Status - Buenos Aires

A couple of nights earlier I had visited Chan Chan a couple of blocks away and didn’t have much favorable to say about that place. I was hoping I could come to Status and tell everyone in my review of Chan Chan that they could get much better Peruvian food at Status. Unfortunately, Status didn’t quite reach that status, pardon the pun. Our overall score was only nominally better than what we gave Chan Chan.

Here are the details.

Status has very little décor, and what’s there isn’t very good. There are lots of small framed black and white images of scenes in Peru. And each frame is oddly misaligned. Not a single one is perpendicular to the floor and chair rail. It was so bothersome that I almost got up in the middle of meal to rearrange the whole lot. Seriously. If you owned or worked in a restaurant couldn’t you get off your lazy rear end and go do something as simple as straighten a few picture frames?

This didn’t bode well for the meal.

The ceviche was a rather pricey ARS$130. I didn’t want to lay that kind of moolah out for a fresh fish appetizer when I feared getting something similar to what I’d been served at Chan Chan a couple of days earlier. Something only slightly better than service station sushi.

So I ordered the pork tamal. It was pretty good and reasonably priced at about US$3.50 (ARS$45). But nothing beyond ordinary.

For the main course I ordered the same dish I’d ordered at Chan Chan two nights earlier so that I could do an apples to apples comparison. Or should I say chewy, tough beef to chewy, tough beef comparison? Because that’s what it was. I would have thought it impossible to serve up some beef strips that were any tougher than what I’d received at Chan Chan but miraculously Status managed to do just that. Some of the strips of beef were acceptable. But a few were so tough they were almost inedible.

I’ve eaten Peruvian lomo saltado on many occasions at Tanta in both Lima and Santiago. I’ve never seen this dish served up with soggy French fries the way it was served at both these restaurants. I think possibly one of the cooks at Chan Chan jumped ship and opened a restaurant that mimics Chan Chan. The menus are almost identical. The seasoning in both main dishes was almost identical.

The prices at Status were about 30% higher than Chan Chan but then again, I’d say the portions were about 30% bigger at Status. You could probably split the appetizers and the main dishes between two people as the portions were really plentiful. (But I’m not recommending you do that because I’m not recommended you go to this restaurant!)

Bottom line, I’d say the ambiance and food were just barely better than Chan Chan. Execution and creativity about the same. Service about the same. Status just barely rated a detailed review coming in with a very average 3 stars on the overall score.

My advice is the same advice I gave at the conclusion of my review of Chan Chan. Want good Peruvian food at a low price in a pleasant setting? Go to Olaya for lunch and have the mid-day prix fixe menu. For about US$10.50 you get an appetizer, main course and beverage. That’s quality, gourmet Peruvian cuisine for way less than I paid at either Chan Chan or Status.