Food: Eating in Buenos Aires

• Trip Report – Introduction: Honeymoon – I go to Rio
• Four Seasons – You did it again!
• Four Seasons Sydney – Presidential Suite (thank you very much!)
• Four Seasons Sydney – Club 32 and other amenities
• Review: Qantas Business Class 747-400 Sydney to Santiago
• Review: LATAM 787-9 Business Class, Santiago to Buenos Aires
• HOTEL REVIEW: Hotel Palo Santo, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Food: Eating in Buenos Aires
• Review: LATAM A320 Economy, LA 7504 – Buenos Aires to Iguazú
• HOTEL REVIEW: Gran Melia Iguazú Falls Hotel
• Review: LATAM flight Iguazu to Rio
• HOTEL REVIEW: Sol Ipanema Hotel
• REVIEW: Admirals Club Rio Airport
• REVIEW: LATAM flight 2419 Rio to Lima
• HOTEL REVIEW: Cost Del Sol Wyndham Airport Hotel, Jorge Chavez International Airport, Lima, Peru

---

We ate very well during our 8-night stay in Buenos Aires.

I’m going to cover three restaurants we dined at, one, we dined at twice:

• Mishiguene
• Tegui
• Peron Peron

We dined in many other places – including at Namida the Japanese Nikkei restaurant in our hotel, but these three were out of the ordinary for quite different reasons. Two (Tegui and Peron Peron) were within walking distance and were covered in the Palo Santo (our hotel) restaurant guide.

One was listed 86th in the top 100 restaurants for 2019 (Tegui) and one 18th in the 2018 awards (Michiguene).

The other – Peron Peron, we visited twice – because the food was good, and it was fun and around the corner.

I’m not going to review these restaurants, as I’m no food critic. I’m going to share some photos and observations, so when you travel to Buenos Aires, you can better choose your dining options.

Michiguene

This restaurant serves contemporary Yiddish inspired food. The name ‘Michiguene’ means ‘immigrants’ – so ‘the food of the immigrants’. It’s a contemporary restaurant in an old building that has been substantially stripped back to show its bones.

I loved the look and service of this restaurant and the eclectic mix of customers. We had a table of 6 New Yorkers near us who had obviously been here before.

We only ordered a few dishes, and given the size of that slow-cooked pastrami below, you can see why. Service was friendly, professional, and attentive. We were well advised, although, the size of that delicious Pastrami stretched both of our appetites.

A really good restaurant, with wonderful and imaginative food, mainly from the Levant diaspora. It also had the feel of a bustling French bistro. Should be on your list.

Tegui

This is a destination restaurant, that provides a degustation menu at about half what I am used to paying in Australia. We took the accompanying wines option, because – honeymoon.

The graffiti-covered exterior belies the schmick interior of linen clothed tables, oversized light fittings (echoing the street lights of Buenos Aires), and the banana palms that line the windows down one side of the room. The kitchen and its chef’s table beyond are open to the rest of the restaurant and occupy the far end of the room.

The Tegui experience starts very theatrically. You have an appointed time for your meal and are warned not to be more than 15 minutes late. This is not so much about re-selling your table, but so they can conjure the theatricality of herding and holding their diners in a small entrance foyer, feeding them sparkling wine, pulling back the curtain to the main room and guiding diners table by table into the restaurant dining room proper,

Here you are greeted by the ‘program’, with its cast members and advice on the best way to enjoy the experience.

We tried to take the advice seriously, but, in the end, pictures do support memories of taste and smell, so, we left our mobiles on the table, and took a few photos.

I love the simplicity of this menu – only a word to name the main ingredients.

And here they are in menu order, with the exception of the two styles of bread we were served through the meal.

And because I can’t eat fish, a vegetarian option for me . . .

Tegui is an experience, that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg but will remain in your memory.

Peron, Peron

What can I say – quintessentially Argentinian? It kind of personifies the contradictions of Peronism and gives you an idea of how Juan Peron – and of course, Evita – Mrs Peron were viewed.

The food is delicious, hale and hearty, with an accent on – what I suppose are peasant-style dishes. Lots of potatoes, and meatballs and sausages. Reputedly it serves the infamous General Juan’s favourite comfort food.

No linen here, more linoleum. Cafe more than a restaurant. Beer versus wine. Quite a mix of people eating here – students, bright young things, families, couples, first dates, and of course families with three generations.

Put it this way, you won’t be able to escape the anthem of the Peronist movement, which is sung (blasted) throughout the restaurant on the half-hour. Some patrons almost ignore it, some stand and sing, others sing loud and proud, slapping the table in time with the music, proving that the spirit of the Peronists is not dead.

What can I say? We went twice, enjoyed the food, and what amounts to the floor-show. I’d put it on your Buenos Aires ‘Must Do’ list.

2PAXfly Takeout

You can eat well in Buenos Aires, without spending that much. We stayed in the Palermo, Hollywood area, where all three of these restaurants are.

They range from the world-class Tegui, through the elegant Mishuguene, across to the downright nostalgic and folksy Peron Peron. Try them all

Other Posts in the Series

<< HOTEL REVIEW: Hotel Palo Santo, Buenos Aires, ArgentinaReview: LATAM A320 Economy, LA 7504 – Buenos Aires to Iguazú >>