Argentina: El Cumple de Flori y El Barrio Chino

Last week kicked off Flori's birthday weekend. 

On Thursday (her actual birthday), Flori, Antonella and I went to Porota for a quick, yummy lunch. The sandwiches there are seriously swoon worthy - even just reading the menu makes you want to set weekly lunch dates here. We ordered three sandwiches to split because we could not decide - chicken, bondiola and summer chicken. 

Super dangerous how close this place is to our apartment.

The chicken sandwich is topped with creamy white cheese, caramelized onions, tomato and a light hummus, all served on fresh rosemary bread. If I was forced to choose, I might call this one my favorite, surprisingly. Before digging in, I had prematurely cast this one to the bottom of my list. Shame, shame on me.

I. can't. put. this. sandwich. in. words.

The bondiola (a cut of pork between the neck and the back of the pig) is also served on the rosemary bread but comes with grilled pumpkin, fresh tomatoes, pategras (mild Argentine cheese) and, one of my favorite things in the world, basil pesto. 

Heaven in a bondiola sandwich.

The summer chicken is served on a tasty white bread and comes with panceta, tomato, avocado and basil mayo. Yum yum yum. Did I mention all of the sandwiches come with delicious oven baked papas (potatoes) and a fresh juice? The jugo del dia that day was a mandarin and strawberry combo - delish.

Summer chicken yumminess.

I am dying to go back for more sanguches (sandwiches) and to try their tartas (like a quiche in the US), salads and postres. If you need another reason to try this place, the prices are oh-so reasonable. Visitors beware: we will be lunching here.

Antonella and Flori with our fresh juice.

This leads us to Thursday night. Flori had class so Marce and I whipped up an abbreviated version of eggplant parmesan and some homemade chocolate chip cookies to make ice cream sandwiches with for the birthday girl. After scarfing down our dinner once Flori arrived, we headed over to Frank's, our neighborhood speakeasy, for a celebratory cocktail.

Outside Frank's. 

 First, you tell the doorman the password, then a different doorman gives you the code to

dial from this telephone booth, which finally leads to the elaborate two-story Prohibition-style lounge inside.

Cynar Julep, Tom Collins and Cucumber Martini.

Friday was the big birthday celebration. Flori rented out a bar in the neighborhood called Salon Berlin. This place is a barber shop by day and bar by night. We mostly had it to ourselves which was a perfect setting for a large group celebrating a birthday. I finally tried a Campari cocktail with tonic and orange. Mind you, I am not a tonic fan but this combo was fabulous - not too bitter and not too sweet.

Evidence of the barber shop.

Los Prattos.

La torta de cumple.

Feliz cumple, Flori! :)

Then came Sunday and the birthday asado at the Pratto house. Think two types of green salads, potato salad, carrot salad, bread and ALL of this meat prepared by Victor - bondiola (pork cut I referred to earlier), morcilla (blood sausage), chorizo (pork sausage - one of my faves!), asado (roast prime rib) and mollejas (sweetbreads).

Even though are bellies were stuffed, we, somehow ;), found room for the two delicious cakes Susi made for Flori's birthday.

Monday was an Argentine holiday and I took the afternoon off so we could explore El Barrio Chino, the Chinese neighborhood not too far from where we live. It was a gorgeous day so we decided to walk the 30 minutes there and explore parts of Belgrano along the way.

El Barrio Chino is actually pretty small - about 2 blocks wide by 2 blocks deep - but houses many food establishments, specialty grocery stores and little knick knack type of stores.

Our first stop was at a small store where we found paint brushes and playing cards. Then we headed to Hong Kong Style for a leisurely lunch. We kicked things off with the Hot and Sour soup as it was highly recommended by my friend, Michelle. We also ordered Kung Pao Chicken and Shrimp Chow Mein. The soup was out of this world - packed with veggies, tofu, pork and a heavy hand of heat. The mains were ok. I would order them again but they aren't anything I would crave...unlike this soup.

On our way out of the neighborhood, we ducked into a couple of supermarkets to browse the unique food items, and also to find my peanut butter. I am already planning our next trip, not only to stock up on more pb, but also to try the street food and the ice cream everyone was munching on while we walked around!

Buen finde a todos!

Argentina: Happy Hour, Feria Masticar and Alvear Palace

This past weekend was jam-packed from the time work ended on Friday until it was time to go to sleep on Sunday night.

On Friday evening, Marce met Flori and me at a new place I have been wanting to try called The Temple Bar. There are two other locations in Buenos Aires, however, their newest location opened in Palermo, not too far from where we live. 

I knew Marce would love the place because it is a cerveceria (aka they brew their own beer). He went for the Cream Stout, Flori tried the Pale Ale and I asked for the Belgium Blond. At a happy hour price of 2 cervezas for 70 pesos, the quality beer they produce is quite a steal! We also ordered a picada because who can keep their hands and mouths away from some tasty fiambre?

We sat outside on the patio which has a garden, lots of tables with benches and pretty lights that lit up as soon as the sun started going down. I think the waiter might have been partaking in a little happy hour celebration too as evidenced by the pint he dumped on me, drenching me from mid-hair level all the way down to my barely worn boots. However, I was not going to let that ruin the beginning of the weekend - a couple of Flori's friends joined us and what was supposed to be "grabbing a beer before going home," quickly turned into 4 hours chatting under the moonlight.

On Saturday, we made plans to head to Feria Masticar with some friends, including Caroline who was visiting with her parents. The direct translation of the fair is Chewing Festival. That's right, folks - the largest food festival in the entire city was held for four days just three blocks from our apartment. Marce held his own in line for about an hour until all the girls arrived at our apartment, then we met him at the entrance - what a sweetie!

Flori, Caroline, me, Abby, Michelle and Maria.

Upon entering, all you can see is food stall after food stall. There were wine and beer stalls, ice cream stalls, food trucks and tables in the middle selling everything from cheese to marmalade. 

There were dishes from many restaurants that had been on my list to try for quite some time - Paraje Arevalo, Nomade and Tegui, to name a few. The first thing I tried was un sandwich de albondigas (meatballs) y mascarpone from the Nomade food truck. Holy. Moly. Heaven in a sandwich, washed down with a nice, cold Stella Artois.

Next up? A side of creamed carrots with goat cheese (zanahorias con queso de cabra) from Tegui, a closed door restaurant located quite close to our home. The dish was presented in a glass jar with two whole carrots poking out, sprouts and all! I had high hopes since I have been wanting to try Tegui and the presentation was so beautiful. Unfortunately, it tasted only a little better than what I imagine baby food is like. However, I won't let that tarnish the dreams I have for this restaurante de puerta cerrada.

Marce ventured around, looking for our next victim, and came back with an empanada de trucha (trout). Now, I love me some empanadas, and consider myself a near expert (well, maybe once I finally get a chance to go to Salta), and this one was pretty darn good. I would rate it a 6 of 10. Remember, I am a tough judge - I only give my favorite empanada place a 7.5/8.

After all of the salty bites, we decided we were ready for our postre (dessert) and Marce convinced me to wait in the long, long line at Laboratorio de Chocolates y Helados, part of Compania de Chocolates. While Marce held down the fort, I snuck over to the next stall and snagged us a yummy bowl of mozzarella with tomato and basil to snack on while we waited. 

When we finally made it to the front, we ordered the white chocolate, cream with almonds and pistachio flavored ice creams. Little did we know, the ice cream is actually "healthy," therefore, I raised my original rating of the taste. It was pretty good stuff, and the fact that it was a little better for you than other ice cream made it that much better.

Caroline followed right behind us with an apple pie I couldn't help but try.

By this point, we had been at the festival for a good three hours and were ready to get away from the crowd. We made our way over to the market area to buy some Rosa Mosqueta marmalade and fresh bread before leaving.

The last major event of the weekend was taking tea at the Alvear Palace Hotel on Sunday. Susi invited Flori and me for an afternoon tea at the grandest hotel in all of la ciudad de Buenos Aires, a place I had been dying to go to for three years now.

It certainly lived up to its hype. We were first served the most delicious little scones I have ever had along with lemon curd, marmaleda de frutos del bosque y marmaleda de naranja. Which was my favorite? You guessed it, the curd. After we each selected our tea of choice, out came the tasty goodness. Lox on bagels, pavita (turkey) with palta (avocado) on baguettes, a spicy little gazpacho made of squash - these are just the salty treats. Onto the sweet stuff - there were fruit tarts, a berry compote, cheesecakes and too many other cute little pastries to mention. 

Then out came the holy grail of dessert trays. Our server slowly rolled over the huge refrigerated cart I had been staring at for the past hour. Inside were choices of larger, personal sized cheesecakes with strawberries, fruit tarts, chocolate mousse cakes and more. You were able to decide if you wanted to eat your treat there or bring it with you for later (para llevar). I asked for the chocolate mousse, which arrived with a beautiful chocolate tablet on top complete with the hotel name in gold. It only took me 5 minutes to devour every last bite.

The tea was such a delicious and special treat and the perfect end to a fabulous weekend. Mil gracias, Susi!

Next week: a post on Flori's birthday celebrations and another on all of the delicious comida Marce and I have been preparing for nuestras cenas!

Un beso a todos!