Writes of Passage

Calle Posadas 1232
Buenos Aires C1011ABF Argentina

… more pix on Google Maps

May return: very good service but so so food.

Don’t what did we do but Sofitel offered us this free dinner, of $25 value, each.

Pleasant decor. Wonderful thin glasses, water glass is better than wine – bit too small, especially for red. Love their napkins.
The house wine has pretty strong legs but the label tells me nothing.

Hot bread. Yummy hummus.

Three main courses. The fish, at their opening at 8 o’clock is out. We settled for the other two: steak and pasta.

Both are tasty but they didn’t ask me how do I like my sirloin cooked, which they overcooked it – medium, which is dry.
The two desserts are so so.

Thank you but probably no thanks.

Ayacucho 2134, C1112AAN CABA
B, Argentina

… more pix on Google Maps

A lovely little cigar bar by our Sofitel hotel, that feels like someone’s private library. It’s a block away from the restaurant Fervor which I so enjoyed. Their humidor is up front by the street. There are two little seating areas outdoor. This one is intimate, while the Cigar International superstore in Tampa is lively, with sport fans. The only two cigar bars I’ve been to.

Posadas 1519
C1112 Buenos Aires
Argentina
Recoleta

… more pix on Google Maps, Yelp, TA

Will return: old world charm; good service and delicious food.

Location: really good in Recoleta neighborhood. Only a few blocks away from our hotel Sofitel.
Seating: multiple levels with outdoor area
Service: really good, on point.
Food: delicious
Food portion: large

Reservation is recommended.

The Blinkmax glass on our table is unmatched -:)

The bread basket is to die for. I ended up finish the cheese crispy.

Two red wine we’ve is excellent: Luca Old Vine Malbecs 2021 and Bramare Cab 2019.

I wanted the white salmon but unfortunately they don’t have it. In fact they’re out of several fishes. So I settled for sole, which is fresh. After adding generous among of salt and peppy, it just popped.

Rib eye is tender and cooked to perfection.

Side dish: potato chunks is kind of unappealing. Tin cans of hot chili is an eyesore – can’t they present them in a more appealing way? I don’t care for any of the three fish sauce. Sole itself, with salt and pepper is delicious enough.

No desserts – too many restaurants to try, too little belly space.

Tuchmán 1171, C1049 CABA
Buenos Aires

… more pix on Google Maps

In many search for top things to do in Buenos, this theater comes up at the top. My goodness. UNFortunately, there isn’t any show while we’re here. Imagine flying all the way from the north …

Someone, such as National Geography considers it the top ten opera houses in the world.

It was opened in 1857. The current one was opened in 1908, with Verdi’s Aida. The most recent renovation was done in 2005-10.

There perhaps a tour to visit the theater, but we didn’t go for it.

..

1860 Santa Fe Avenue
Buenos Aires
Recoleta

.. more pix on Yelp, Google Maps, TA

71.2% (2020) of books are sold online, physical bookstores seem on the decline, closing than opening. Another stat is North America has 32.9% of the world book market (2021).

This bookstore is in Barrio Norte. The theater opened in 1919, with 1050 seating. The converted bookstore was opened in 2000s, the stage is now a cafe. According to wikipedia, it sold 700,000 books in 2007 and 1 million people visit it annually.

It made some waves in 2008 and 2019. But isn’t that impressive. Old, in a sense that it needs repair. Big tour buses park outside is a huge turn off. A Korean group was there. They juggling for photo ops, and chit chat rather loudly … this kind of behavior just not mesh with a bookstore. Beside, how many of them will buy a Spanish language book?

Tranquility is what bookstore needs.

网红 有些不可思议… 涌涌的人潮 想要三思而后行. El Ateneo Grand Splendid 就在酒店旁边 早上去喝点. 因设在舞台上看着人群快速增多. 一个多小时后离开时 已经是人头攒动. 门口停着两辆旅游大巴 好糟糕. 有些粗暴. 和温文尔雅的书店 相对怡静的马路 特别不对称. 我总觉得有些地方变成网红可能不是什么好事. 比如书店. 怎么做生意呢? 我经过收银台时 特意留了几秒 没有顾客. 要不是清闲我们也不会进去 更不会坐下来… 当时就很想念我家小村里的图书馆; 主要因为’书’和 ’静’ 是连在一起的.

一个月的旅程 也算去了家网红店

Av. Don Pedro de Mendoza 1929
Buenos Aires, Argentina

… more pix on Google Maps, Yelp and TA.

Def will return: great view and service, fresh food; a skylight and terrace seating looking out to Riachuelo/creek.

It’s on the second floor of the Fundación Proa / Proa Museum.

Simple decor, modern and clean. Large portion.

It’s a pit stop for us. We shared their Cured Ham and Cheese Platter. It’s huge portion and too much cheese – this is also my observation that they’re very liberal with cheese. Too many cows, that they couldn’t get ride of the cheese -:)

The bread is yummy, so is the hard bagel, which is a first for me. Nothing to pick, except the thick prosciutto – is it their way to serve the ham? Last time at Croque Madame Palacio Paz, which served prosciutto even thicker.

Argentine is a huge country and Spanish is a major language. So I’m not surprise that not many Argentine in service sector speak English. I don’t speak the language but able to make the server understand that I’d like take a pic of their house wine. When it comes to eat, my survival instinct works well, apparently. Thanks to the server

By the time we leave at 1:45, the terrace began to have shade and a couple sat out there.

Buenos Aires

… more pix n videos on Google Maps, TA

I saw the best tango show here: just love the girl. There are tango teachers ready to dance with or teach you.

Caminito 小路 is an alley in La Boca neighborhood, that is colorful, noisy, jammed with people, many are tourists like me -:). Grey Line bus stop #6, with the water on your left – you won’t miss it. It’s pedestrian only, with restaurants w/ tango shows, shops and malls, in the La Boca neighborhood of the City. Not far from the La Bombonera.

We just walked through it after lunch, and glad that we’ve our light lunch at Cafe Proa: peaceful, both visually and aurally!

Mendoza 1689
1428 Buenos Aires

… more pix on Google Maps and Yelp.

Love their front door! Probably will return.

Tour bus stopped at Chinatown, and many riders were leaving. Why not, we haven’t have lunch yet.

It’s a short walk from the bus stop to the arch, which I think is the best looking Chinatown: trees lined pedestrian only street, and it’s clean, and hip. Street food shops. Most people are not Asians. And most of them are young: A good hang out place.

According to the tour bus recordings, Buenos Aires saw rush of Chinese immigrants, from Taiwan began to arrive 1980s, and followed by the main land in 1990s.

One thing we noticed quickly, neither Yelp nor Google can keep up with the changing pace here: a couple of restaurants we thought we’d like to go (such as Cantina China) are no longer in business. So we went to Royal Mansion. A young Chinese couple just came out and the man was still beautifying his tooth with a toothpick. A very promising sign… but unfortunately they don’t take credit card. It’s a substantial establishment, at least two floors. Oh well.

So we ended up here, at China Rose. We actually passed by it and didn’t see any Asians were dinning, the first time around. Oh well, we became the Asian -:)

The only two places I saw are busy in Chinatown, with many Asians are supermarkets.

At Rose: high ceiling. Clean and modern decor. Menu has English as well as Chinese, aside from Spanish. A lovely patio at the back – it’s not open at the moment when we went. Full bar. No chopsticks were offered. Very good service.

We’ve two dishes, both tasted ok, too heavy with corn starch and NOT sweet:

1. braised tofu 家常豆腐, pretty good; but the sesame oil isn’t too appetizing
2. shredded pork with fish flavor 鱼香肉丝: the size of the pork is huge, like French fries. Gosh. And they added vinegar… But it beats out sweet -:)

The tofu was hot, which meant they cooked the pork first and served them together. Chinese dishes are served one by one, is the norm. But I noticed it, the US, especially at banquets, dishes are served simultaneously. Oh well! Little Irene can’t fight the huge tide.

Regarding Chinatown, I enjoyed reading this one Discover Barrio Chino.

I asked our server for nail salon and she went back with the recommendation, which I went: Thank You.

^{view from the Chinese restaurant Rong Cheng}
Tucumán 1171, C1049 Cdad.
Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

… more pix on Google Maps

In many search for top things to do in Buenos, this theater comes up at the top. My goodness. Unfortunately, there isn’t any show while we’re here. Imagine flying all the way from the north …

Someone, such as National Geography considers it the top ten opera houses in the world.

It was opened in 1857. The current one was opened in 1908, with Verdi’s Aida. The most recent renovation was done in 2005-10.

There perhaps a tour to visit the theater, but we didn’t go for it.

Retiro is a neighborhood (barrio) in the northeast end of Buenos Aires. Our hotel is here.

…  Recoleta

The neighborhood has a long history, dating back to 17th of a slave asiento (per wiki: The Asiento de Negros was a monopoly contract between the Spanish Crown and various merchants for the right to provide African slaves to colonies in the Spanish Americas.). Bullfighting stadium in 1800, British gas company in 1854 …  nowadays, the area is home to many wealthy local and foreign residents, has many high end stores, and illegal immigrants who live in the “Villa 31“.

Plaza San Martin;

This video is taken at the junction of Suipacha and Arenales.