Rodriguez Pena 1149 (between Arenales & Santa Fe), Recoleta

In search of the perfect empanada in Buenos Aires…

It’s a tough job trying to find the ‘best’ empanadas in Buenos Aires (just ask Saltshaker). Primarily because there are so many different places to try them at, and of course many different types of empanada from across the different regions of Argentina, and even the rest of Latin America. Still, I came to Buenos Aires with the idea of finding the perfect empanada, and still have this spurious notion in my head, and so on I trudge on with this difficult, yet enjoyable, eating project of mine.

For the record, I have still to taste those hallowed ‘perfect’ empanadas here. There is always something not quite perfect about each one, and I often wish that I could combine the best features of empanadas at different places to produce a super-empanada of sorts. Yes, it’s this kind of silly stuff that keeps me awake at night.

One thing I can say is that my favorite empanadas so far in Buenos Aires cannot be purchased in any restaurant. They are lovingly made by mi suegra (my mother-in-law to be), and are so good I can literally eat twenty in one sitting (I’m a growing lad - perhaps not in the right direction, but growing all the same). At Cumana in Recoleta, the empanadas are pretty good, and excellent value, but for one reason or another, are not quite up there with my suegra’s homemade efforts. And still, I continue in search of empanada perfection…

Empanadas… Check! Vino Tinto… Check! Colorful Crayons… errr… Check???

At Cumana, the empanadas are not the only fun to be had. As shown in the photo at the top of this post, colorful crayons are available for children and grown-up kids alike, to be used on the paper tablecloths. This of course inevitably leads to silliness such as chalking down your order on the table in front of you. Still, if your Spanish pronunciation is a little rusty, I suppose it beats plain old pointing at the items on the menu that you want to order.

As well as creating this fun juvenile air with the crayons, the general atmosphere at Cumana is also buzzing, busy and brash. The tables and seats are fairly small and packed in tight, and the place always seems to be full at both lunch and dinner sittings, so it is not a place to go for a quite, relaxed or intimate conversation. Instead, Cumana is there for traditional Argentine food in a traditional energetic, rustic Argentine setting.

OK, so the service is pretty slow, but this is something I’m starting to forgive more these days in Buenos Aires, because it really is the norm here. You just have to adjust to it, and change your expectations accordingly: i.e. let go and relax, there’s no rush. Plus, if you take that attitude back with you into your real life, you’ll probably live longer

But enough about the service and atmosphere, and on to the main reason I’m here. To sample…

Cumana’s Empanadas

As you can see, the empanadas at Cumana look pretty tasty. I always like them to be nicely browned in places on the outside, and even slightly burned here and there. It just adds to the flavor a little. So Cumana delivers on that front.

I had five differently filled Empanadas on this visit, which I will now cover one by one:

• Lomo Picante - Chopped lomo (tenderloin) steak in a mildly spicy, meaty sauce. This is a great one to start with, because it is quite possibly the tastiest empanada filling I have tasted since coming to Buenos Aires. OK, so it’s not as spicy as I would usually like, but that allows the more subtle flavors of a frankly delicious sauce to come to the fore. And the chopped lomo steak easily beats the standard minced beef from your average empanada de carne.

• Humita - Creamed corn. Humita is fast becoming one of my favorite empanada fillings, although it seems it can be done very badly or very well. The bad versions are usually when they skimp on the corn and use way too much creamy white sauce. Cumana uses a lot of corn, and just the right amount of tasty white sauce, and so their Humita gets the thumbs up.

• Jamon y Queso - Ham and cheese. Apart from carne, jamon y queso is the next most common empanada filling you see in Buenos Aires. It is a basic, rarely spectacular empanada filling, and to be honest, quite hard to mess up. Cumana does a respectable version, with a good amount of ham, which sometimes can be a problem with this version.

• Pollo - Chicken. Probably the third most common Argentine empanada filling, and despite always sounding like a good idea, it almost always disappoints. No change at Cumana, because I don’t like their empanadas de pollo either. As per usual, I’m finding gristle in with the chicken, and that’s a real turn off for me. At least there were no bones, which sometimes provide a nasty surprise lurking inside empanadas de pollo in Buenos Aires.

• Choclo, Calabaza y Queso - Corn, squash and cheese. Never would have thought this when I ordered it, but wow! A great combination of fillings that really work wonders together. In fact, I just prefer this to Cumana’s lomo picante empanada. Although to be honest, it may just be me, because these days I am developing a serious calabaza addiction. All the same, I wish more places offered this empanada filling.

So, all in all, above average empanada fillings, discounting the usual pollo disappointment, and with a couple of stand outs. And at AR$1.50 a pop, although fairly small, they offer good value. Cumana’s empanadas are cooked in a traditional large wood-burning oven, as shown in this picture:

Which is always a good sign, and helps with that lovely charred effect on that pastry that I mentioned earlier. However, this is also one area where Cumana pulls up a little short on quality…

Empanada Pastry

Despite having some frankly wonderful fillings, I am left feeling a little let down by what’s holding it all together, the pastry, which is almost as important as the empanada’s filling. It has a hint of tasteless cardboard to it, reminiscent of the type of pastry you find on cheap take-out empanadas at places such as Solo Empanadas (ugh!).

OK, so the pastry at Cumana is still a great deal better than that, but it is certainly also a long way from homemade. Actually, I guess it’s about somewhere in the middle of the two. Not a huge problem, and not detracting from the quality fillings inside, but still enough to stop these good empanadas from becoming great, or perfect empanadas, which is the whole point of this particular quest of mine.

My guess is that, because Cumana is so damn busy, they use some kind of mass produced pastry on their empanadas. Which is fine and I’m sure what many other empanada joints do (and in fact, maybe a decision based on the fact that their fillings are so good… they could just want something to encase them in that will not fight for center stage itself!), but still not something that I would want to see on my hallowed perfect empanada. And so, the search goes on… (perhaps to El Sanjuanino next?)

Other Traditional Argentine Dishes at Cumana

Cumana also offers up many other great regional dishes from around the rest of Argentina and Latin America. Their Locro, Mondongo (although not really a favorite dish of mine) and Tamales are all very tasty. In fact, in addition to enjoying the same empanada fillings at Cumana that I did, Saltshaker also speaks very highly of their Locro.

And what’s more, all of these traditional dishes come in at around AR$6 each, which is an absolute bargain.

All this, AND the best Gnocchi in Buenos Aires?

Also very traditional in the city of Buenos Aires are noquis (gnocchi). As I keep saying in these restaurant reviews, my fiancee has a terrible addiction to these things, and generally orders them whenever she can. Here’s how they turned out on this occasion:

These were noquis con crema de tomate y albahaca (gnocchi in a creamy tomato sauce with basil), and having stolen a taste of some myself, I can say, with a great deal of experience in this area, that they are the best gnocchi I have tasted so far in my two years in Buenos Aires. High praise indeed. I think it was down to them being cooked in a clay pot in the same oven as the empanadas, and with lots of cheese in the creamy tomato sauce, this produced a lovely crunchy top, and a delicious gooey creamy, cheesy mess underneath.

So gnocchi fans, go to Cumana and you really will be in heaven, for the sum total of a mere AR$6.90.

Cumana Empanadas: The Verdict

• Service: (2/5) Slower than average service, though to be honest I don’t really care much about this anymore, and Cumana is always really busy, I suppose. In fact, if you go in the evening, be prepared to wait maybe half an hour for a table. I must say, the staff are quite friendly when they get round to attending to you, so that saves them from a 1/5 mark.
• Food: (4/5) Fantastic empanada fillings, let down by lower quality pastry. I guess you could say these empanadas have an inner beauty waiting to be discovered! I was going to give Cumana 3/5 for their empanadas because of the pastry let down, but their excellent Locro and Gnochhi pulls them up to a solid 4/5.
• Atmosphere: (4/5) A very nice traditional, rustic setting, and a great feeling of energy and authenticity. Some cynics will moan about the tables being too close together or it being too noisy and difficult to have a conversation, but to be honest, I won’t be going to eat dinner with the kind of person that says that, so I don’t care what they think. (Nathan and Diva, are you reading? - that was almost controversial!)
• Value: (4/5) Really good value on all their dishes. Almost a 5/5, but I’m feeling mean today. They’d get full marks for value if they used better pastry on their empanadas

Buenos Aires Argentina Guide Special Tip

Go with a few friends, order a bunch of different empanadas (especially the delicious lomo picante and choclo, calabaza y queso versions), maybe a few other different traditional Argentine dishes such as the Locro, and share the lot. You will eat real good for very few pesos, and maybe not be as mean about the pastry as I am.

Wash it all down with the house vino tinto (red wine). I actually think empanadas taste better with cheap red wine than they do with anything else. Especially cheap red wine in a tumbler. Don’t ask me why, it just seems right.