Bereber
Despite being located in one of Buenos Aires's chicest areas, Bereber was very laid back. Walking inside was like taking a deep breath and counting to ten. The first thing I noticed was the pile of pillows off to the right of the restaurant -- there was a large area for dining while seated on the floor. Unsure of how adventurous my friends were feeling I veered to the left, the more traditional seating area. The menu was Moroccan with a large selection of vegetarian options. Lots of cous cous. It seemed like this food was conducive for sharing, so we tried to pick a few dishes to share amongst the four of us. The we noticed the cous cous royal, variedad de todos los cous cous con merguez y degustación de acompañamientos tipicos (assorted cous cous with merguez sausage and moroccan side dishes) designed to be shared between four people. Perfect, no? We started with a plate of hummus and pita, a plate of fresh tomato and cous cous with sliced lemon, and a third plate of eggplant dip and pita. The texture of the pita was very memorable -- it was crispy but still malleable. It was really functional: it was both delicious, and served as a spoon to scoop the dips and bites of cous cous. The flavors were very clean and simple. So far so good.
Next came the remainder of the included courses: cous cous badingian - ternera con cebollas confitadas y berenjenjas (veal with onion confit and eggplants), cous cous ray - cordero patagónico confitado con miel pasas de uva y garbanzos (confit of patagonian lamb and honey with raisins and chicpeas), and cous cous el aadi - variedad de vegetales y legumbres especialiaded al estilo tradicional (traditional spiced vegetable cous cous). Of these three, the lamb was the most memorable -- the mildly sweet raisins and honey nicely contrasted against the lamb's inherent saltiness. The veal was bland, especially when it came to eating some of the vegetables in the accompanying sauce -- the onions, for example, were flavorless. The spiced vegetable cous cous had a sauce very similar to the veal, also bland. It was a little ironic how all these dishes were called "cous cous" and, technically, the only cous cous was in a bowl as a side. These dishes were served with dried fig, dates, and walnuts which, while delicious, seemed misplaced.
For dessert, despite our extreme fullness, we chose the degustación de masas marrioquíes (tasting of moroccan pastries). There's always a little extra room for dessert. Of the two different pastries, one was like a chocolate baklava which I really liked, the other similar to an ultra-dense chocolate brownie without the brownie flavor, which I didn't particularly like. Nothing memorable.
All in all, Bereber served average food. What was above average, however, was the type of food served. Not all meat and a lot of vegetables! I'd recommend Bereber if you're in the area and are looking for a non-traditional alternative to Argentine cuisine. Other than that, there are better places.
