Recommended Restaurant: Las Pencas in San Telmo, Buenos Aires

I’ve eaten three times at this small, quaint (I hate using that word, but with the lovely naïf folk-art on the walls, it applies.) restaurant on the corner of Estados Unidos and Bolivar in San Telmo. Every time has felt like a good deal, satisfying in terms of portion-size and flavor, as well as being attractively presented. That’s an academic way of saying I enjoyed my meals here quite a bit. My companions have enjoyed theirs as well, bringing the total meals enjoyed to 7. All great…

…Read the full entry on my main blog here.

Hostel Review: Palermo House, Palermo Viejo, Buenos Aires, AR

I think I was spoiled a bit by Art Factory. Me and Palermo House just never hit it off. Come to think of it, I didn’t hit it off with anyone at PH as I had at AF, which has quite a bit to do, I’m sure, with the average age of the folks staying there. 21, maybe, if that?

There are two main reasons why you might want to stay at Palermo House. One is that it’s cheap and two is that it’s in Palermo, a wonderful, somewhat upscale neighborhood stuffed full of restaurants, bars and clubs. (Busy, bustling Plaza Serrano is two blocks away but you gotta eat at almost-next door Gardelito. All of the staff did, for good reason. Besides being inexpensive and giving a big bang for your buck, they also deliver.)

While not what I would consider a party hostel, PH’s upstairs common room was often full, and could get kinda loud; which is great, if that’s what you’re looking for. I wasn’t really. Except when the cute travelling muscians played: With the rain pattering on the steel roof, I was charmed by the rough, but sweet harmonizing. Still, the big, wonderful lounge area is lit during the day by a whole wall of glass doors and you can relax outside on the small terrace just off to the side.

And that’s most of the good things I can say about Palermo House.

PROS

• Cheap for the neighborhood: From $11 USD for a bed in a 6-person dorm.
• Big and kinda funky common area and terrace. Beer for sale!
• Smoking allowed in the common area (That’s a plus for me; may not be for you. I got some grumpy American on my ass more than once.)
• Big, well-stocked kitchen with three, large restaurant-size refrigerators.
• Plenty of lockers and storage in the dorm rooms.

CONS

• To be brutally honest, not particularly clean.
• Crappy Internet connections, buggy, crashy computers and totally unreliable wifi
• No soap or towels in the toilets. Ever.
• Things kept breaking. I got stuck for five minutes in the foyer between the two downstairs doors because the buzzer no longer worked. The upstairs toilets would not flush for two days. Nasty.
• Indifferent staff, except for the perky, friendly and completely cute and charming girl from the U.K. The other girl working there had a tiny attitude problem. But a great singing voice!
• Punishing beds, so I never really got a restful night’s sleep.

Not surprisingly, I’m back at Art Factory and using the very reliable and usually fast Internet. The rain’s falling on the skylight and the receptionists are dancing to Michael Jackson. I’m drinking free coffee provided by the somewhat curmudgeonly but endearing maid. I feel a lot better here.

Palermo House
Thames 1754 – Palermo Viejo – Buenos Aires
Tel.: (54 11) 4832 1815 / (54 11 )4833-0625
email: info@palermohouse.com.ar

Tip: Free pizza in Palermo Soho

On Thursday nights, or jueves, Post Street Bar, on Thames Street in Palermo, offers free individual cheese pizzas. With purchase of at least a liter of cerveza in a cold, frosty pitcher. Extra toppings cost just 2 pesos.

It’s a great little place whose walls are covered in graffiti and ribald stencils, many of which would make great tats. There’s also a t-shirt shop on the back terrace. Alterna-types abound, and the blues plays on the speakers. To feel almost like a Chicago dive, all it would need is a jukebox.

YouTube video here.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Eating out: Unico in Palermo Hollywood

Cut to the chase: Best beef sandwich I’ve ever had in my life, period. None better in Chicago, New York, or anywhere else I’ve had one. Tender and big, grilled, pounded-flat beef loin, complimented with sliced roasted red peppers and an over-easy egg, and served on homemade bread, I was blown away with its flavor. At 6.43 USD, it’s an incredible bargain. The french fries, originally frozen, were only so-so and even worse than that after they got cold — I was eating outside and it’s still slightly brisk here in BA — and the only beers on offer weren’t Argentine — although that big ol’ cold Heineken was actually pretty tasty. Still, they fed me good.

Apparently, Unico is a big hetero pick-up place in the evenings. I was there for lunch and can’t comment on that. See this page, and the links therein, for more on that aspect of this Palermo mainstay. Another, considerably less-impressed take here. When I was there, it was older guys taking business lunch. I observed the same thing all up and down Fitz Roy today, as well.

Unico sits on the corner of Fitz Roy and Honduras in the barrio of Palermo Hollywood. I took Subtle D, the green subway line, to the Palermo stop. Walked down Santa Fe until I hit Fitz Roy, then took Fitz Roy to Honduras. Get a map.

Note: I was originally looking for Provedencia, which sounded promising as recommended by Lonely Planet, but it’s no longer there, unless I’ve gone blind.

Eating out: El Desnivel, Defensa 855, San Telmo

I wandered around lovely, artsy San Telmo this morning and early afternoon, developing an appetite. I finally decided on El Desnivel, which was recommended by the hostel where I’m staying. I wasn’t disappointed.

Plenty of meat was on offer, but rather than what you might think of as typical Argentine cuisine, El Desnivel is Italian-influenced. The pastas are therefore the cheapest dishes on the menu. I looked around the hour and a half I was there and no one ordered any pasta. Meat, meat, meat was the rule. I ordered a stuffed beef roll with mashed potatos and enjoyed it quite a bit. I also “slurged” on a half-litre of serviceable house red, and a basic salad. With tip, I paid just over 14 USD, more than I might have paid in Prague or in Chicago for a typical meal, but filling and very tasty.

By the time I left, El Desnivel was full up with locals and a smattering of English-speaking tourists. There’s a garden out back. Service is slow-ish, as is typical here, I gather, but friendly and efficient.

After all that wine, even after having to ask for la cuenta (the check) twice, I could only say to myself:

Nice people. Good food. I like it here.