El Baqueano – Cocina Autóctona Contemporánea, Buenos Aires, 5/22/19

building
building

El Baqueano is a small place with about 6 tables, 8 seats at the counter and an open kitchen.  They have been open 11 years.  You must ring the bell to have them confirm your reservation through the grating before you gain entry.  Windows to the street are on 2 walls as it sits on a corner and comfortable armchairs are at the tables set with elegant clothes and napkins.  Instrumental music played in the background and the overall lighting was low, but each table had a spot light.  An enclosed wall of wine separated the main dining room from a room with a larger table.  Everyone is served the same tasting menu and no printed version is available.  It was an odd meal, made odder in that the place was empty except for us and one other table.  Pacing was really fast and portions too large for a tasting.  With little information about the upcoming food we chose to try their wine pairings with the meal.  They served many local items which the server had difficulty translating for us. 

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entrance
interior
interior
inteior
interior
kitchen
kitchen
wine wall
wine wall
another room
another room
kitchen
kitchen
kitchen
kitchen
wall of glasses
wall of glasses
table set up
table set up

 

Bread was served by the slice with an anchovy butter.  The moist bread was dense with a doughy, chewy center and good crisp crust but the butter too strong for me and the color was unappetizing.  We ordered a Negroni cocktail which came with one large ice cube.  It was well made but the timing with the wine pairings was off as they overlapped and we didn’t have much chance to sit and enjoy it.

bread
bread
butter
butter
Frankie relaxed with a negroni
Frankie relaxed with a Negroni
one cube in the drink
one cube in the drink

 

The first snack was a cone of eggplant sorbet with housemade yogurt on the bottom.  It was cool and the crisp cone was slightly sweet.  Mostly mild flavors but good textures.

cone
eggplant sorbet cone
from the top
from the top
closer
closer

 

The first dish was roasted eggplant baba ganoush and escabeche juice.  The eggplant was mild, soft and well cooked and sitting on the escabeche – tart sauce that was used for pickling.  Some Argentinian cheese was grated on top.   It was okay.

wine
wine with eggplant
presentaiton
presentation
add sauce
baba ganoush and escabeche juice
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closer
closer
closer
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side
side
side
insidew
inside

 

Three textures of quinoa were in the next dish that was considered a signature dish.  Pumpkin, pepper and ham flavors were with the toasted quinoa.  Some dots added a touch of creaminess and thin chips added more crunch.  Also included were some marinated jellied pickles and something spicy.  A weird mish mash of ingredients that worked all right.  It was served with a Salta wine that was good.

wine
wine with quinoa
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Three textures of quinoa
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closer
turned
turned
detail
detail

 

Some dumplings filled with alligator from Formosa were good.  The wrapper was coated with a honey glaze.  They were tender and tasty with a mild flavor but a savory essence.  They were served with a natural wine famous for its acidity.

wine
wine with dumplings
presentation
presentation
inside
alligator dumplings
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closer
inside
inside
Frankie checked for leftovers
Frankie checked for leftovers

 

A ring shaped dish was next made with layers of butternut squash, beans, a gel of peas and corn with a bit of orange.  It was crisp around the top and most of the layers had only mild flavor.  It suffered from having too much bean that was really bland.  All the ingredients in the dish were from Milpa.  It was served with an orange wine that had lightly fermented white grapes also from Milpa.   This was a dud.

wine
wine
donut
butternut squash, beans, a gel of peas, corn and orange
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closer
closest
closest
side view
side view
inside
inside

 

Next was their take on an alfajore or 2 cookies with dulce de leche inside.  This is a really popular treat in Buenos Aires, but this one contained cold prawns with a side of hot consomme.  It was coated with cocoa butter.  The broth was filled with good flavor the alfajore was mild and dull.

wine
wine with alfajore
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Alfajores and consomme
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closer
closer
consomme
inside
inside

 

A confit duck with fermented powder of yucca was a totally tender piece of duck.  A crispy chip on top added the texture to the already flavorful duck.

wine
wine with duck
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confit duck with fermented powder of yucca
turned
turned
closer
closer
underneath
underneath

 

Aquatic buffalo from the wetlands was accompanied by a wine from the northern part of Patagonia.  It  was plated with a spinach couscous with herbs.  The meat was nicely rare but dry and parts were too heavily salted.  It was coated with cheese and bread crumbs.  The green lacy disk started out crisp but turned  soft and was topped with lavender and basil flowers.  It was okay.

wine
wine with buffalo
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Aquatic buffalo
closer
closer
underneath
underneath
meat
meat closer
green
spinach couscous closer
Frankie noted the knife
Frankie noted the knife

 

A sorbet of kiwano was mixed with banana cream and stuffed in a warty cucumber-look- alike skin of a kiwano.  Kiwano is a native fruit with flavors of cucumber, banana and lime.   It was tasty and the sorbet and cream combined for a nice texture.

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Kiwano sorbet
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closer
from the top
from the top
inside
inside
skin
skin

 

“Watchman” is normally made with cheese and jam and they used a goat cheese sorbet and a chilto fruit (sweet) from northern Chilton.  The Chilto is a tree tomato and was full of seeds and I wasn’t sure how to eat it but the outer edge was very soft.

wine
wine
pepper
goat cheese sorbet and a chilto
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closer
turned
turned

 

A rosella flower from the jungle was filled with white chocolate.  The crunchy flower was thicker than it appeared but was nice with the good white chocolate.

flower
rosella flower
from the top
from the top
side
side
closer
closer
inside
inside
Frankie checked out the sink
Frankie checked out the sink

2 thoughts on “El Baqueano – Cocina Autóctona Contemporánea, Buenos Aires, 5/22/19

  1. Great review as always. What really don’t get is why chefs plate such small portions on such large plates. To me it exacerbates the appearance of the small portions…..another reason I’m not a fan of tasting menus.

    1. It is an odd but standard practice, however in the case of a tasting menu they need to give you tiny portions if they are going to serve you 10-20 courses. But still it strikes me as funny, particularly when they have tiny tables and stuff hardly fits on the table! Thanks for reading!

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