570718 Sun Nov 09 02:51:45 -0800 2008 8 56 South America 0 4159372 hi all, travelling alone in BA and in search of good, moderately priced food at places where i´ll feel ok eating by myself as a single female traveller. also, if there are any other english speakers out there who are here until nov. 13 who want to meet up for a meal or drink, let me know! always good to meet other travellers. ps. i´m not much of a steak person, but am open to all restaurants. thanks chowhounders! Sun Nov 09 02:51:45 -0800 2008 18514 emilia 1 4159678 Emilia, Since you are a single woman traveling in BA, watch your purse every breathing second. Be very aware of those around you at cash machines and of being followed. Use cabs--never the subway and have all of your credit card and passport information backed up where you can readily access it. The current exchange rate to the peso makes almost any restaurant remarkably affordable. Note, very few people speak English including waiters and cabbies. Local pizza places are--on average--much better than what America offers and an excellent option for lunch. For dinner, try the classic El Imparcial where the highly professional waiters will personally see you have an excellent dining experience. (Service in BA is light year's above most American restaurants.) Sette Bacco for Italian, Lola for affordable French (compared to Paris) and El Globo is another BA classic. (Not edgy, it's over 100 years old and is a BA dining institution frequented by locals.) Club 647 (www.club647.com) is a true Chowhound destination of the highest order. Enjoy BA! Sun Nov 09 08:43:45 -0800 2008 4159372 11158 Leper 2 4160148 thanks, leper! do you know if i need to make reservations at these places for 1 person, or ok to just show up? also thanks for all the words of warning! i´m from NYC so i consider myself rather vigilant, but one can never be too careful. thanks again! any other suggestions for bars where i won´t feel intimidated by myself? i want to meet locals and ex pats but my spanish is, how do you say, not so bueno. :) Sun Nov 09 13:38:00 -0800 2008 4159678 18514 emilia 3 4161280 Emilia, You'll be fine without reservations. For a bar, I suggest Million; it's set in an old mansion and is quite unusual. Even though you're from New York, the BA thieves are the best in the world--and they are relentless. Mon Nov 10 06:27:44 -0800 2008 4160148 11158 Leper 1 4163310 Emilia, do you know where you are staying? If so, we might be able to give you more focused recommendations. I recently got back from Buenos Aires from a solo trip, and as a woman, I would tell you to be smart but not paranoid. I left all jewelry with value (either monetary or sentimental) at home, and had copies of my passport with me, but otherwise I was fine, both day and night, with others and alone. (If you're from NYC, you'll be fine). These were some of my favorites: Palermo: Desde El Alma (great sitdown dinner), Bobo Hotel Restaurant (fixed price lunches are a delicious value), Azema (fusion) San Telmo: Cafe San Juan (great neighborhood cafe), The Hippo Bar (old bar with great steaks), La Vineria Gualterio Bolivar (awesome tasting menus), Desnivel (parilla) Recoleta: San Juanino (empanadas) Mon Nov 10 18:22:25 -0800 2008 4159372 26708 sidwich 1 4163916 Hi Emilia, I am not quite certain why the you have recieved so many negative comments on safety regarding BA. I live on the Lower Eastside and have done since the bad old days before the gentrification and in my opinion unless you are walking around looking like a "Yankee" tourist and even then you will probably have no problems. You have to take the same precautions that you would in any big city but no more or less in Buenos Aires. Regarding the important subject of food, i agree with Leper on 647 Dinner Club being a true Chowhound destination and especially as you are from New York. Its a cool place with a warm vibe(unusual) with in my opinion by far the best food in the city and i ate in all the usual suspects to find this out. I also recomend for the best sushi to go to a place in Congreso called Yuki. This place is very old school, situated in not the greatest area but it is known as the number one sushi restaurant of the city. Good Luck!! Tue Nov 11 04:59:21 -0800 2008 4159372 229581 HarryFood1970 1 4171213 I heard about something called puertas cerradas in BA. Apparently they are 'in home' restaurants and one name that I've heard of is Casa Saltshaker - you can google it. I haven't been to BA (yet - hoping to go next year) and it sounded like an interesting idea. Actually if you do a search for Casa Saltshaker here on Chowhound, you'll find it. Thu Nov 13 12:48:21 -0800 2008 4159372 16039 SusanB 1 4174600 Thanks all for your well-wishes for my safety and your great suggestions. I'm back in NY, unrobbed and happy, so now to reflect on my BA experience... Unfortunately, I feel that most of my eating expeditions in BA were misses-- mostly my fault, because after hours of walking and doing touristy things, I usually was too tired to seek out the great places and stuck to staying local. Strangely enough, now that I'm back, I've become obsessed with finding great Argentinian places, butchers, etc. here in NYC...and I hear Elmhurst, Queens is where to find it. In BA I did hit up Casa Cruz, which was quite good and so fresh. I had the black hake with goat cheese and lentil, which was tender and flaked off beautifully; and then, of course, loads of full-bodied, luscious malbec. I got educated from my local Argentinian friend/wine expert/IT guy that 2003-2004 malbecs are hot items and the good years. The meal did start off with a palate cleanser: a shotglass filled with melon foam with crisp prosciutto flake and drizzled with a blackish rum-- for the life of me, I tried to enjoy this, but really just...couldn't. Cocktails there were excellent. My wine friend also brought me to a great local restaurant in Recoleta called Sante-- I had a great beet risotto that was tasty and I think the best meal throughout my trip. Other than that, I made it to Broccolini for fresh Italian pasta (decent), some nameless and delicious parillas, El Drugstore on my day trip to Colonia, Uruguay (ok gnocchi), and a great vegetarian/organic place I wandered into in Palermo Viejo-- it had a health food store in front and served biscuits with a side of sweet potato or pumpkin puree...but I can't remember what it's called. I also went on a recommendation to Filo in Retiro and really disliked it-- the pasta was ovelry oily, the bread dry; origen, an organic cafe in San Talmo, which was also a disappointment, a pretty good cafe in Palermo Soho, which of course, I can't remember the name of; and that uber popular locro place in recoleta, which was drenched in oil and unbearably heavy. I tried to make it to Casa Saltshaker but it was booked up until I my departure date. Which really disappoints me, because the menu sounded delicious! (you can google and find it online) I assume much of my disappointment was due to the fact that I am a pescetarian and couldn'dt enjoy the steak-heavy fare aside from a few adventurous bites. But even the stews, hamburguesas de soja, pasta, etc. I had were drowning in oil, and the breads dry. Did I just miss the mark completely and happen to have bad eating luck? On another note, the malbecs were amazing, and overall, BA was a fabulous city filled with friendly portenos. thanks again chowhounds! Fri Nov 14 15:32:55 -0800 2008 4159372 18514 emilia 2 4177287 Hi Emilia, I think you got unlucky and just chose all the wrong places because BA is an incredible place for food if you listen to the good chow hounders advice. It sounds like after your long days it was to much to actaully get anywhere that was not close to your hotel which is understandable.(happens to me a lot!) I go to BA once a year and the places you mentioned above are definately not a good reflection of the food scene there but more like old tourist spots with one dating back from the 90s!! You missed the best restaurant in BA at the moment which is called 647 Dinner Club, it has become after opening well over a year ago the best restaurant n the city by far. You also missed some classics like Cafe San Juan that has food just like "mamma used to make" and a good Parilla such as La Escondida, great fish as well as steaks direct from the grill. Its tough to find the good places when you first go somewhere so i hope you get a chance to go back and discover the real food scene over there. Sun Nov 16 04:05:23 -0800 2008 4174600 240515 Horn73