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Gran Dabbang

Buenos Aires

Explosive Asian and Latin American flavours at laidback joint

On the Pass

Mariano Ramón (pictured), Sergio Torres and Camila Perez Gordillo

What is the restaurant about? Chef Mariano Ramón brings Asia’s wide-ranging street food scene to Buenos Aires at this tiny spot in Palermo. He combines flavours and ingredients from the east with Latin American flair to create an original sensory experience.

On the menu: You will find a range of chaat dishes, as well as the likes of Swiss chard pakora with carrot chutney, artichoke with pumpkin seed sauce or tapioca and mandioca bread with goat’s cheese and tomato chutney. Otherwise, opt for the seasonal fish or lamb with black spices and blood orange.

What’s the vibe? It’s fast and furious with few frills at Gran Dabbang; Ramón lets the food speak for itself. At this small joint located on a busy Palermo street, dishes are served on camping ware and are designed to share; a hungry table of four can easily sample the whole menu. It’s first come, first served, although the queue moves quickly.

Chef story: Aged 18 and with no means to finance cookery school, Ramón’s first kitchen experience was at Francis Mallmann’s Patagonia Sur in Buenos Aires. Following work placements with Narda Lepes in Argentina and subsequently in Spain, Peru and Uruguay, in 2005 he moved to New Zealand. With Asia within reach, Ramón then worked kitchens in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia and India, before moving to England with his British wife, Pip. Returning to Argentina in 2012, he opened Gran Dabbang in 2014.

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