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.
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!
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