A is for Argentina @ Buen Ayre

I hadn’t eaten at Buen Ayre for quite a while, especially after discovering Garufa, which is very close to our house. Then again Broadway Market is just a bus ride away. I do enjoy where I live.

I first went there not long after it opened, oh so many years ago now, to celebrate an ex work colleagues birthday. That was a great Sunday afternoon, and I met a few Argentineans there, who subsequently kept inviting me to their weekly asados. Heaven.

This return trip to Buen Ayre, was because our Colombian friend and her Polish husband were in need of some serious steak action. We had recently returned from a weekend in Paris, where we tried but failed to find some good steak and frittes. The quality of meat in Paris has seemingly declined over the years. Disappointing. So after Buen Ayre was suggested we jumped at the idea of eating some good red meat.

For some reason I had my apprehensions about eating here. No idea why, but I have become a major fan of Garufa, and having eaten at some of Buenos Aires best restaurants over the years, that any restaurant being hailed as a true Argentinean steak restaurant I take it with a pinch of salt. Sometimes over hype is never a good thing.

But former eatings at this restaurant should have reminded me that I had nothing really to worry about, as it’s still pretty damn good. That wood burning parrilla churns out steak after steak all night and all of them are cooked to perfection.

People think it’s an easy job to cook a steak on a bar-b-q as they do it once a year, whenever the sun comes out. But to do it perfectly for several hours time and after time, day after day is a real art. In Argentina these artists are not called chefs, but Asadors or parrilleros, as they are the maestros of the asado.

As we were on for some serious meat eating tonight we went straight for the Parrillada Buen Ayre. A fine selection of chorizos, morcillas, mojecas, rinones, steaks and ribs. Man we were in meat heaven.

The steaks were cooked just as we liked them. Rare and juicy, but with that smokiness from the fire, that always makes any steak taste a whole lot better. The offal were gorgeous and as I like them. Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside.

The accompaniment of chips and an onion and tomato salad, the quintessential side order of any asado. Actually they were some of the best chips I’ve eaten in a long time. Damn good, as good as Garufas, if not better.

The parilla was as good as you would get in any no frills restaurant in Argentina, but for over here, it’s pretty bloody fantastic, and to be still producing great food on a constant basis for many years is one hell of an achievement.

As we were finishing the decent bottle of wine, we decided to start this crazy thing that may or may not last. But we’re gonna give it a go anyhows. Well we had just started with A, so why not go onto B. Well we were pretty drunk by this point, so any idea seemed like a good one.

So onto B. Let’s hope it will be as good as A was.