Plaza Mayor

[Norman Stormin]

Corner of Venezuela and San Jose in Montserat. I throughly enjoy frequenting true Spanish restaurants in Buenos Aires. For one thing, the Spanish take business very seriously. The food is great, the portions are large, service is first cabin, prices are reasonable, and best of all, they are open all day. Avenida de Mayo and surrounding streets are full of them. Some of my favorites are Plaza Asturias, Espanola, Globo, etc. A trusted (Swiss) resident gourmand recommended this one to me.

The owners have three of the four corners competing at this intersection. I was specifically recommended this one. I arrived 17:30. There was one party of four and a party of 12 lingering after lunch. They left shortly after my arrival and I had the whole place to myself for the next hour. Two waiters cover this dead time and there were several parties of 2 which came for the next hour. The full wait staff showed up at 19:30 with the customers coming at 20:00 at which time I left. It is very large (300 seats) and I'm sure very noisey by 10pm.

They specialize in seafood and the menu covers it all. The price corresponds to the ingredients and size ranging from 3p to 120p per item. As this was a solo scouting mission, I decided to try several small items, and save the larger main courses if I returned with friends. The waiter, a surely Belgium, was pushing the salmon 24p. He didn't steer me wrong, but I opted for other items he recommended:

A bottle of Alamo chardonnay 26p. A half order of rabas 9p. Jamon Serrano 9p. Mejillones provenzal 15p. Each one of these orders was enough for an appetizer for two. And all were excellent. Water 3p, cover 3p, Total 65p. Two and one half hours of pure pleasure. I shall return.

[Andres]

Corner of Venezuela and San Jose in Montserat. I throughly enjoy frequenting true Spanish restaurants in Buenos Aires. For one thing, the Spanish take business very seriously. The food is great, the portions are large, service is first cabin, prices are reasonable, and best of all, they are open all day. Avenida de Mayo and surrounding streets are full of them. Some of my favorites are Plaza Asturias, Espanola, Globo, etc. A trusted (Swiss) resident gourmand recommended this one to me.

The owners have three of the four corners competing at this intersection. I was specifically recommended this one. I arrived 17:30. There was one party of four and a party of 12 lingering after lunch. They left shortly after my arrival and I had the whole place to myself for the next hour. Two waiters cover this dead time and there were several parties of 2 which came for the next hour. The full wait staff showed up at 19:30 with the customers coming at 20:00 at which time I left. It is very large (300 seats) and I'm sure very noisey by 10pm.

They specialize in seafood and the menu covers it all. The price corresponds to the ingredients and size ranging from 3p to 120p per item. As this was a solo scouting mission, I decided to try several small items, and save the larger main courses if I returned with friends. The waiter, a surely Belgium, was pushing the salmon 24p. He didn't steer me wrong, but I opted for other items he recommended:

A bottle of Alamo chardonnay 26p. A half order of rabas 9p. Jamon Serrano 9p. Mejillones provenzal 15p. Each one of these orders was enough for an appetizer for two. And all were excellent. Water 3p, cover 3p, Total 65p. Two and one half hours of pure pleasure. I shall return.During the holidays, people wait in line outside the restaurant to buy their famous pannetone. They used to cook one of the best and fruity pannetoni of the city.

I like this place very much. Often, you start your meals with a manzanilla shot (apple liquor) Rabas are excellent.

As of Globo, maybe you remember the puchero we ate there a couple of years ago. It is labeled the best puchero restaurant in town (good for Winter, not now!

El Imperial is located in front of Globo, and has a superb Paella a la Valenciana. Unfortunately, since most seafood is imported from Chile (mussels, clams, etc) such dishes cost ARS 60 and up, but they are worth the try.

Andres

[Hunt99]

Is this restaurant a sister of the Plaza Mayor in Recova, on the corner of Posadas and 9 de Julio?

[Norman Stormin]

I didn't know where Recova was but I was at the Four Seasons today in Recoletta. It is under an overpass next door. I asked and it is indeed the same company. The menu was not quite as comprehensive, but the same prices (very reasonable) And when you consider it is next to the most expensive Italian restaurant in Argentina, extremely reasonable.

[Moore]

Also try Campo de Fiori (see thread). Its on that corner (Venezuela & San Jose) and I believe its owned by the same group. Good Italian food and a neat place.

[Judd]

This place is located under the bridge caddy corner from the Four Seasons Hotel in Recoleta. There's about 8-10 top notch restaurants in this area. I ate there on 2 separate occassions. The first night I, along with Slugfest, met Sly One and his group at this restaurant. Slugfest and I had the fish of the day which was a Sea Bass cooked in a light butter sauce. It was absolutely delicious, and literally melted in your mouth. Sly one also chose and excellent Chardonnay which complimented the meal nicely. The service and food were top notch.

I came back to this place for a 2nd visit and had a completely different experience with regards to the service. The waiter was a complete idiot. Fireic and I felt like we were being served by the Absent Minded Professor. We ordered the Paella because Sly One raved about this dish. I actually ordered the catch of the day, and told the waiter I would share some of Fireic Paella since it comes in a big dish. Somehow this got lost in translation as I think he completely forgot about our order. Right off the bat I'm noticing he's taking quite awhile in getting us our wine and our water. We finish our salads and begin our wait for the entrée. 45 minutes goes by. In fact, Lowlight meets up with us about ½ hour after we sit down. He's able to order and receive an appetizer before our meal is served.

Lowlight starts to get perturbed because the guy never brings him his bottle of pop. He signals the waiter to come over and explain to us what's taking so long (he speaks fluent Castellano) Before Lowlight is able to do so, he notices the manager asking the waiter where's the food for our table as the rest of the restaurant has been served. The waiter gives the "Oh Shit" type of expression. He comes over and says our order is almost ready, it takes a long time to prepare the Paella. Bullshit, he fucked up. Tell the truth. Not to get off on a tangent. I had a layover at DFW before my flight into BA. The kid at TGI Friday's forgot to put in an order for the guy next to me. When the guy complained where his food was, the kid apologized and said he forgot, and promised he'd have his order out to him PDQ. The guy was pissed, but at least the kid honed up to his mistake. I doubled my tip to the kid.

So, we finally get to try the famous fucking paella and it was great. Lowlight commented on how good his appetizer's tasted. My advice, avoid the waiter whose going bald and serves the front right portion of the restaurant. The night before, we sat a the back right corner of the restaurant. We received excellent service from the young tall dude with black hair.

Judd