33793 Tue Jan 18 21:41:18 -0800 2005 14 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 151377 i didn't see any posts on this, so i guess i should do one. i'm a little reluctant, for reasons that will become apparent. about 15 chows and associate chows converged on this little argentinian hole in the wall on grand in ssf last thursday. we were accompanied by 20 or so swarthy south americans (wines, that is). the complex and surprising intermingling of this charming company provided for me the real joy of the evening. wines - no bad wines in the whole bunch. i thought the reserve malbec/cab was closed, and might show much better in a few years. many of the reds were tasty examples of a more international style, which while pleasurable to drink, left me a bit wistful. i was hoping for more robust south american malbec character, which showed up only here and there (i think the altos 2002?). the whites weren't bad either, but i missed having a torrontes. i wish i could leave it there, but this is chowhound, and i must report my general disappointment in the food and service. service - for much of the evening, we were the only party in the house. yet our server was astonishingly oblivious to very basic serving skills. i had to get up several times to go to the kitchen and ask for wine glasses, water glasses, and refills of the water pitcher. these items were not on the table in the first place, and even after i asked, they were not promptly brought out. i had to get up, go back to the kitchen, and remind her. when she finally responded, she would bring one or two, apparently unwilling to count how many people yet remained without glasses. wtf? corkage was blessedly cheap, but i don't think she opened one bottle nor poured one glass. i think she lent us a couple corkscrews. ok, food. empanadas. we ordered two of the six or seven varieties offered. the beef was ground, seasoned, and included chunks of hardboiled egg. i thought the filling was tasty and satisfying, but nothing remarkable. same for the cream and corn empanadas. all the empanadas were deep fried. i suspect this may have been done as an expediency, as they may have been frozen and it might have taken too long to bake them. the only other time i was here i just had an empanada, which was delicious and baked. it was the only offering on the day of a big soccer match, when the place turns into a big boisterous viewing hall directed at the big screen tv. lengua app - didn't even get to try. heard it was avoidable. eggplant app - same. salad - typical plain lettuce and tomato. nothing special polenta - creamy, with a tomato based topping. just tried a bit, which was fine. parilladas - the main event. mixed grill, including pork chops, sausages, beef ribs, chicken. what can i say. our table ordered four of these, and no other entrees. (let me say again that there were no other parties in the resto at this time). still, what arrived on my plate was cold and dried out. the beef had some nice flavor, and the chicken thigh was still moist, but for the most part, this was disappointing. even though the posted closing hour on thursdays is 8 pm, a group of 8 argentinian soccer players arrived in uniform at 9 or so. not only was our server attentive to their party, someone from the kitchen came out to talk to/serve them. i wish i could conclude otherwise, but despite my desire to post a review that would help them break out into a broader audience, they seem determined to cater exclusively to the argentinian soccer crowd. well, so be it. Tue Jan 18 21:41:18 -0800 2005 0 ed 1 151381 I had a good meal there about a year ago, with a party of three. I wouldn't draw any conclusions from a party of 15. Tue Jan 18 22:04:16 -0800 2005 151377 0 Robert Lauriston 1 151399 actually, I thought the reason no one had posted yet was that a.) everyone was too hung over after (like me) and b.) no one wanted the chore of writing down all those wines! :-) (though seriously, Nick did take notes on all of the wines, so maybe he will help fill in the blanks) regarding the service: I think it was well-meaning, I think the server was more uncomfortable with language issues than she let on. I am not so sure it is the size of the group that mattered, since that soccer group was fairly large... as for food: yes, the lengua was forgettable. I thought it was pot roast when I tasted it! Didn't try the eggplant. I thought the beef empanadas were tasty, but then I didn't have the advantage of having tried a baked one. The corn empanada was fairly blah. Meats were indeed mostly overcooked, other than the beef ribs and the chicken which, at least on the parilla I partook from, were quite good and not overcooked. Best part of the meal was the crepe de cajeta (not sure what it was called on the menu): the crepe was filled with cajeta (caramel, generally made with goat milk) that took me straight back to Mexico. Interesting in an Argentinian restaurant since I thought the origin was Mexican, not Spanish or South American... Overall, I'd have to agree that the company was the best part of the meal, and I wouldn't be in a hurry to return. Wouldn't rule it out though if I were in the south bay with a hankering for relatively inexpensive red meat... Tue Jan 18 23:41:33 -0800 2005 151377 0 susancinsf 2 151400 Well Mexican cajeta = Argentine dulce de leche (non-goat milk I believe). It is common in many South American countries to boil unopened cans of condensed milk to produce cajeta, which is a dangerous task since the can might explode all over your kitchen. Tue Jan 18 23:48:39 -0800 2005 151399 0 Mari 3 151405 thanks for the info! as I say, I didn't really take a good look at the menu (someone else ordered) so just pulled it out of my brain as 'cajeta'. I imagine it was called 'dulce de leche' on the menu...Didn't realize it was so common in South America: only country I've travelled to/in in SA is Ecuador, where I don't remember it (meals in Ecuador tended to be very healthful, and I mostly remember being served fruit for dessert). This certainly tasted like the (Mexican) goat milk version, but then I had drunk a fair amount of wine... by the way, the other dessert was a sandwich cookie: two sugar coated wafers, with cajeta or dulce in the middle. also something I would expect to find at a Mexican pasteleria...(and again, one of the more tasty aspects of the meal). Wed Jan 19 00:22:10 -0800 2005 151400 0 susancinsf 4 151406 The cookie sounds like an alfajor - 2 butter cookies sandwiched between dulce de leche. Alfajores are another South American treat, not Mexican. The best, and only, I have found in SF are at La Corneta. They are definitely worth a try if you venture into La Corneta one day. I am not sure where they get their alfajores from. Wed Jan 19 00:32:46 -0800 2005 151405 0 Mari 5 151471 La Corneta's had been my favorite alfajores until last week, but those at Villa del Sol have taken the lead. Wed Jan 19 13:37:03 -0800 2005 151406 0 nja 4 151408 They go apeshit over that stuff in Argentina. Alfajores and dulce de leche, that is. In Buenos Aires there is a chain called Havanna which seemed to approach a Starbucks-like frequency down there. I brought back a case of them to pass out at work... waaaaaaaaaay to sweet for me. People eat it out of a jar. Ack! Wed Jan 19 00:56:47 -0800 2005 151405 0 ericf 4 151456 In chile, alfajores is a pastry filled with "manjar" and covered in either coconut or chocolate (if covered with powdered sugar, then it's called "Chilenitos"). Manjar Blanco was the dulce de leche mentioned in the post which is made from sweetened condensed milk. At least when I lived in Chile, I've also had manjar with goat milk more often, usually with panqueque (as in pancake, but it's actually a rolled-up crepe filled with manjar or jam) Wed Jan 19 12:39:59 -0800 2005 151405 0 Yuko 5 151542 OK - now I get what manjar is. I was wondering if manjar is the same as dule de leche/cajeta. Thanks! Wed Jan 19 18:43:55 -0800 2005 151456 0 Mari 2 151451 Oh my, I totally forgot about eating these crepes (must be the wine... I had a 8 a.m. meeting next morning which was painful!!) I agree with Susan that that was the highlight of the meal. I too thought that the chicken was the best part of Parilladas (and the pork the worst and the driest piece of the meat I've had for a long time.) I have been to Villa del Sol several month ago and remember the service to be adequate with a party of 3. My favorite wine at the table was 2002 Altos Melbec (not the reserva cab blends). Overall, the meal itself was not so great, but I loved the company. Wed Jan 19 12:10:46 -0800 2005 151399 0 Yuko 2 151473 The crepes are called panqueques, which is just as much fun to say as to eat. Wed Jan 19 13:39:25 -0800 2005 151399 0 nja 1 151410 I'm sorry I missed this, despite your misgivings about the food. I have a 1997 Weinert Malbec from my last vacation which I could have shared (though it may have suffered from a year in my crap apartment). Re: Torrontes, I also happen to have a Crios Torrontes de Cafayate and some Santa Julia (Mendoza) laying about. I haven't yet tried the former, but I find the latter excellent, especially given its $6! retail price. I get it at Solano cellars. The 2003 Lurton pinot gris is excellent, but I haven't tried the bottled 2004 yet. Tasting it from the fermentation tanks last March, I'd guess it'd be equally good. Widely available around here. Re: overcooked meat... it really seemed like that's how everybody liked it down there. Even at what I would guess was an "International" expense account type place, they seemed somewhat reluctant to go below a medium, despite our helpful waiter suggesting a couple for terms to use at other restaurants (can't remember what they were). How was the morcilla? Wed Jan 19 01:07:59 -0800 2005 151377 0 ericf 1 151426 I didn't like the wines either, except the Altos Malbec and the other bottle Nick brought. Thought the sweetbreads were tasty, and the bite of crepe hit the spot. Still haven't satisfied my steak craving. Agree with Susan that a bit of Spanish came in handy. Wed Jan 19 03:04:46 -0800 2005 151377 0 Windy 1 151485 I tried my best to capture all the wines we opened, but I fear I missed a few. Here's my list; please add to it if I missed your bottle(s). All wines from Argentina unless specified otherwise. 2003 Lurton, Pinot Gris, Altos Valle de Uco, Mendoza 2004 La Boca, Chardonnay, Mendoza 2002 Catena, Chardonnay, Mendoza 2002 BenMarco, Malbec, Mendoza (Flawed: secondary fermentation) 2003 Crios, "50%/50%" Syrah-Bonarda, Mendoza 2002 Valle al Pena, Malbec, Mendoza 2003 Bodega del Fin del Mundo, Malbec, Patagonia 2003 Terra Rosa, Malbec, Mendoza 2002 Altos las Hormigas, Malbec, Mendoza 2002 Altos las Hormigas, "Viña Hormigas Reserva" Malbec/Cabernet Sauvignon, Mendoza 2003 Valentin Bianchi, "elsa" Malbec, DOC-San Rafael, Mendoza (Flawed: secondary fermentation) 2001 Luca, Syrah, Altos de Mendoza 2000 Casa Lapostolle, "Cuvée Alexandre" Merlot, Colchagua Valley, Chile 2001 Doña Bernarda, "Colección Privada" Cabernet Sauvignon, Colchagaua Valley, Chile Wed Jan 19 14:08:40 -0800 2005 151377 0 nja