Mishiguene — Restaurant in Autonomous City of Buenos Aires

I had high expectations with Mishiguene, the concept of Israeli/Jewish food fuses with Argentina's culinary tradition is highly intriguing and comes with a promise of a unique experience.

We were seated promptly without fuss, but the wait between each dish was very long. The waitress we had definitely did try her best, but it was only her running the entire outdoor section so she was definitely overwhelmed and we can't blame her. But she always greeted us with a smile and was very appologetic.

My partner and I had a 6 course degustation menu with wine pairing. Many times the food runner would just place the dishes in front of us then disappear without an explanation of the dishes or even the name, leaving us completely guessing the ingredients or how to eat the dishes. The wine pairing often comes late after we were halfway through our dish, but it was understandable because we can see how overwhelmed our waitress was.

There seems to not be a somelier in house the night we came, as our sole waitress also acted as the wine server for us, and she could only read the label of the wine to us without much else, not even the location where the wine came from. However, compliments for whoever made the wine selections for the wine pairing, because not each glass of wine was a treat by itself individuals, they also bring out the new depth for the dishes. I was very impressed with the wine, despite not having met the somelier. They also seem to favor Mendoza region it seems like all of the wines were sourced from there (our waitress was generous for letting us hang on to the bottle to read more about it).

Now onto the food. The bread basket and garnish were definitely the best I've ever had, I didn't expect pickle to taste that good, and the olive oil was flavorful but not dominant. We could just eat the bread basket and call it a day and we would still be happy. Plating was simple and straight to the point, as if they are confident enough in their food to skip the flowery excess step and they are right - the food was outright delicious they just shine on their own. Definitely densely packed with the various spices typical of Jewish food, creamy, flavorful but not heavy at all. The chef definitely strikes a delicate balance of letting spice act as a catalyst to bring out the delicate aroma but harmony the freshness of the meat. Although he might be a tad too fond of the onion for the varenike and it became too overwhelming. All and all, I would say food was just straight up delicious and I had a good meal despite the scattered service of the restaurant.

With that being said, the kitchen on the other hand definitely needs improvement on their discipline and attention to detail, as there was a dish that was presented to us looking like they accidentally wiped it onto something and didn't bother fixing it. It is slightly offensive to be served a dish that clearly seems to be dropped and remade, for the restaurant of this calibre that is rared at 29th of 50 best LATAM restaurant.

Haute cuisine in Argentina faces with a particular set challenges of - the country's permeated emphasis on meat, the lack of diversity on seafood ingredients, and importing exquisite ingredients are forbiddenly hard even with the financial backing. So to me the chef did a good job with what he was given in the field of culinary in Argentina, the food was delicious and creative. However the restaurant could definitely benefit from an improvement in quality control and more...

Unforgivable- a night wasted in Buenos Aires. We were looking forward to our meal after reading rave reviews and considered doing the tasting menu but upon the warning of the waitress that the tasting experience could take 3+ hours, we opted for speedier a la carte ordering for our 8.30pm reservation… or so we thought.

Our food never arrived. We didn’t get checked on by waiters, we didn’t get water refills in the 2 hours we sat at our table, nibbling on a bread basket and looking in disbelief at our empty wine glasses, despite being thirsty and having ordered top ups for both. We were told they would ‘check momentarily’ by the 4 different waiters we approached to inquire about the status of our food throughout the evening, but no one came back with an update. It was only after cancelling our food orders and asking for the check (around 10.45pm) that two appetizers magically appeared on our table: the forshmak (blackened fish on potato with green apple and labneh) and deconstructed baba ganoush pictured below. The food was fine- I wouldn’t go as far as calling it unremarkable (admittedly, living in New York City spoils one for choice) but it was definitely not worth the ridiculous wait or lack of service.

In the end, the waitress apologized for the delay, alleging a private event in the back room had slowed them down and offered to rush the kitchen and bring us the main on the house. It is little solace to eat 3 pounds of free pastrami at 11.30pm when having booked an 8.30pm reservation for a completely different vibe (‘haute cuisine’ typically comes with a side of ‘haute customer service’). We skipped her offer, and when the bill arrived we noticed we had been charged not only for the appetizers (sure, at least they showed up) and table service (questionable), but also for the beverages that never arrived. We paid for all of it, unwilling to waste any more time or arguing further and left hungry. So be it, Mishiguene- have our money, but know we won’t return and will recommend...

Reservations are easy online - booked several months in advance. The host will contact you on WhatsApp the day of with a generic message letting you know punctuality is important and that our reservation is only for 1.5 hours.

Due to traffic unpredictability and rain we arrived 15 minutes early - while in the Uber I messaged them to ask if possible we could come in earlier due to the rain. No warm or anything in the response - 'Open 19hrs' that's it.

When we got there all the staff greeted or made eye contact with us. The staff and servers had trouble understanding English and our main server spent more time chatting with his colleagues than attending to us - if they want us out in 1.5 hours - why does it take 10+ mins to get our check?

Chicken hearts - cooked to perfection and sop up all the sauce. With every calorie and penny. The breads and hummus - nothing special. Good raisin challah and onion jam/chicken fat. The server said we had to order two entrees because they are too small to share. Untrue and we had a ton of leftovers. The second entree so forgettable I have a photo but forgot what we ate.

The duck was rubbery - reduction was nice. Came with rice and veg. We were stuffed at this point but I always like to try it fresh before boxing it up. Good thing I did - the rice was RAW. Sorry 1 Michelin star or $ place, I have NEVER been served raw rice. They looked skeptical of our claim and minimally apologetic after it was confirmed by the kitchen. No discount, nothing complimentary to compensate us for the time lost - just recooked the rice (they prob doubled the portion?).

Dark moody ambiance, the music was frantic and loud in the beginning but mellowed out later. Unique china sets.

It was a lot of effort dining here - we felt like it was a favor to be allowed to dine here. Lack of attention - we felt the need to check our to-go bag and indeed it was missing the bread.

I think the approach in the hospitality is lacking here and a touch of...