Lunch review: Tango Cafe

This time of year, Pittsburgh has more in common with Ulaan Baator, Mongolia, than it does with the sun-baked beaches of Buenos Aires. That's why Tango Cafe comes in so handy this time of year.

In my ongoing series of places to eat lunch where I can forget the frozen slush of post-playoffs Pittsburgh, the Tango Cafe is an obvious place to stop. It's a tiny Argentinean coffee shop right off the corner of the intersection of Murray and Forward avenues, but don't worry about that. There's plenty of on-street parking, and plenty to do in this eminently walkable section of the city. This little corner is the perfect microcosm of Squirrel Hill -- a pizza shop, a bowling alley, an antiques shop, an Asian market and a brilliantly programmed independent movie theater nearby.

And even though Squirrel Hill already has two excellent coffee shops -- and a veritable plague of interchangeable Starbucks (three) -- Tango Cafe still sticks out. Passing underneath a decorative wrought-iron canopy, you enter a bright little room that always seems to have a table open, even when the room looks full. The seductive, sonorous tangos of Astor Piazzolla usually waft in softly from an unseen stereo -- music so fraught with passion and power that it refuses to fade into the background.

Come here at night after a movie, and there are sometimes guitarists and singers softly playing Argentinean folk tunes from a corner. Sometimes, they just clear the floor entirely for tango lessons. But for lunch, it's usually very slow and quiet -- good for getting work done.

The house drink -- good for any time of year -- is the Tango Submarino ($2.85). It's simplicity itself -- just steamed milk with a special chocolate bar dropped in, which plummets rapidly to the bottom and explodes like a malfunctioning submarine. Gelato Espresso ($3.10) is even more decadent -- yep, it's hot espresso drizzled over a glass of frozen gelato. Wow -- even if you're ready to run screaming from anything resembling ice cream at the moment, this should be an exception.

Think you're tough, hombre• Try a glass of bitter Mate Cocido ($1.50). It's an herbal drink as common as coffee in Buenos Aires that is supposed to reduce stress, detoxify the blood and slow aging. But it's pretty harsh until you get a taste for it.

The Argentinean pastries are phenomenal and not likely to be found elsewhere in town. Start with a Turron ($2.35), a flat bar of oats and dark chocolate, pressed flat between several layers of very soft, flaky crackers. The inimitable Merengue ($1.75) sandwiches two sugary, crispy merengue caps sealed with a layer of dulce de leche (a creamy, sweet caramel) and drizzled with chocolate. Also look out for the Canoncito ($2.35), a crunchy, conical "little cannon" filled with dulce de leche and topped with chocolate, which is worth the price even if it only lasts two bites.

As a completely unexpected bonus, Tango Cafe also serves light, inexpensive and generally excellent sandwiches. The Prosciutto ($5.45) -- like all the sandwiches -- is served on a very soft, light bread known as pan casero , which gets most of its heft from tomatoes and molten provolone. The Milanese ($6.54) sports another Italian name and features thin, breaded veal, as well as lots of tomato and provolone.

But the best winter comfort food might be a golden-brown Empanada ($2) or two. Think Argentinean pierogie. I've tried one of their crusty, savory beef empanadas, served steaming hot -- which might replace the unfortunate mozzarella sticks in my personal pantheon of bar-food guilty pleasures.

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Tango Cafe

Hours : 4 to 10 p.m. Mondays; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays; 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays

Address: 5806 Forbes Ave., Squirrel Hill

Phone: (412) 421-1390