I would say it is. We are a group of people linked together to discuss common interests via messaging, links, and user generated content. I don't know about the laws though.

That really freaky thing that we may well be visiting restaurants like this without knowing it! I really really have to never ever watch this show again!

But you bring up a good issue about the Health Department.

I just don't know how the keep the same staff. If you run a business I can sort of understand you don't do or know everything but you should be hiring people who DO! If you get sued it's your butt on the line not the staff.

So true! I never watch these shows. But one was on the other day and I just left it. The kitchen was so disgusting and I was shocked that no one go fired! The same filthy "cooks" are in the kitchen. I don't care how much paint you put on the wall or what the menu changes to, if you keep the same disgusting dirty untrained staff, how do you expect to fix the problem? Blech.

No one said "pre-shredded cheese" was required for fondu.
But, yes. Let's talk about something else as something seems to be lost in translation. ;-)

I completely agree with those who say tomato paste! Canned pumpkin isn't readily available where I live. So I have no option. But if it was available I'd probably go with that too in baked goods. For soup I like fresh.

I've live in France, Belgium and Switzerland. I've never noticed too much cornstarch in pre-packaged grated cheese. But I don't make it a habit of buying pre-grated cheese so maybe I just never noticed.

Adding just alcohol without the starch will give you a big gloppy mess. Now that I'm thinking about it, your probably not using enough liquid if your cheese is seizing up right out of the package. That is why I asked HOW are you making your fondu.

I was just going to say that my recipe calls for butter. I believe you need the butter to keep the eggs from seizing the chocolate.

(oops, didn't notice this was a thread from 6 years ago!)

i was just going to suggest that you use it to frost cupcakes. And then I looked down the page and saw the next thread titled "Paris - Speculoos spread and cupcakes". LOL.

And yes, only Lotus brand.

PS, if you have a bunch of them that you won't eat, make them into a pie crust. They are very good substitute for graham crackers. Just be careful to reduce the amount of sugar in your filling as this base is sweeter than a graham cracker base.

If you want to make fondu they certainly will grate it for you. Why on earth your local shop would smack you though is rather strange. Maybe you should go to a non-violent one. Although, I hope you're not asking them to grate the runny cheeses. ;)

I still don't see how the corn starch makes it clump up when you are making fondu. Maybe you could share how you are doing this & how much corn starch you are actually putting in. It's the cornstarch actually that keeps it from turning into a greasy mess. Maybe you're not putting enough in.

Not sure that makes sense to me, unless they put something strange in shredded cheese where you are from.

Usually if I want the cheese shredded I just ask the cheese shop to shred it for me or I shred it at home with a food processor.

But, having said that, you need to add corn starch to fondu for it not to separate and to make mac & cheese I start with a roux (ie, a starch) to make it creamy.

Not really, only in the UK. But they do sell them if you look long and hard. Having said that they are mostly Chinese junk too. They sell really crappy plastic ones at Ikea.

Anyway, mostly they are used for US and UK recipes. And of course the problem is that UK and US measures are different.

Sounds like there is a recurring theme there! ;)

So, whatcha have? I was thinking meat loaf & mac&cheese! I haven't had that in a long long time. Years even. Too bad I didn't see this thread last night. I made chili.... I could have made the meatloaf.

Not a fan of the pizza in BA. But the best pizza is at Piola. Nice thin crust, not the doughy over cheesed version.

The Patagonian lamb really is excellent. I think lamb is the best of what's on offer in Argentina these days. The quality of the beef continues to decline as the % of feedlots grows and the good stuff keeps getting exported.

I also agree that the ice cream is too sweet. In fact, I think almost all of the desserts are too sweet. Usually, I just get the smallest available size and eat just a few bites, never right after a meal, and it really is very good in small quantities.

Thanks for the report. :)

In this case I would just serve the salad in a bowl at the same time. When I'm at home I serve the salad this way.

I don't know... I'm kinda good with stuffing my face with tapas! LOL. But we are also looking to see where to eat. So, I'm going to stalk your post. ;)

Sorry, I didn't see your message before. I guess you've already been & gone. :)

I also didn't like La Vineria. Well, 6 of us didn't like it. It was just not that good and thus way over priced for what it is.

I haven't been to Hernan Giopinni nor Azema. But I look forward to trying them.

Casa Felix is really good. They use local ingredients in a modern way. Casa Sunae, Cocina Discreta and Trentasillas are also get very good press from friends and family. The oldest closed door in BA is Mis Raices. It's been going for 25 years. I haven't been yet. It's on the list though. :)

Honestly though, I don't understand why if you are visiting a city for a week you would want to go to a closed door restaurant. There are regular restaurants that are much better. But I guess that's just my preference. I'd rather go to somewhere that is more bustling and see more action around me.

Yes. Sarkis is always good! Get there early or you will wait a long time! I can't help you with which restaurants are open on Sunday. But if you have the name of a restaurant you want to try, you can look them up opening hours on guiaoleo.com.ar

Asian food down here in general is not great. It's still relatively new and the locals are not used to it yet to know what is good. The sushi you'll get is mostly salmon and they put cream cheese on a lot of it..... bleh. There is a new trend to deep fry sushi rolls... ugh.

I'm generally not a fan of going to closed door restaurants when I travel but one of the best (if not the best) panAsian food places down here is Casa Sunea. It's run by an American of Philippine origins. If you HAVE to have Asian food & you just can't resist, this is the place to go.

Peruvian is a good option for something more "exotic". Astrid & Gaston is super good, beautiful, a special dinning experience for sure, so also on the expensive side. But for something more "down home", casual & yummy I like Kamela. You'll get big piles of tasty deliciousness.

Pura Tierra, Sette Bacco, A Nos Amour, Cluny & Crizia are also on my list of fav restaurants. For steak I like La Cabrera (yes, it's only tourists, but it's good), Parrilla 22 & el Pobre Luis (both very casual), and Miranda. I'm sure there are more. Everyone has their opinion on the best steak place.

Having said that, I've become less and less adventurous. I like them, I stick to them. I'll have to get out and try some new ones. On my list to try: Sucre, Tegui, Sirop (and their smaller lunch place Sirop Folie), Thymus, Las Pizarras.

If you want to see what the locals are talking about check out Planeta Joy under "comer". http://www.planetajoy.com/?page=Comer

Just remember that the Argentines have a different palate. So sometimes I use PlantaJoy for recommendations for "where to eat outside" or "tasty lunches", you know, those type of articles or if I'm going to a new neighborhood I'll look there to see what they recommend. I'm happy if the food is good, but I knew it would be risky.

Have fun! :D

Astrid & Gaston hands down. Caza Cruz is over priced, pompous and most important, the food is just not good.

Most places don't take reservations and if they do you can only reserve til about 9pm which is silly as most places you won't need a reservation at 9pm.

Having said that, if your heart is set on going to a particular restaurant on a particular day or if you are going on a weekend, it won't hurt to reserve.

Any time I go to La Cabrera I reserve at 9 because. This one is always full & there is almost always people waiting. We also did reserve for Bobo for a birthday dinner but it wasn't necessary in the end. Personally, I'd replace Cluny for Bobo. It's much better.

It's very hit and miss with contracting place via email. Have your hotel reserve for you by phone.

A little late here so don't know if you've been & gone.

Pura Tierra and Crizia are both excellent choices. I don't know the other two so can't say.

enjoy!

I second (or third) Pura Tierra in Belgrano. El Pobre Luis in Belgrano good Parilla option. I love Sette Bacco in Recoleta.

For any recommendations in Buenos Aires you should check the dates on your sources. Things open & close quickly and often. Both the Standard and Bar Uriate have closed. And to be honest, Mott & Olsen are not really worth taking a detour for. Not for the food anyway. Go to Mott for a drink then have dinner at Cluny which is diagonally across the street.

Yes. I agree that the cafe & cafe culture was influenced by the cafes of Paris, but to be honest, I don't find much of the best food down here to be French.

I've also heard the Mendoza one was the better of the two.

Nice write up. I'm looking forward to making it out there soon.

Astrid & Gascon is delicious and the house is beautiful. And funny I was thinking of suggesting BoBo for NYE. In fact, I'm almost sure I did. Great minds & all that. :o)

We (husband & I) have been in BA for two years now but always love to meet fellow foodies.
So when you're in town. Give me a shout out.

Could it be Francesco? Francesco is very good. Quite expensive but good. Although having said that I haven't been there in a year. (wow, time flies!) And things change really quickly here in BA. The mango pisco sours are yummy! :o)

You should probably check some of the more recent threads on this topic. I didn't read the whole thread but restaurants open and close quickly here and things change quickly.