Breakfast, lunch, merienda, brunch – yet another quality café has made an appearance in the up-and-coming culinary neighborhood of Villa Crespo. Situated near Buenos Aires’ outlet store central, BA meets New York in Malvón, the bread haven coffee shop.
From the owner of Palermo ethnic powerhouses Green Bamboo and the former Bereber, Malvón was created to resemble a New York-inspired deli and café. Housed in a refurbished casona, this comfortable and beautifully designed coffee house is equipped with two dining room areas, garden seating in the back patio, outdoor tables on the sidewalk and a bakery displaying wonderful breads and other baked goods.
The menu consists of an eclectic mix of cuisines, a bit random, offering daily breakfasts, lunches and meriendas, with brunch specials on the weekends.
Think pancakes, chicken club, eggs, ribs, corn bread, salads, hamburgers, pastrami sandwiches, guacamole, cheesecake, bread – very random indeed.
One of the best thing about Malvón: the bread basket. Killer bread, they make a mean focaccia, rye and multigrain – all available to take home.
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. 
Every time I see bagel & lox on a menu, I have a hard time not ordering it. True, the outcome is generally disappointing, but some part of me hopes the next one will be the real deal. This NY Bagel homemade gravlax salmon, cream cheese and dill is one of the best out of the Buenos Aires bunch. The bagel had the right chewy consistency and no oily outside. It was cooked right: boiled and baked.
Brunch fit for champions – eggs Estrellados: fried egg served over roasted potatoes with panceta and greens. The egg a bit overcooked, but overall a star.
Malvón also does a mean Eggs Benedict – served on an English muffin with ham and topped with a strip of some of the crispiest bacon I’ve tasted at a Buenos Aires restaurant.
Fluffy and sweet, these berries and cream topped pancakes were mighty sweet.
The awesome space.
On your way out, don’t forget to grab a slice of passionfruit cheesecake or carrot cake, a loaf of NY rye, pumpernickel or French baguette.
While the food can be somewhat hit or miss – sometimes I walk away with a great Malvón food experience, and other times it’s just mehhh, it’s always a great choice for a Villa Crespo café. Beware on the weekends: get there early (or late) because this place gets bizzzaaay. (It’s not worth to wait 20 minutes+ for a table, you are better off going to Café Crespín, La Crespo or any of these Villa Crespo spots).
Malvón
Serrano 789, Villa Crespo
Tel. 4774-2563
Monday – Sunday, 9am – 8pm
Anonymous says
Is this place still worth a visit? (I love how your writing style has developed since then, I thought you were British to start with, sarcasm central ;) love it)