more hiking in very, very hilly cemeteries along the way, in places like Utica. But the bugs up here are just nasty and I was covered in bites by the end of the day, when I pushed all the way up to Watertown.

I was exhausted when I got to there and just wanted to get some food. Ended up finding a Korean place in town, which surprised me. Sadly it was not busy at all when I arrived at Suk Hui Hi’s. Located in simple digs, I chilled and waited for my food.

The owner/cook was very friendly and loves her customers, you can just feel that. Soon the food began, and first was some steamed mandoo. Not bad, filling.

Then the main was some stir-fried squid. Not bad, just spicy enough to give me the sweats (tho it was hot inside). Too bad they didn’t have kalbi today. Not as sanitised ethnic food as I thought with the spices for this area, so a nice little surprise. Headed out relatively happy.

Unfortunately had some jackasses in an adjacent hotel room partying so I ended up going out boozing until quite late. Headed out the next morning north with a wee hangover and went up to Ogdenburg and the Canadian border to wander around and deal with more bugs. Then started heading back south via Oswego. Had the wonderful opporunity to visit the grave of Mary Walker, the Civil War surgeon who to this day is the only female recipient of the Medal of Honor.

Eventually I got to the northern Rochester suburb of Irondequoit. I was too tired on this Friday late afternoon to head into Rochester, so instead I found a surprising place nearby called Thai Mii Up. Love the name, but surprised it was a Thai-Lao restaurant.

A simple place that seems to do a huge number of orders — in and out. They were already very busy at the cusp of 6pm and by the time I left it was totally crazy, compounded by tons of take-out orders. Good to see a successful business up here! I relaxed and ordered and chilled out with some water. And soon the first course arrived, the lao sausage. Pretty good stuff, nice and with enough authenticity to make it a surprise for me in this part of Upstate New York.

Then the main item, mok moo. Mmm, this was excellent. Pork steamed in banana leaf. The pork was stuffed with herbs and veggies and spices, and even some vermicelli. Really tasty. I was pretty happy with this dinner; in fact, it was the best food of the four days Upstate. I headed out with a few snacks in hand pretty happy.

These four days in Upstate New York doing ethnic foods shows not just how immigrants enriched this large region, but how diverse the immigration has been over the decades. Everyone knows about the Italian cuisine in this area, but it’s really nice to see some others thriving. Whether it is a small, labour-of-love Korean place to a beloved local Polish eatery, from a time-tested, student-favourite Greek diner to a booming Thai-Lao restaurant that gives locals new tastes to explore, this was a relief from all the rhetoric that has been going on in this country. Even in places that are suffering from terrible economies, they still love their immigrants — especially through their stomach.

Eva’s European Sweets
1305 Milton Avenue
Syracuse, New York

Souvlaki House
315 Eddy Street
Ithaca, New York

Suk Hui Hi’s
1301 State Street
Watertown, New York

Thai Mii Up
1780 East Ridge Road
Irondequoit, New York

Meat Overdose in Buenos Aires…

24-27 July 2017

Rewinding a bit now, this review will cover some very meaty lunches in Buenos Aires. As I mentioned, I got to BA by hydrofoil from Montevideo and had rushed to the legendary La Brigada before last orders for lunch.

I got there and it was still hopping, so no problems with timing. I ordered and enjoyed a half bottle of red. Solid service, old school. Friendly server, was making footie jokes with him (in Spanish of course, my Spanish has improved remarkably in the last fortnight). Then the starter arrived…

Lamb tongue. A cold dish, which was much appreciated. Nice stuff, not as good as the tongue in Santiago’s El Hoyo, but not bad. Then the main with a wee salad…

Kid sweetbread. Not bad at all. I’m not a sweetbread fan, but so rare you see kid sweetbread I had to go for it. Then a second helping (this was only about half of the order…) and I was full…

Not bad at all. Didn’t feel like heavy meats as I was not feeling that great, so this worked well. I headed out happily, thanking my excellent server. I like this place, and it lived up to its reputation certainly.

That night I had the good but voluminous dinner at Mishiguene after all those hotel challenges. The next day after my Recoleta disappointment I headed to another legendary parilla, Don Julio.

I took a counter seat as I was solo in a busy hour, so despite the heat from the parilla I was enjoying it. A half bottle of red and I ordered. Was hungry today from the long walks, so I was happy when my food arrived.

A plate of goat chinchulines, which was quite good. Makes me think of a few years ago in Madrid at Freiduria de Gallinejas. As I was working on it, my arugula salad arrived, then my longanisa (with the last of the 4 chinchulines)…

This was excellent, fabulous flavour in this sausage. As I finished I thought, why not… I ordered another one and a salchichia…

Both were excellent. This place knows their sausages for sure! I finished the food and polished off the wine. The service is hectic to say the least, but probably as they were extremely busy. So finally paid up and headed out for another hot ride in the Subte.

That night I had that fabulous dinner at Chila, which remains very memorable as the best food in Argentina. The next day of course as mentioned I skipped lunch and had a pretty good night at El Baqueano.

I woke up my final day in South America a little tired and ready to head on back north. My flight wasn’t until the evening so I had plenty of time. I took my time to check out and wander around before I ducked into the hot Subte on this warmer-than-usual winter day for lunch. My last lunch, and I decided to do all out.

Parilla Peña gets less attention than the other parillas I’ve visited, but it’s the one locals seem to like most. Far fewer foreigners come here, it’s really old school. I got a table next to a bunch of very old ladies…amazing how they still consume so much red meat at what I’m guessing late 70s or early 80s! I ordered a bottle of red and my food and chilled.

They brought out their complementary meat empanada…

Oh, excellent. I can eat these things all day. They are famous for these things as a freebie after you order. I kept enjoying my wine and quite a bit of water as it was warm inside too, and I was sweating a little. The sweating increased when my dish arrived…

Oh dear this asado is gigantic. It’s twice as big as the one at La Pulpería in Montevideo… As I tackled it I was sweating profusely…oh the meat sweats…

Lucky I had salad with palm hearts to go along with it. But again, under-seasoned… In any case these were also far thicker than other asado I’ve had this trip, so it took over an hour to eat this. I got about 5/6th of the way through the meat before I had to call it a day… This was about 2 pounds of meat I think…

I thanked my server and paid the rather low bill…amazing how little things cost here! I headed back to the hotel by Subte and food and relaxed at the bar with some wine before my Cabify took me to the airport.

Thank goodness there was not much drama at EZE Airport. The red-eye to Atlanta wasn’t fun, especially with trolley chaos and one rather incompetent crewmember, throw in a delay at Atlanta to get home. A few bourbons later I was flying home. This was a long, long trip, and it’s finally over.

If one thing — I’m not going to be eating red meat for at least a few days…

La Brigada
Estados Unidos 465

Don Julio
Guatemala 4699

Parilla Peña
Rodríguez Pena 682
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Review: El Baqueano

26 July 2017

The next day my knee was just not happy, and my body was not happy. I think I’m officially out of energy for this trip. And the worst thing? I’m not hungry. I think I’ve had a meat OD… So I actually SKIPPED LUNCH this day… I wandered around the area and just took it easy, checking out some of the local architecture and historic churches in central BA.

But I had to deal with some flight issues too as I am heading back tomorrow, so spent an annoying bit of time in the afternoon sorting that headache out. And packing too. And eventually dinner time came around, and tonight’s destination is El Baqueano.

This was the place I really wanted to check out when I started doing research, even more than Chila — which turned out to be a wonderful experience last night. So I’m hoping for a double here. I walked there and had to wait as they didn’t seem ready at first…

Eventually they let me in and I was seated, and it was a bit chaotic. I tried to order a local tipple but they were out…apparently they were on break for awhile and just came back, so some things are not in yet… So I ended up with a Bolivian firewater called Supay…

Turned out to be quite mild, though it had a nice burn on the way down. I then ordered, going with the full tasting with pairing. I chilled out as I finished the Supay before they started up with some sparkling cider from Patagonia.

The first snack was a croqueta. Was a little puzzled as the server said spinach and onion, but it tasted quite different… The manchego was leaking out quite badly as it was burning hot. Hmmm… Then the next item was a tasting of local grains…

A mixture of quinoa and amaranth, with a bit of llama under it all. Not bad, all going down with a nice white. The pours have been good, and the server seems to be moving at speed now. I guess being on break for awhile takes a bit of time to get the gears moving… With a pour of a local Gewürztraminer the next item was a chip over a broth…

The rice cracker with dried squid and ink sauce was really good. I like how the squid came out, not too dry and full of flavour; the sauce was excellent. And the broth beneath was a shrimp broth, very nice. Enjoyed that.

Things are improving a bit. A few more tables filled now and things are starting to move well. Soon my glass was re-filled with a generous pour of the same Gewürztraminer and we get the next dish.

Nice sliced langostino here, soaking in a rather mild pil pil sauce. Not bad at all. And with it came a weird “sponge” thing…

This was…awful, sorry… Trying too hard here… I finished a fine riesling from Mendoza before a big pour of red and we shift into the meats…first up, quail.

Nice, though I was a bit puzzled by the mole here… Not bad, especially with the mushrooms, but still puzzled… Perhaps some members of the kitchen took a holiday in Mexico? In any case, not bad. Then next up some buffalo…

Interesting, the buffalo picaña is lightly smoked, had a nice flavour albeit rather mild. Went well with the Malbec. I’m digging the interesting meats tonight, and that continued with the next course — rhea.

I had rhea last night at Chila, and this version was more substantial. They told me I was the first to try this…I actually like being a guinea pig for these things. Wee dry in the hefty meat, but the strong sauce helps it a lot. They asked for a lot of feedback here, and I happily provided. Good try, they can easily refine this to make it a fine dish.

Things slowed down a little. I enjoyed a bit of chat with some New Yorkers at the next table, as one seems to be a rather serious oenophile. Then we shifted into the next phase, the first up was the cheese course…

Frozen…kind of a cool way (yeah, you see what I did there…) to do the cheese course. I actually like it, as it doesn’t strain my already strained stomach — something that always happens with cheese courses (well, the accompanying bread/crisp/cracker/etc). Then into the proper desserts with a playful one based on the tomato.

Now this was excellent, full of ways to play with tomato, from the excellent sorbet to the flakes gracing the hearty cheese. Nice! I like them pairing this with coffee, odd but it worked. Then finally, the last dessert…

More traditional, it floated around the chocolate here. Not bad at all, but clashed a bit with the sweet dessert wine…this is always my pet peeve about pairing with desserts… Wish they paired it with coffee again, so I ordered another and a closing drink. Not a bad night at all.

A few hiccups here and there, but a good evening. Things smoothed out quickly, reminding me of Eleven Rio in some ways. A good fun evening in general, tho not as good as Chila. But still quite good. I headed out and walked back to the hotel. I was out of energy so decided to just go back instead of checking out the many bars en route…

I am officially out of energy…

El Baqueano
Chile 499, San Telmo
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Review: Chila

25 July 2017

I got up feeling better, finally getting to sleep. When I woke up it was still relatively warm, but tolerable. I had a long day planned so I got up and headed out the door soon after.

I spent part of the morning wandering around Cementerio de la Recoleta, and I have to say it is one of the more overrated cemeteries I’ve visited. Compared to both the Cementerio General in Santiago and especially the Cementerio Central in Montevideo, this place was nothing special. I find it pretty much on par with places in Mexico and Colombia or Spain, boring, full of unimaginative mausolea. Plus, ridiculous amount of tourists (and touts), and loud groups that even disrupted a funeral! Ugh…

I headed out disappointed, so needed a good lunch. A walk, a Subte ride, and another walk and I got to another legendary parilla in BA, Don Julio. I had an excellent lunch (will review later) and was full as anything when I headed out. Back to the Subte back to the centre and I wandered around a bit.

One of the odd place I visited is the St John the Baptist Anglican Church. It wasn’t open, but the thing I wanted to see was the grave marker out in front, that of the first US minister to Buenos Aires, Caesar Augustus Rodney.

He just happens to be the only US cabinet member, the Attorney General under both Presidents Jefferson and Madison, to be buried outside of the US. I wandered around some more but nearly died when I slipped on some damn election leaflets that litter the streets…and I had enough as I felt my knee tingle, screaming “¡no más!”

And of course my Cabify got lost and couldn’t follow basic directions, so I just cabbed it back to the hotel…no rip-off this time. I had to get some ice for my knee this time…ugh… This is what happens when you enter the 3rd week of a trip…

Later in the evening I got ready for dinner. Tonight’s dinner is at Chila, a place I had targetted to check out when I first started doing research for this trip. A nice walk to the restaurant, which is located right on the riverfront. A beautiful view…but I hope I’m not paying for the view like so many other places…

I was seated with a beautiful view of the water and started with a nice cocktail. I relaxed and then they brought the menu…

…which is also the first snack, a bit of lilac in a thin pastry. Interesting touch, and I happily went with the full menu and pairing. Then the secon snack arrived.

Beet chip with roe of a local trout, with a touch of cream flavoured with the same local trout. Excellent. Then pretty quickly we have the next item — based on rhea.

Rhea, or ñandú, is a local flightless bird, and the meat is encased in a hazlenut crust with black garlic. Excellent. I’m starting to like this place! BTW notice how they use different parts of the same plate… Then next up, an egg snack.

The yolk is covered by amaranth, spiced by cumin. Not bad. Oh, by this point the cocktail was done and they made a generous pour of a white from Mendoza. The service has been excellent so far. Then the next item made me smile, and the server smiled when I replied to him in Spanish — and from this point on we spoke only Spanish all night.

Beautiful razor clam, fresh and clean — but too bad this was it! I wanted more! But then the bread service appeared and that signals a shift into larger items. Service has been spot on despite a very demanding table full of foreigners next to me — a group of nearly a dozen with tons of restrictions, demands and so forth…

The first dish, accompanied by a chardonnay from the south of the wine growing region, was a really deep broth with white corn mote and sweetbread. A curiosity is the addition of “malezas” — with not much description. Weeds? Lol…I’m assuming just foraged growth… But a nice dish overall. Goodness, had a flashback to that horrendous sodium broth from Olympe in Rio de Janeiro…

A nice start, then we move into the next dish — prawn with carrot and yolk flakes.

Wow, there’s a real nice smoky sauce here that really added to the overall picture. The head was edible, being fried, but was tad too oily. But excellent, going alongside a nice rosé from Mendoza. Nice!

So far it’s been excellent, the best fine dining I’ve had since Lasai in Rio a week ago. Then we have some black hake with cauliflower next.

Looks odd, but it’s quite good. The flesh was flavourful and had excellent texture, and the cauliflower-based sauce was wonderful. Together with a Patagonian pinot noir, this was a fabulous combination! Then next up was cabrito.

It’s more of a snack, sadly, attached to the side of this tuber. Sadly a poor combination. Odd that a small snack had its own pairing, a rather mineral-y malbec. Then we continue with a similar theme with lamb.

An interesting dish of what is essentially a lamb tamal with purple corn and algae. Really solid stuff, lovely contrasting flavours here. I’m enjoying the creativity with local ingredients here. It’s not over-the-top like other places on this trip, but it’s solid stuff.

Then there was a rather long gap to the next dish. The kitchen likely got backed up by the huge, annoying group next to me. They seemed like to have just finished an academic conference and they are beyond annoying to be honest… The staff was nice enough to keep the wine flowing until the final savoury dish arrived — and look at this awesome knife…

And the last item? Wild boar…

Now this was fabulous. The meat was cooked perfectly, with that wonderful flavour you just don’t get in farmed pork, graced by well-placed fennel. Really an excellent end. Lovely food, lovely service, lovely view — a rarity anywhere in the world!

At this point I would say if Michelin ever came to Buenos Aires, Chila deserves a star easily. Compared to places like Olympe, they should have 6 stars… In any case, they did another generous pour of the same wine as we had another break before the next segment. They noticed I enjoy these breaks — if properly lubricated — so they accommodated me. Now this is good service, kudos to the FoH here!

Then we had the first dessert, a tribute to some local fruits…

Nice stuff here, one of them is kumquat and lily — which you eat first, before they open the case for the other — cherry, hibiscus and mandarin. Really nice and worked also as a palate cleanser. And finally the last dessert, a nice cocoa finish…

What was awesome was the addition of a cup of pine mushrooms for its aroma…that worked so nicely! I happily relaxed at this point and with my coffee I ordered a single malt from Patagonia. Nice stuff. If it wasn’t for that annoying loud table next door I would have stayed, but I decided to head out after thanking the staff.

I gotta say this was fabulous. Not many places you have the view and have the excellent food and awesome service to back it up. I’m impressed. Reminds me a little of Quay in Sydney. A lovely evening, though marred by yet ANOTHER Cabify getting lost and forcing me to track it down… But a good end to a long day! Highly recommended, best meal in Argentina!

Chila
Alicia Moreau de Justo 1160
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Review: Mishiguene

24 July 2017

I got up feeling knackered and a bit hungover, which is what happens when you don’t sleep well and have 2 bottles of red… I was taking it easy before I noticed that I should be at the port 2 hours before my hydrofoil to Buenos Aires. Damn…so I rushed out and got to the port…which was empty…

But it was simple checking my bag and going through both Uruguay and Argentina immigration at the port. Chilled out before the ride in the rainy weather. Not much different from other hydrofoils I’ve taken, such as Hong Kong-Macau or Tallinn-Helsinki — of which I’ve taken way, way too many times over the years…

We got to Buenos Aires and the first thing that happened was taxi drivers tried to rip me off. Great welcome…so I told them no and got a Cabify. Of course the idiot driver went to the wrong place, and I had to leg a few blocks to get there…ugh…

Got to my hotel and dropped my bag and went to the legendary La Brigada nearby for lunch. I’ll write about this in a later review, but I was stuffed as I got back to my hotel. Problem was the room was blazing hot and there was no way to cool it down — until I forced them to bring me a fan. Ugh…the hallway was comfortable but the room was just stuffy and I was sweating up a storm…

That made me feel ill, and throw in the over-heated boat ride I was not feeling good at all. But nevertheless I still headed out to dinner as planned after resting a bit.

My hotel was far further from the Subte than I thought…I had misjudged the scale of Buenos Aires when I booked this place… Took 20 minutes to get to the Subte, which was stupidly hot (even in winter). The line changes are non-sensical. By the time I got to Plaza Italia in the Palermo neighbourhood I was a sweaty mess…and another 20 minute walk from that point…

Got to Mishiguene and decided on a table near the door — so I get the cool breeze when people came in. I relaxed and ordered a negroni, which was nice. I ordered but my server told me that it would be too much, so I took the starter off and just went with a main. Very nice of them to do that! Then the breads…wow, right?

The music here is excellent, and the clientele at this earlier hour seem to be Jewish Americans. Why? Because if you couldn’t tell, this place features various Jewish cuisines from the diaspora around the world. Buenos Aires has one of the largest Jewish populations in the world, and there’s no better place outside of Israel to have a place like Mishiguene.

Then my main arrived and I see what my server meant…

Yikes is this big…but it’s pastrami ribs. Tasty, though perhaps not as strongly spiced as you’d imagine. It was more consistent with the style in Romania rather than New York or Montreal, but the size and cut is very Argentina…

Delicious but it was big. After my heavy lunch and feeling ragged, this was enough… I finished it just as I finished another glass of wine. I was full but needed something to chill, so ordered a small dessert…

The apple triffle was nice, a good way to end the night along with some coffee and grappa… I headed out happy and back to the hotel, where thank goodness my fan was blasting. I tried to get some sleep but it was still hot… I can’t believe I am sweating in the middle of winter with the windows open and the fan blasting…

Welcome to Buenos Aires…

Mishiguene
Lafinur 3368
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Day 3 in Montevideo: Nearing the Edge…

23 July 2017

I got up this Sunday morning feeling even more under the weather. Plus, this trip is getting into the end of its second week, which is when my energy ebbs… And the weather has turned, and it was rather ugly outside. I waited for the heavier rain to dissipate before I headed out.

I spent the late morning and early afternoon wandering the south side of town, especially along the coast down Punta Carretas. There’s a large settlement of stray cats along the edge of the city at the water, as they get plenty of stuff to nibble on from the many folks who go there to do some fishing. Nice walk, though when I got to near the edge I decided to not go all the way to the end — as the structure didn’t seem sound enough, especially with all the meat I’ve eaten…

But it’s quite something to stand what looks like the edge of the world, at the very southern tip of the city and country facing Antarctica. I wandered back uphill and stopped somewhere for lunch.

A nice little cafe called La Cantina del Puertito, which features non-parilla dishes…thank goodness, I need a break! So I ordered a beer and the day’s special. I couldn’t order more because this was one of those odd places that did not take Mastercard (and I left my Visa back in the hotel), so… But they brought out a nice little snack…

Nice stuff. Then the dish came out, and it was a nice risotto with chicken and pumpkins.

Tasty and filling, cooked well and very flavourful. Good balance. A nice yet inexpensive lunch.

I wandered around a bit more before I headed back to the hotel. I had to do some packing and sort out stuff for tomorrow as I head to Buenos Aires. So that took a part of the afternoon. Later I wandered around a bit more in the neighbourhood before I headed to my last dinner in town.

Tonight’s dinner choices were limited, as most places in town seem to be shut Sunday evenings. But one place that was open was La Otra, so I got there at an okay hour. I ordered a bottle of Tannat as usual and some meats, a salad and some potato puré. Chilled out and enjoyed the wine and chatted with my server a bit — as he spoke English and Italian too, so we were chatting trilingually all night. Then the openers arrived…

Sadly the morcilla was really not good, it was cold. I was worried it may be undercooked, but it looks like it had just sat there… But the salchichia was completely different…

This was just excellent. Lovely flavours! Then I enjoyed a bit of salad and then the main arrived…and I shuddered…

Goodness this asado was far larger than last night’s… It was still under-seasoned, and I finally realised they don’t season the meat much if at all here… Not bad at all, but it was extremely filling. I had to take half of this with me…

I ended the night with some local brandy and thanked my server. Not a bad way to end things here… I headed back to the hotel, but not after I grabbed another bottle of Tannat and headed upstairs. Had to do some paperwork, so had the wine and leftover to keep me going…

I’m gonna miss you, Montevideo… Maybe too much meat, but I like this town…

La Cantina del Puertito
José Luis Zorrilla De San Martín 176

La Otra
Tomás Diago 758
Montevideo, Uruguay

Day 2 in Montevideo: Discovering a Gorgeous Town…

22 July 2017

The next morning I got up feeling a bit under the weather…ugh, I bet I caught something at GIG Airport over the 5 hour delay and the stuffy full flight here…ugh, the curse of Brazil follows me… But I forced myself up and headed out.

An unseasonably warm and sunny winter Saturday, and that means everyone was already out in mid-morning. I had a wonderful long walk along the coast, watching people running, walking, playing along the Rambla. Montevideo is such a cool little town I’m already kind of enamoured with it…

I headed to the Cementerio Central, which is one of the most spectacular cemeteries I’ve ever visited — and I’ve been to hundreds and hundreds of them… Amazingly beautiful tombs, unlike many other South American places that are more mausolea-driven. Fabulous sculpting everywhere, amazing how few people know about this place (yet way too many go to the utterly-overrated Recoleta in Buenos Aires…but that later…).

All that walking since early in the morning has my knee bothering me again, so I decided to head uphill towards the centre and grab lunch. I ended up at one of the well-known parillada in town, El Fogón.

A nice old-school place with excellent service, I chilled out after ordering a half bottle of red and ordered. I relaxed and quietly massaged my aching knee while enjoying the nice (and ridiculously cheap) house red. Then soon my lunch arrived…

The veggies were wee sad and the fries just fillers, but it’s the meat that’s the centre of the dish after all. Not bad, but again wee under-seasoned. Far bigger than I’m used to for lunch, but it worked. Finished it just as I finished the half bottle.

I thanked my excellent server and headed out the door towards the centre. Wandered around a bit more, and finally seeing in person one of the most beautiful buildings in the world, the Palacio Salvo. I’ve wanted to see this building since I thought about being an architect in my teenage years, so this was really a great moment. But my knee was buckling, so after wandering a bit more in the area around the Plaza Independencia I got a Cabify back to my hotel…

Needed a siesta after all this…and got up a few hours later. I already had to get going to dinner, which is odd at such an early hour on a Saturday — barely 7pm.

When I got to my dinner location there was already a queue… This is the infamous La Pulpería, rumoured to be the best parilla in Montevideo. Lots of foreigners too, so the reputation has spread quite far. I squeezed into a counter against the window; this place has very few seating spots, which is why as I dined I saw a rather long queue outside. But the best thing is — they serve drinks for those queueing, so it’s a social gathering too.

I ordered a bottle of Tannat and my dinner and chilled as I enjoyed the wine and some bread. I didn’t want to make a fuss tonight so it was just some potato noisettes and the infamous asado…

Oh dear this was looking good. Not bad, but again under-seasoned. Has my taste buds been damaged by Brazil, especially that horribly salty soup at the disastrous Olympe? Or are things mild for a reason? I enjoyed the ribs, the wine, and chatting with a diner from France. A good solid evening.

I headed out and saw many disappointed faces as they realised I only vacated a single seat. I had to smile. Strolled back to the hotel and chilled out. I am really liking Montevideo…

El Fogón
San José 1080

La Pulpería
Lagunillas 448
Montevideo, Uruguay

Day 1 in Montevideo: Surviving the Escape from Brazil…

21 July 2017

It was hell, but I made it to Uruguay. After that dreadful dinner at Olympe I tried to drown myself in some local beer. The next day I just wanted out of Brazil, but that crap airline LATAM strikes again… After the chaos in Santiago, now I face far worse at GIG…

Delay after delay, with very little info. And NO ONE spoke any English, so they let me read the info off their computer. It wouldn’t have helped much even if I was fluent in Portuguese since everyone was confused. And after a few hours the confusion turned to anger, and instead of getting more customer service help, the idiots called security… It was tense for another few hours, with some irate customers berating the staff and the staff just ignoring people. It was one of the worst cases of customer service fails I’ve ever witnessed.

Goodness get me the hell out of Brazil…

After a delay of about 5 hours we finally got out after they found a new plane…which is odd it took so long because we were at LATAM’s hub! Ugh…such bloody incompetence, this country is melting down… I didn’t smile until we landed in Montevideo, albeit many, many hours late…

It was already way into the evening. Thank goodness the airport was modern and empty thanks to the late hour so no issues finding my Cabify and was off into town. I checked in and walked out to dinner. For once I’m thankful for the late dining hours in this part of the world as I didn’t get to La Criolla until maybe 11pm.

I sat at the counter and ordered a bottle of Tannat, the wonderful local red from Uruguay, and enjoyed watching the parilla. Friendly folks, chatty and joking with each other. What a lovely environment…

I was hungry, having only snacked on some stuff at the airport over the stupid delay… So we started with some chinchulines…

If you don’t know what it is, don’t Google it, you don’t want to know. But they were fabulously rich. I’m smiling ear-to-ear now, so happy for the escape from Rio… Then the main course…

Oh dear I also forgot the portion sizes here… This is a piece of baby beef and two pieces of picaña… The baby beef was a very nice hunk of meat, juicy, though wee underseasoned. The picaña was way, way better than in Brazil…having flashbacks to that horrible Rodeio night… And this entire meal — bottle of wine included — was about ONE THIRD of the price of JUST THE PICANHA from that night…

The place was emptying out a bit after midnight as I finished up, and I thanked the crew for a wonderful evening. Walked out into the cool evening back to the hotel and collapsed…what a stupid day, but it ended up so nice…

La Criolla
Gregorio Suárez 2746
Montevideo, Uruguay

Review: Olympe

20 July 2017

I woke up a little sore…that knee. But I headed out to explore the centre this morning, still being fuelled by that wonderful dinner at Lasai. It was rather warm and sunny, so I was a bit sweaty walking around… I wandered around Campo de Santana Park quite a bit, though there were too many unsavoury folks there to really enjoy all the birds, capybaras, cats and other happy animals there. Love seeing them tho!

Then I checked out the unique Cathedral, which had a rather interesting interior too. And after a bit more wandering I headed to lunch to a popular DT spot called Benedito. A nice bobó de camarão, but pretty small. But with all the tasting menus it’s probably good to have a light lunch…plus, knowing my next two destinations…my aorta thanks this kitchen!

I wandered a bit more before I headed back towards the south on the Metro. Didn’t want to push my knee much more so I headed back and did some packing as this was my last day in Rio and Brazil. Later I headed out and made the long, long, half-hour walk (including running thru traffic) to the Lagoa district for my final dinner in Brazil, Olympe.

Now of all 3 of my 1-Michelin dinners here, this one has me most worried. I’ve read some shockingly bad reviews about this place but it’s hard to believe a place could be so bad. Well, it’s been booked, so I went with it.

I got there and was sweating thanks to the long walk. I had to fan myself with the menu… But soon I cooled down and enjoyed a drink. I looked over the menu and went with the full tasting and pairing. It’ll be my last tasting menu for a few days…

I chilled out and finished my caipirinha before they poured a local sparkling and brought the first item — which was called a “mushroom cappuccino” by the linguistically-challenged server…

It’s deep in flavour but was crazy salty. I needed to gulp down a lot of water just to be able to drink this. Too bad because the mushroom essence is good, but what’s with the crazy seasoning? Oh well, let’s hope things move upwards.

They topped off the bubbly and I sense my evening is not going upward from the next course…

Ricotta and pickled vegetables, though they couldn’t really describe it in English. I got a description in Portuguese and when I asked them to repeat it, they just said it LOUDER and FASTER. Great… Not really sure about this “ricotta” but it was no better than some store-bought “cheese spread” thing… At first I thought it looked like sick, but… The pickled vegetables were actually pretty sad. Honestly this is something you’d see in a wannabe place in the middle of nowhere, not a Michelin-starred restaurant in one of the world’s great (supposedly) cities…

My worries are starting to come true, though still nowhere as bad as those reviews I read. Then with a pour of an Argentinian white the next dish arrived based on shrimp…

Not of very good quality, but still not as bad as that horrible died-of-old-age one at D.O.M. a few days ago… But this was now extremely bland — or has that soup destroyed my taste buds? These were really sad. I’ve seen better quality in a Chinese delivery place back home…

Now it’s starting to really worry me. The service has been slow, and it seems the kitchen is just bringing things out when some other tables are ready for their next dish. I asked them to move things faster for me since I am by myself. Not sure if they understood, but I tried saying it in English, Portuguese, and also Spanish just hoping to get the point across…

Then oddly a beer was poured and the next item arrived…

…and they described it and I have no idea what the hell they said. I asked to repeat but still couldn’t get it. And they made no effort to try to explain it further, just walking away. After tasting it I remained puzzled. All I could get out of it is that it is ridiculously acidic, there some bad pickled vegetables in this sour foam (or is it the acid bubbling up?), with a terrible poached egg that was under-cooked.

I’ve seen high school home economics cooking done better than this…

This is now as bad as some of the reviews I’ve read. Utterly shocked so far by all this, and contemplating abandoning this thing. Though things moved wee faster now, the quality is just shite…pure shite…

A pour of a pink grenache and we get a fish dish, a local whitefish from what I gathered…

If ever a plate was to be nicknamed DEEPWATER HORIZON this is it… Boring, the fish had almost no flavour. On the other hand, the palm heart was PICKLED TO DEATH and was inedible. I’m a guy who eats lemons fresh, and I couldn’t eat this thing… I had to abandon one of my favourite things to eat, that was how bad.

This now is just a comedy of errors, a joke upon a joke. I’ve never seen such rubbish at any restaurant in my life, not to mention one that supposed to have earned a Michelin star. This makes D.O.M. look like a treat… I’m sorry, there must be graft involved in the Brazil Michelin assessment, or the assessor(s) have had their tongues removed. This is now beyond stupid…

After a bit a Chilean red was poured, and a single raviolo was presented…

Again, what is with the ridiculous acid? The filling, which I think is sweet potato, is just again ridiculously acidic for NO REASON. Drizzled with honey and drief beef, this is one of the most incongruent dishes I’ve seen. It’s one thing to challenge someone’s palate with conflicting flavours, but this is like asking John Lennon to run the hurdles while clipping his nails while wearing Henry Kissinger’s glasses…

That’s it, meal abandoned. I told them that’s enough. They came with the bill and offered to drum it down to a smaller menu price, so that’s fine. I paid and just got the hell out of there.

My goodness, how in the world could they have a restaurant that have such ridiculous service? Even if no one spoke any English, why do they think if they talk louder and faster in Portuguese that I would understand the local ingredients? Just shambolic. Not even in Japan would they contemplate being so unyielding even without language ability. Poor food, crap service. Sadly, all those scary reviews I mentioned? They were dead on. I saw so many “never been to a place so bad in my life” reviews, as well as “Michelin is a joke” pieces. I won’t mention which South American chef I mentioned my experience to later on, but this person laughed…like it’s a well-known regional joke…

Oh, this is such a crappy way to end my Brazil stay. Something tells me I will not be returning here… As much as Lasai and Tuju (and Eleven Rio and especially A Casa do Porco) were excellent, there’s too many other places to go to deal with so much BS. I can’t wait to get out of here…

WORST DINNER EVER.

Olympe
Rua Custódio Serrão 62, Lagoa
Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

PS: I actually ended up in a beer bar drinking off this awful dinner later on, enjoying a plate of grilled sausages.

Frankly this was the best food I had all evening…

Review: Lasai

19 July 2017

The next day I got up after a pretty good rest and headed out, with umbrella in hand. The weather was actually far worse and was raining and misting on and off. I headed to the nearby Cemitério de São João Batista, which was a pretty good reflection of the city. Parts of the cemetery had a favela-like feel, and it was just way overcrowded. Amazing some illustrious individuals had such plain tombs, though many had more interesting ones. But this is one of the less visually interesting cemeteries in the region to be honest…

Afterwards I headed to have lunch at the venerable 143-year-old Café Lamas, which wasn’t bad. Old school in the extreme, and a nice plate of tongue — tho nowhere as good (or voluminous) as Santiago. I wandered around a bit before I headed back to the hotel, my knee bothering me quite a bit again…

After taking some meds and staying off it for a few hours while trying to sort out some stuff for my next destination, I headed back out to wander around. Eventually I also headed out to dinner. Tonight’s destination is Lasai.

Lasai is on the other side of Botafogo, so a nice 15min walk. Botafogo is an up-and-coming area and I enjoy being here far more than the beach. I got to Lasai and was led to the rooftop bar as they offered me a drink. And now I see why they do that…

A brilliant view of the Cristo Redentor, tonight shouded by the fog. After a little bit they were ready, so brought me down and sat me at the kitchen counter. This should be far more fun! And the hostess/sommelier was originally from the US, so certainly no language issues! But I heard some of the staff staging, so I think everyone functions well here in English.

A nice pour of a rare local wine as we started off with a quartet of vegetables…

The tempura bean was nice, the okra tasty, the squash crips nice, and the frisee sandwich solid — didn’t flake, made very well. Nice showcase of vegetables. In fact that’s a central core of the food here, showcasing the surprisingly good produce here in the Rio region. Next up more snacks.

On the right side was first a really tasty piece of daikon cooked in dashi, flanked by an interesting “carrot bread”. On the left side a tasty langostine and a nice broccolini.

Good snacks! Again, I like the use of vegetables. Not the most exotic things, but it shows off good, clean produce. A good start! Then next up was something that’s more unique…

A snack based on papaya and cauliflower, which surprisingly worked. Nice stuff. This is followed by a bit of a piss-take on eggs and toast…

A nice poached egg with beans and some bread to nicely mop up the yolk as the egg was done perfectly.

Really nice so far! Now a nice light Chilean red and we move into larger items. This first one is a local sole in marrow sauce…

Mmm, a lovely sauce, liking the sea parsley and chicory too. That small-batch Chilean pipeño was an excellent pair. In fact, the wine service has been amazingly good. If anything tonight’s service has been at a level consistent with Michelin places in Europe. And Chef Rafael Costa e Silva has also been good at describing the dishes with a detail that only the Chef would know, and that is much appreciated after that D.O.M. disaster!

Then a nice red is poured and we move into the next dish, pork belly…

Excellent, lovely and rich. The sauce was made from the head and is one of the most intense things I’ve had all trip. Lovely, pushes the limits. Wow… Fabulous!

I was a bit sad that this was the last savoury course, as it’s been an excellent evening — solid cooking, top service, friendly chatty folks. First up in this last segment is the cheese course.

A nice combination of locals, including an excellent goat. Then to the first dessert, a kumquat sorbet. Tasty.

Then the main dessert…

Mmm, a choco-tastic finish. From 70% cocoa stuff, with fennel sorbet and banana. This may be the best dessert of the year…just delicious!

Then some fabulous coffee and nibbles and I ended the wonderful evening tasting various infused cachaça that Chef Costa e Silva brought out. We had a great time chatting too, which is such a nice thing to do at the counter with a chef — the way these counters are designed to create interaction.

Wow, this was excellent. Fabulous service, solid kitchen, good ingredients, and a wonderful view upstairs! This is exactly what I wanted to get in a restaurant experience when I travel! And a tasting menu that’s not overwhelming, a perfect one for this evening. After a meal like this you have to ask… WTF is wrong with D.O.M.?

Very, very recommended!

Lasai
Rua Conde de Irajá 191, Botafogo
Rio de Janeiro, Brasil