Buenos Aires Travel Notes: China Town

As plans go, the ones we had made for this weekend took a tumble and we ended up doing something completely different – and constantly changing the game plan.

Towards the end of last week, the temperatures here in Buenos Aires had started taking a dive, so when we came home after work on Friday, we were ready for a cozy evening in front of our fireplace. But after having a look at the wood stacked in the garage we realized that the kindling was just too wet to get a good (and smoke-less) fire going. So we decided to treat ourself to some steak and international flair at the local American hangout – the Kansas restaurant.

The Kansas caters to the North American (and also German) eating habits and starts serving food way earlier than the Argentinean restaurants. So when you show up there at 20:00, the place is open and you won’t be the first customer sitting there under the smirking stares of the waiters who just started their shift and where actually just about to get everything ready for the evening. Actually, if you show up there at 20:00, the place is already packed, people cluster around the bar for a pre-dinner drink and everyone is holding a beeper and is waiting for a free table.

That was exactly what happened to us last Friday, and since we were too hungry to wait, we moved on to plan B – well, actually plan C. The weekend before, we had strolled through Martinez and seen an Indian restaurant that we wanted to try. So we hopped back in the car and drove over there to give it a go. Well, they had really just opened up, and we were the first to come in and ask for a table. The waitress wasn’t there yet, and the air con had just started to warm up the place, but the thought of a nice spicey curry made us take a seat.

Well, to say we were disappointed is the understatement of the week. The air con was really no match for the the big, drafty room, and on top of that the music – some tuneless buddhist chanting – gave us the shivers. At least my Chicken Korma tasted vaguely Indian, but the husband's Chicken Masala was pretty weird, and he started having stomach cramps before the waitress in colourful native garb even brought us the bill. We drove back home and took refuge under a blanket on the sofa with a hot cup of tea to warm up and appease our digestive tract.

Well, after this experience we decided two things. First: Next time we feel like food other than the Argentinean fare we stick to recommendations. And second: I should get out my curry receipes more often. I had stacked up on Indian spices before leaving Barcelona but the one thing we hadn’t found so far in Buenos Aires is Basmati Rice – real Basmati rice and not the fake stuff they serve in Martrinez under the pretense that, yes, of course, this is Basmati rice. So instead of following the original plan for Saturday and going to La Boca to have a look at the colourful houses on Caminito we took the train to Belgrano to check out Buenos Aires’ very own China Town.

China Town in Buenos Aires is not very big, but it offers a few supermarkets with a fairly good selection of spices, sauces and all the goodies to prepare a decent meal. There are enough stores to provide you with plenty of paper lanterns, paints and brushes and other Chinese good luck paraphernalia, and after your shopping spree you can re-energize in one of the many Chinese restaurants. We did so in The Porteño Dragon where the nice decoration and some very good chicken noodles made us go back on resolution no 1.

All in all, I can really recommend the barrio ... and I will keep you posted on the taste of the Basmati rice we bought.