Until Belen Bistro & Market opened in downtown Decatur, I hadn’t noticed the Argentina-sized hole in the metro area’s vibrant, diverse restaurant mix.
Belen Bistro fills that gap with aplomb. The restaurant, run by empanada maestra Belen de la Cruz and several partners, celebrates Argentina’s cuisine and culture. It even holds events with the Argentine consulate and Wines of Argentina trade organization.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
The restaurant is located on Decatur Square, at the former site of Boho 115. The space has been transformed, including an exterior paint job that flipped the historic building from white to black. The atmosphere is comfortably dark and moody, although plenty of light pours in through the front windows and a skylight. It wasn’t loud on my visits, but the restaurant — with brick walls, wood floors and multilevel dining areas — doesn’t offer much in the way of sound dampening.
Belen Bistro is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, with a tightly curated menu that has several Argentine specialties rarely seen in metro Atlanta, including a dessert pancake with dulce de leche and a blue cheese-stuffed bell pepper dish called morron relleno.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
There’s a full bar with a selection of cocktails that includes some South American classics, such as a very good pisco sour, as well as creative options, including a cocktail that features bourbon and bitter Fernet Branca, tamed and smoothed with lemon and sugar.
The wine list from partner-sommelier Martin San Cristobal includes a couple of malbecs but also looks beyond Argentina’s most famous grape. Other Argentine varietals include cabernet franc and chardonnay, plus the list pulls bottles from Chile, Spain and Uruguay.
The wine selection is curated tightly for now, but San Cristobal said the selection will expand. He also plans to hold regular wine classes and sell wine from the restaurant’s small market section at the front, where De la Cruz’s frozen empanadas already are sold.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
The food at Belen Bistro mostly was very good, although the level of seasoning was a touch inconsistent, with some dishes in need of more salt.
At lunch, the sandwich milanesa was excellent. It’s a relatively basic preparation, but there aren’t many places in town serving a sandwich based around a breaded beef cutlet, and the execution was terrific.
The choripan, a traditional Argentine sandwich, was even more basic — essentially just chorizo sausage on a baguette. But the high-quality sausage came to life with the addition of Belen Bistro’s exceptionally fresh chimichurri.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
I tried the beet salad at both lunch and dinner, and while I loved the combination of roasted beets, herbed yogurt, hard-boiled eggs and goat cheese, the visually striking selection was surprisingly lifeless — it was one of the dishes that could have benefited from a little more salt.
However, the morron relleno was intensely salty, the blue cheese overpowering the mild bell pepper, untamed by the fried egg on top.
Ravioli is a popular dish in Argentina, De la Cruz said, and the spinach version I tried was wonderful, with a fabulously rich cream sauce.
The menu’s big-ticket item — a 14-ounce rib-eye called ojo bife — delivered completely at $48. My steak was cooked precisely to medium-rare and was seasoned simply, but perfectly.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Belen Bistro opened in April and still is growing into itself. But like a good steak or a robust South American wine, it should only improve with age.
Belen Bistro & Market
2 out of 4 stars (very good)
Food: Argentine
Service: very good, friendly and professional
Noise level: low to moderate
Recommended dishes: any empanadas, avocado burrata grill, sandwich milanesa, roasted corn salad, ojo bife, spinach ravioli, puree carbonara, caramelized carrots, Brussels sprouts, french fries
Vegetarian dishes: beet salad, roasted corn salad, green salad, caprese empanada, spinach empanada, mushroom empanada, butternut squash ravioli, spinach ravioli, cauliflower, avocado burrata grill, baked brie, creamy spinach, Brussels sprouts, french fries, morron relleno, caramelized carrots, tomate de noni, asparagus
Alcohol: full bar with tightly curated wine list centered on South America and Spain
Price range: $50-$100 per person, excluding drinks
Hours: 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 12-8 p.m. Sundays
Accessibility: fully ADA-compliant, although reservations are recommended because of limited ground-floor seating
Parking: paid street and deck nearby
Nearest MARTA station: Decatur
Reservations: recommended Thursdays-Saturdays; available through OpenTable
Outdoor dining: yes
Takeout: yes
Address, phone: 115 Sycamore St., Decatur. 470-990-7052
Website: belenbistro.com
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s dining critics conduct reviews anonymously. Reservations are not made in their name, nor do they provide restaurants with advance notice about their visits. Our critics always make multiple visits, sample the full range of the menu and pay for all of their meals. AJC dining critics wait at least one month after a new restaurant has opened before visiting.
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