Every café de moda and their mother seems to be offering some form of bread with a hole in the middle that disturbingly passes as a bagel. Bagel-mania (pronounced BAAAY-gul) has hit the city, with variations of this doughnut shaped baked good popping up around town. One of the latest eateries to follow the trend might have gotten it right… Situated in Villa Crespo’s outlet store central, Malvón (Serrano 789) brings yet another quality restaurant to this up-incoming culinary neighborhood.
From the owner of Palermo ethnic powerhouses Green Bamboo and Bereber, Dario Muhafa created El Malvón, a New York-inspired deli and café. This cosy refurbished casona offers a comfortable coffee-house atmosphere with a large bakery in the front, two dining room areas, and a big garden patio in the back.
Every time I see bagel & lox on a menu, I have a hard time not ordering it. True, the outcome is generally disappointing, but the Jew inside me orders it anyway. On Malvón’s menu, the NY Bagel (AR$30): homemade gravlax salmon, cream cheese and dill… and in my opinion, the best out of the Buenos Aires bunch. The bagel had the right chewy consistency - not just bread with a hole, no oil on the outside and it didn’t appear to be grilled – it was cooked right: boiled and baked.
Every Saturday and Sunday until 4:30pm, you can choose from a wide variety brunch menu including meats, eggs, popovers and salad main dishes. Shown above, the Estrellados egg dish (AR$42): fried eggs over roasted potatoes, grilled panceta and herb salad. This was served with a blueberry pancake mini, piece of corn bread, and a choice from the side dish menu. What’s even better, this includes UNLIMITED coffee refills (conveniently, the mozos never seemed to be around when it was time to refill the coffee) and a glass of fresh lemonade or homemade flavored water.
On your way out, don’t forget to grab a slice of homemade Cheesecake de Maracuyá or Carrot Cake, and a loaf of bread to go – choose from daily bakes like Brioche, Foccacia or NY rye – great breads for under AR$15 per loaf.
Overall, a very satisfying brunch giving me hope that a real bagel in Buenos Aires might actually exist.
For the full album, click here.
UPDATE: Prices have increased slightly and menu is a bit different. Brunches are now about 10 pesos extra and include corn bread, granola with fruit, choice of guarnición (soup, guac, pancakes (go with this), onion rings, etc.), cocktail del día, and café *no more unlimited refills – guess that didn’t work too well. Still a great brunch deal.
Bagels, Cream Cheese and Salmon, one of the best combinations ever made. Yummy!
And don’t forget the fresh dill!
should visit most def! love that so many places are taking this “laid back” route and offer something much lighter then the usual heavy dining experience.
MMM. My top list to try.
Looks good. I am still on the hunt for the perfect brunch/ eggs benedict in this city. Oui Oui is fine but a long wait, Cafe Crespin was good but no eggs benedict and we waited an hour for the food at Gringa…
Where should we go next?
Can’t even get a good bagel in Santa Fe. Can you believe they even put green chile in them. Miss Once Upon A Time in HP.
I come here every week and buy fresh pumpernickel for 12 pesos a loaf! love love love this place
I love this blog and I’mnow a follower! My dad is from Bs.As, but I grew up here in Sweden, only visited a few times. I really enjoy coming here to get more ideas for my next trip. Mi querido Buenos Aires!
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visited here today, the food was great, but service very slow. they changed their menu and the brunch specials are now 55 pesos without coffee refills but still worth it!
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food I had for brunch was not great , but the service was the worst I’ve seen in months. But I have to admin that I had some take outs and the cheesecake was awesome
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I also gave this place a try and I even took friends with me. I went wanting to love this place! The food was pretty good, but the service was so bad it was weird. The only way I would try going back would definitely be outside of peak hours. Meanwhile there are other places out there that do manage to match good food with good service…
Brunch is now $70/80 pesos. Good but not great, maybe my expectations were too high….
I want to try the meriendas but I ain’t going back for brunch!