Back to Alberto's
The sensational midnight parrilla that I had at Alberto's a few nights ago was simply too good — I had to get me some more! Tonight, a massive group of us had an evening exodus out of Patanuk, and so it was that I went to Bariloche's finest steak house one more time. Our table was piled high with platters of juicy beef cuts, with several pyramids of french fries, and with enough bottles of red wine to sink an aircraft carrier. Needless to say, this was a most satisfying night of gluttony in its most carnivorous form.
We were a group of 10: Finlandia, Sarah, Jordan, Ed, Simon, Anna, Travis, myself, and an English couple that arrived last night. This time, we went to a different Alberto's — I discovered that there's actually another one, just around the corner from the one we ate at last time, which is much bigger and a bit quieter. There's a third Alberto's across the road from this one, but that one isn't a parrilla, it's a pasta place. And there are a few more Alberto's on the roads leading out of town. What can I say: they're everywhere! And if you've ever eaten at any of them, you'll understand why.
The meat tonight was sensational. Because we were such a big group, we were able to order quite a wide selection of cuts, and to share them all amongst ourselves. We got a few servings of bife de lomo, and of entrañas (like last time), but we also got a fair bit of bife de chorizo (rump steak), asado (random barbequed cut), and entrée chorizo sausages. The wine was also great: even though all we ordered was the $3/bottle house wine (and lots of it), it still tasted about as good as a mid-range wine, back home in Oz. It appears that no matter how stingy you are, and no matter how hard you try, it's simply not possible to get bad-tasting wine in this country. It doesn't exist, clear and simple.
As with Wednesday night, a day of snowboarding (combined with an evening full of red wine) took its toll on me tonight. The crew was planning a big night out on the town, and I was planning on coming with them. However, when we got back to Patanuk at about 11:30pm, I well-and-truly crashed in my dorm room. When next I opened my eyes, I was very surprised to find that it was dark outside, that my watch read 5:30am, and that I still had my clothes and my shoes on. I got up to take a piss, and was greeted by Ed's backside staring back at me from the loo — he appeared to be fast asleep on the toilet bowl. So clearly, some people (at least) had enjoyed a bigger night than me. When questioned later in the day, Ed insisted that he couldn't remember anything that happened past about 3am. "We went to Wilkenny's, I had a few beers, and that's where me mem'ry stops."