almorzar

la boca, buenos aires

take any guy between the ages of 14-75 (old enough for wallet, young enough for teeth), put him in buenos aires for a few days and ask him to provide a few words to summarize his experience. while i will not claim to know every impression, i do know that you will hear the following barring major mental illness:

steak. delicious. cheap.

such was my experience today, although the full analysis is not complete. the deal was that we had a few hours to kill in between workshops and rachel and shriya knew of a place with a set menu with plato, bebida, ensalada o papas fritas, postre o cafe for 18 pesos ($6). great. sounds good.

so, we proceed to order, but the waitress tells us that a few of our choices are not available with this option, but my bistec de chorizo is ordered without a problem. i ordered it jugoso, or juicy, and this had to be the best steak i've had in years: big, thick, tender, and, yes, juicy. it was enough, but since i was getting the special, i had to accept the tiramisu on the postre menu and a cafe for good measure. then came la cuenta.

apparently, the bistec de chorizo was not an option on the menu ejecutivo, even though every procedure for restaurantal tacit agreement had been followed to the letter. therefore, the agua sin gas that i ordered had to be paid for, as did the papas fritas, the tiramisu, and the cafe. my 18 peso lunch, comfortable with my pocket stash of 50, was all of a sudden a 60 peso lunch. though i borrowed 100 from kristin, i had been deceived, tricked, mocked, and, yes, made to feel like a downright tourist.

but, it was still the most amazing meal i've had in weeks, maybe months, and it was only lunch. deceit never tasted so good. my mild manner afterwards, while arguably attributable to a pleasant food coma, may mean that the charm of this place is still enough to compensate for its other half. still, i'd say its another week before 60 pesos feels less like 20 bucks and more like 60 pesos. that's when heads will roll, jugoso o no.