The long nights of Mendoza

After Vendimia's festivities Ash and I slept in for what seemed like most of the day. It was pretty much what everyone was doing.

We decided we would take a walk around and check out the sites and find a good spot for dinner. There are always a lot of people around Plaza Independencia selling nick-nacks and what not. It is definitely the central meeting place for all Mendacinos both young and old. It is beautifully laid out with large fountains and shady green lawns for napping and picnics. Ashley and I both love chocolate (see Vosges post) so we stopped of for Argentina's most famous sweet Dulce de Leche. Literally meaning "sweet milk" This is a caramel that is simply divine. This is just one picture of us enjoying one of the many forms of Dulce de leche we tasted in Mendoza, and was a nice small snack before dinner.




We arrived at Facundo a little after 10:30pm and the place was hopping. It is on the same street as AzaFran and other great restaurants. (Note: AzaFran will get its own post, but deserves some serious writing)

Sarmiento Avenue, which we dubbed "Foodie Heaven" was full of awesome eateries, cafes, and gelato shops.

06 Malbec - Don Nicarnor Bodegas Nieto Senetiner

This wine was bursting with bright tart cherry and apple. As it opened up it exhibited some interesting licorice, raisin aromas.

The wine was a deep magenta in color with a nice velvety texture.

The wine exploded with fresh apple flavors. Truly apple from the cider fields. It was really amazing that it was so close.

This wine went so well with the Parma Ham salad that we started with. This was just about a 1/2lb of parma prosciutto and a small serving of potato salad. It was savory, rich and went with the more bright Malbec well.

For our entrees; we ordered the flank steak with scallion sauce and also a sirloin steak shishkabob.

The flank steak was simply to die for. I have never had flank steak that was so tender. (no offense to my mother and mother-in-law) This beef truly melted in your mouth. The scallion sauce wasn't really even a part of the joy but added a nice green topping. This was probably the best steak I had in Mendoza that was not your normal loin cut which I generally prefer. (i.e. ribeye, tenderloin, sirloin)
Simply amazing. I also ordered a side of huevos fritas (fried eggs) because almost all Argentines eat eggs at dinner. (The eggs here are better too)

Ash was handling the kebob (in between stealing bites of the flank steak), it was very nice and full of fresh grilled peppers, tomatoes, and onions. The steak was very tender and each piece was topped with a thick slice of bacon that was not cooked. It was a great dish, but the flank steak took the gold medal this time!
Side note: We have found that they rarely cook the bacon in dishes here. For example after we had partied all night on Friday we found Liverpool Pub. We of course ordered the Liverpool sandwich and it too had uncooked bacon on it. (it was good at 430AM tho)


We finished dinner around 12:30am and decided to turn in for the night. Being our first weekend in Argentina we were a little tired adjusting to the way they live. Short days...LONG nights.