Cumana Empanadas

In search of the perfect empanada in Buenos Aires…

It’s tough to try 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. At Cumana in Recoleta, the empanadas are very good, are of excellent value, and your empanada craving will be properly satiated.

Empanadas, vino tinto and… colorful crayons?

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, it definitely 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 quiet, 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 forgivable 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.

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

Cumana’s Empanadas

As you can see, the empanadas at Cumana look pretty tasty. They should be properly 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.

For an introducion to Cumana empanadas, below you will find a more detailed description of a few of the more popular fillings and flavors:

• Lomo Picante – Chopped lomo (tenderloin) steak in a mildly spicy, meaty sauce. This is a great one to start with. It’s not as spicy as the name suggests, but 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. Cumana’s version outdoes most local attempts by using a lot of corn, and just the right amount of tasty white cream sauce, and so their Humita gets the thumbs up.

• Jamon y Queso – Ham and cheese. Apart from beef, 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.

• Choclo, Calabaza y Queso – Corn, squash and cheese. A great combination of fillings that really work wonders together. Not a traditional mix, but one of Cumana’s creations that really make their selection a step above the rest.

So, all in all, above average empanada fillings with a couple of stand outs. And, although fairly small as compared to their counterparts at El Sanjuanino, they offer good value. Cumana’s empanadas are cooked in a traditional large wood-burning oven, as shown in this picture:

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 and Tamales are all very tasty. In fact, in addition to enjoying the same empanada fillings at Cumana, Saltshaker also speaks very highly of their Locro.

Also very traditional in the city of Buenos Aires are noquis (gnocchi). Pictured above are noquis con crema de tomate y albahaca (gnocchi in a creamy tomato sauce with basil). They are cooked in a clay pot in the same oven as the empanadas, and with lots of cheese in the creamy tomato sauce, which produces a lovely crunchy top, and a delicious gooey creamy, cheesy mess underneath. Simply spectacular.

Share the goodness

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 extremely well for very few pesos. Wash it all down with the house vino tinto (red wine) and your Cumana experience is complete.

Location of Cumana Empanadas

Rodriguez Pena 1149, between Arenales & Santa Fe, Recoleta

Tel: 4813 9207

Morelia, Palermo Hollywood

Pizza abounds in Buenos Aires

When reviewing the restaurant scene in Buenos Aires, you will certainly happen upon a number of pizza restaurants, and the reason is simple: People here LOVE pizza.

If you do too, then Buenos Aires is a great place to be. Pizzerias like Guerrin in the City Center , Banchero in La Boca and Piola in Recoleta, and each has all it’s different styles and attractions. However, Morelia Pizzeria of Palermo creates it’s own style and ambiance that adds even more flavor to the already long list of notable Buenos Aires pizzerias.

Morelia’s Pizza a la Parrilla

In short, pizza a la parrilla means pizza cooked on a grill. A parrilla is the traditional Argentine grill that is usually used for cooking basically an entire cow’s worth of meat, either outside at a gathering of family and/or friends, or in one of the many parrilla restaurants that are so common in Buenos Aires and the rest of Argentina. But in this case, at Morelia and other similar pizzerias, it is a wafer-thin pizza crust that is placed on the parrilla/grill, topped, and warmed through in a matter of moments. The technique is explained in this post by Saltshaker (which also happens to include a review of Morelia). Head to Palermo Hollywood to try it out for yourself…

Morelia Pizza Restaurant and Lounge

Morelia is apparently a lounge in addition to being a pizza restaurant. This is the kind of thing you come to expect in the ice cool area of Palermo Hollywood, and the lounge part is explained by the addition of a few sofas with coffee tables near the entrance and the slightly lounge bar vibe you get from an occasional in-house DJ. No actual lounge music played though, for the record. Ignore the music, ignore the lounge (whatever that is), most certainly ignore the Palermo Hollywood pretensions, and just head to the back, grab a comfy booth seat if you can, and eat some pizza. That’s why you’re here.

The Pizza

The pizza may seem overwhelming in the previous picture, and in diameter it certainly is, but the thinness of the crust means appearances are a little deceptive. This is actually a Pizza Chica, which is slightly confusing because it is their middle size on the menu (flanked by individual and grande) and meant for 2 people. The toppings? Pictured above is a Calabresa, which in addition to the usual suspects of mozzarella, tomato sauce and green olives, features slices of calabresa sausage (a bit like chorizo, only with a faint hint of spiciness) and some strips of red and green peppers. And it goes down like a charm. The pastas are also of top quality, and the melt-in-your-mouth gnocchis are pictured below.

Palermo Hollywood vs. Las Cañitas

Morelia has two locations in Buenos Aires, with both areas having pretensions of being extremely hip. The Las Cañitas restaurant is the original, and is also a fair amount larger than the Palermo Hollywood one, due to it’s two full floors. However, both the food and the service at the Palermo Hollywood location are generally better. Wherever you go, if you order pizza a la parrilla at least you know you will not have to wait long… it comes lightning fast because the thin crust takes no time at all to cook. And the surroundings in both restaurants have a pleasant, subtle design, providing for a very comfortable meal.

Location of Morelia, Buenos Aires

Humboldt 2005, corner of Nicaragua, Palermo Hollywood
[Other branches: Baez 260 (Las Cañitas)]

Tel: 4772-5979

Pizza Piola

An International Pizza Phenomenon

Piola is an international chain of pizzerias, originally hailing from Treviso, Italy, but now with many restaurants in the USA, Mexico, Chile, Brazil and Argentina. However, it seems as they spread far and wide, they didn’t lose much of the supposed stereotypical Italian arrogance on arriving in Buenos Aires. Here’s a little example from the Piola website:

“Piola opened in Argentina in 1993, straight from Treviso, Italy. It revolutionized the Buenos Aires food scene to the point where the local press talks about pre and post Piola eras.“

A little dramatic, yes, but it’s all well and good that they are so sure about the groundbreaking quality of their food. Read on to see if Piola’s claims are strong, or if their exaggerations are nothing more than just that.

Stylishly Decorated Interior, Stylishly Slow Wait Staff

The surroundings and atmosphere are certainly not disappointing at Piola – it’s clearly hip, trendy, cool. Based in up-market Recoleta, pop-art adorns the walls, the long thin entrance bar is very stylish, there is a lovely little courtyard out the back (see picture below) – perfect for summer evening meals with friends, and of course, many of the thin young waiters and waitresses are as pleasant to look at as the surroundings.

Well, the wait staff had to be hired for something, because they certainly don’t do much waiting. The diners are the ones that have to wait at Piola. Service here can be painfully slow, starting with waiting to be acknowledged when seated, and continuing all the way through the night to the long-awaited arrival of the bill. Even by Buenos Aires standards, service is very slow and impersonal at Piola, so take that into concern when planning the rest of your evening.

The Pizza at Piola

Above is the small Quattro Formaggi, representative of  the pizza at Piola which is, as you would expect, more traditionally Italian than the Argentine versions you get in most pizzerias in Buenos Aires (not that the Argentine versions are bad, try the pizza at Guerrin and Banchero for a more local style). Whereas those Argentine pizza versions are big on mozzarella and fluffy dough, Piola does a more understated Italian style (‘less is more’ for the toppings) that also goes down very nicely indeed.

It is pizza a la piedra, in that it is baked directly on the stone (piedra) floor of the oven (which just about can be seen in the next picture below, behind the chef) and a thin crust version of this style, although it is soft rather than crispy.

Piola Argentina: Nice Food, But a Little Pricey

Yes, the pizza is very nice, but it is a little on the caro (expensive) side. A small pizza for one may cost twice as much than many grande (large) pizzas at local spots. Also on the menu are pastas, including a nice but simple affair called Spaghetti Alla Crudaiola (fresh pasta, tomato, buffalo mozzarella, olive oil, basil and parmesan shavings), as well as coffee and desserts – all a bit overpriced. Nevertheless, it must be noted that BA blogger Robert says that the tiramasu at Piola is ‘to die for’ (see the 1st comment of that post, by Robert), so it may be worth a taste.

Location of Pizza Piola, Buenos Aires

Libertad 1078, between Av. Santa Fe & Marcelo T de Alvear, Recoleta

Tel: 4812 0690,  Website: http://www.piola.it/