Mendoza...food, food and more food - a review

[bdachow]

HI all,

The first part of my trip, I spent in Mendoza doing wine touring. Here's some reviews of the places we ate. Hope this provides some nice reading and ideas for anyone in the future.

Cheers,
Bdachow

Francesco Barbera
Our first night in Mendoza and a friend had recommended this restaurant to us. Just a couple blocks away from the Independence Plaza and our hotel, the restaurant is divided into 2 parts. There’s an inner restaurant and also an outdoors garden area that is covered by a large white tent hung with a chandelier. It kind of was nice to sit outside in the summer time but everyone kind of giggled as it reminded them of a big wedding tent. Our waiter was very accommodating with our broken Spanish and could help us in English. The sommelier was limited to Spanish unfortunately.

The menu is Italian as we were still easing our way into the entire meat-centric nature of Argentinian cuisine. Overall, the food was lovely. Having been bombarded too many times with mediocre pasta, I could never understand what all the fuss over Italian was. But I have to say on those times that pasta is perfectly tender and seasoned and sauced with a deft hand, there’s something infinitely satisfying about the experience. This was one of those moments. For starters, we had the beef carpaccio and a caprese salad and something else that escapes me (I think it was veal). The dishes were quite sizable. The carpaccio was delicious but I couldn’t quite understand the addition of raw mushrooms to the mix. The mound of salad in the middle of the plate was substantial and I thought could have been pared back just a bit to put the focus more on the beef which was excellent. The caprese salad was nice with tomatoes that, well quite frankly tasted like tomatoes should. Mains ordered were the assaggio di pappardelle, assaggio Francesco and the special assaggio of pasta for the day. We bypassed the usual third meat course luckily as once we saw our servings, we were more than satisfied. The pappardelle was a mix of malbec pappardelle and egg yolk pappardelle. Very nicely done the pasta was nice and light with a nice soft touch and chew to it. I can’t say that malbec infused pasta is my thing but it certainly was evocative of the influence that wine has in the area. The assaggio Francesco was an assortment of stuffed pastas. My DP could not rave enough about the lasagna as it was so nicely done. Not like the heavy lasagnas that you get from your regular red sauce joints but it was red sauce and that’s about where the similarity ended. As for my assortment, I remember it as excellent. An artichoke lasagna, veal and pancetta stuffed something (I think tortellini) and spinach and ricotta stuffed ravioli and one other item that eludes me (I have got to start writing stuff down). Pretty standard fares but very well done. None of the fillings felt very heavy and dense and the sauces were fresh tasting and not overly creamed or too acidic for the various pastas on the plate. With a bottle of wine, we each paid a little over $50USD.

Bodega Zuccardi
Our driver and guide for our time in Mendoza arranged a lunch for us at Bodega Zuccardi at the end of a hectic morning of winery tours and tastings. The restaurant is set away from the production facility, in the middle of the vineyard. We were seated in a glassed in area with lovely views of gardens and vineyards. What followed was nothing short of a feast and the first of our 3 hour lunch encounters. Starting out with your choice of empanadas (carne, cheese or onion?), it was the first of many and there’s nothing like that first bite of pastry wrapped around seasoned meat, a bit of chopped hard boiled egg and a bit of red pepper. Or melted cheese studded with chunks ham. A couple shared bowls of grilled vegetables and mixed salad showed up next. And then…drumroll please…the endless parade of asado showed up. First up, pork belly. Layers of fat nestled in with layers of pork. Nice and moist and porky goodness. Then followed by pork ribs and beef ribs, then grilled chicken and pork chop. Then tenderloin. Oh no…it didn’t stop there…I think there was brisket and skirt steak as well. The beauty of all this is that this country knows how to grill their meat. Don’t cut away all the fat as it acts as a natural baster. And so the meat was delicious, juicy and simply seasoned (a tad undersalted but I noticed this about all food in Argentina), no fancy bbq sauces or mops to hide the flavor of the beef or pork (or whatever else). The only thing was the chicken breast, bone on was a little dry. I admit falling into a severe food coma and not even remembering what dessert was but I know there was dessert. It’s a lot of food for your first crack at asado. Suffice it to say that all 3 of us rolled out of there. With a bottle of the 2001 Zuccardi Q Malbec, lunch came to just under $70USD a person (note the price included the cost of lunch for our guide as well who ate with us so works out to $50USD a head). The wine was excellent, paired extremely well with all the meat. It did require a good 20 minute breather but if you’re looking for a lovely well balanced malbec, this is definitely on my purchase list.

Tupangato Winelands
After a day of touring in Uco Valley, our guide brought us here for lunch. It seemed a rather strange location out in the middle of nowhere really. It was even odder seeing as it was a golf course but the views over the valley were amazing from the top of the hill. We started our meal with an empanada. These were the deep fried variety, filled with melted cheese, it was a perfectly decadent beginning of the meal. Well matched with a bottle of Dona Paula Los Cardos Sauvignon Blanc. Main courses were a spinach ravioli with tomato sauce and pan seared trout. The ravioli was nice with a fresh tomato sauce that was light and lively. The trout was well done, light and flaky. Dessert eludes me now but it was ok from what I remember or don't remember.

Vinos, Olivas and Sabores
We decided to take a walk around Mendoza and find this place which was recommended in a guidebook from the hotel. Yes, paid advertising so I was skeptical. We arrived late afternoon during siesta so we were pretty much the only patrons. Grabbed a table on the sidewalk so that we could people watch, which is my favourite sport and believe me it was entertaining. Between the hostel across the street and the daycare a couple doors down, it was a fun afternoon. We didn’t want anything heavy with the warmth of the day and we were a little tired of eating heavy lunches. We settled on the Malbec platter, which was simply an antipasti platter. Basket of rolls, green olives, black olives, sun dried tomatoes, dehydrated tomatoes, various cured meats, cheeses and a platter of grilled vegetables. A very light lunch shared between two. A couple glasses of torrontes and we were set. Overall, we were quite impressed at the spread that was laid before us. The cured meats and local cheeses were delicious. Grilled vegetables were nice and fresh tasting. Service was prompt and the server was happy to assist and provide guidance when we couldn’t think of what we wanted. It didn’t hurt that the Michael Buble, then Robbie Williams and then Rod Steward concert DVD’s were playing on the tv behind us either. The country seems a bit infatuated with Michael Buble since he’s married to an Argentinian soap opera actress.

Azafran
We did try to go here but alas, they were fully booked. Reservations are recommended if you're traveling during peak season.

Vines of the World
I'd highly recommend this wine tasting room, it's located on the side street adjacent to the Park Hyatt. The staff were extremely knowledgable and they have a fantastic selection of by the glass wines from all over Argentina. They also have pre-arranged flights, I did the best of Uco Valley while my DP tried the Best of Argentina. Prices are reasonable and the experience is fun and gives you a good overview of the vast quantity of wines and wineries available in Argentina. I'd suggest it as a first stop so you can see which wineries you may like to visit while there.