Christmas Eve in Buenos Aires: Uco

Travel

Matt and I spent nine days traveling through Argentina – five days in Buenos Aires, and then four in Mendoza. We arrived in BA early on Christmas Eve. I’m glad I did some research before the trip, because I discovered that most of the restaurants on my list would be closed for the Christmas holidays. Looking back, I’m actually happy this happened because I discovered Uco, a wonderful little restaurant at the Fierro Hotel in the Palmermo Soho neighborhood.

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All of the holiday restaurants that were open had expensive tasting menus (probably geared towards tourists). We had seven courses with six wine pairings and I thought it was worth it! We sat in a charming courtyard and enjoyed a sparking wine to start! One not about Argentinian wine pairings or wine tastings – they give generous pours! This glass was re-filled before the first course arrived!

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The first course was crispy seafood (fish, shrimp, and squid) with garlic aioli – it was kind of small and lackluster.

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The next course was a charcuterie platter with three kinds of meat. We ate a lot of weird meats while in Argentina, and I just kind of pretended I didn’t know what I was eating, so that it wouldn’t gross me out too much:) This was actually a bonus item that wasn’t even on the menu!

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Next up – white salmon carpaccio paired with a lovely chardonnay – this course was light and refreshing!

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The fish course was a definite favorite – it was similar to a trout, and serve with asparagus risotto. It was fun going from winter to the seasonal food in Argentina.

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Next up – sweetbreads with swiss chard and portobello mushrooms. We also switched to red wine. Every single red we had during our trip was delightful.

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My other favorite course of the night was the crispy suckling pig with beetroot puree and mustard seed. This was like a giant piece of pork belly – yum.

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And lastly, at least I thought, a mango cheesecake paired with a harvest dessert wine! This was divine!

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And then we got this little bonus plate of chocolates.

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The service was wonderful – the courses were perfectly timed and our waitress was attentive. I’d HIGHLY recommend Uco, and our experience made for a very festive Christmas Eve.

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