Any leads on BA restaurants with spicy food?

[obiwanderkenobi]

Canción coreana in bajo flores.

I lived in S. Korea for two years, so this is definitely up my alley - thanks for the lead!

 

[FrankPintor]

Bajo Flores is a bit of a slum (I say this without ever having been there). I would be careful about going there

 

[obiwanderkenobi]

Bajo Flores is a bit of a slum (I say this without ever having been there). I would be careful about going there

Can't be worse than this place I visited on the outskirts of Bogotá back in May:

 

[Ries]

I have been to Cancion a couple of times, both in friends cars, so we drove, parked in front, ate and left. There is a villa a few blocks away, but it wasnt like a scene out of the movie Purge. Its a good restaurant, its sort of a hot pot oriented korean place.
The neighborhood below had a dozen good korean places in a 3 block radius, its a safe neighborhood, the "right" side of the autopista.

There are a couple of good korean places in Retiro, much closer in- Fa Song Song will make it spicy, most customers are usually actual koreans. Its on Esmerelda and Marcelo T Alvear, a block from plaza san martin.

 

[Ronnie Hotdogs]

Love Korean food! Spent 6 months in South Korea myself.

 

[antipodean]

I lived in S. Korea for two years, so this is definitely up my alley - thanks for the lead!

Note that there are more Korean restaurants and grocery stores along this street - many restaurants are unmarked from outside. This area is the original "Korea town" - however many of the elderly Korean Argentines who live in this area moved here following the Korean War in the 1950s and seem to still follow a pretty traditional life. I'd say it resembles more Pyongyang than Pusan... it is a typical working-class neighborhood, butt-ugly, and depressing but safe enough will a constant police presence on the main street, just don't venture far into the side streets on foot as they can be quite empty. If you go they have spicy squid which is excellent and some kim-chi soups which will clear your sinuses, along with a very expansive menu of traditional dishes you won't find in more "trendy" Korean restaurants serving only a few more "well-known" dishes. The restaurant is very popular with local Argentines and most clients seem to be repeat patrons.

 

[malandro]

So, I'm a (very) spicy food aficionado. Jalapeno level of heat is ok, but I love anything habanero level of heat or hotter. Done and won several hottest wing "challenges" in the States. When I go to a Thai or Indian restaurant, I always ask for "native hot" (basically a level or two hotter than whatever level of "white guy" hot is listed on the menu). Mentioning all this just to highlight that by spicy food, I'm not referring to a local "empanada carne picante" that is a mild level of chipotle heat at best.

Prior to arriving in BA in September, I lived in Cancún for six months (which was spicy food heaven for me) and Bogotá for six months. Bogotá was more of a challenge, but there was a Buffalo Wild Wings knockoff that had some mango habanero wings with good heat, and I also found an Indian restaurant with some great curry dishes where I could specify the level of heat on a scale of 1 to 10; so it was enough to scratch the itch.

However, I've been sort of going through spicy food withdrawal here in BA, lol...most of the food seems pretty mild, even at "foreign food" places that I would typically expect to have a spicy dish or two. I've tried a couple Mexican places (La Fabrica and Che Taco), an Indian place (Delhi Mahal), a Thai place (Green Curry), and an Arab place (Rifi Comida Árabe), all with no luck. I think the Thai place let me choose from "bajo / medio / alto" for heat level, but the alto tasted like maybe they sprinkled in some Tabasco sauce at most. The spiciest thing I've tasted here is the Bloody Mary I had yesterday afternoon at Dada Bistró close to Plaza San Martin (their shrimp risotto was fantastic BTW).

Anyways, not a complaint by any means, I know it is what it is and that Argentines typically don't have the palate for spicy foods, but surely there's got to be at least one or two places in this city with a couple of dishes that pack a punch?? If anyone happens to see or know of a restaurant that might be up my alley, please let me know. ¡Gracias!

I'm not even sure there's a word in Castellano for what people from capsicum-infused food cultures think of as "hot" pepper. An excellent stop-gap is up in the Chinese markets: Lao Gan Ma brand Spicy Chilli Crisp from mainland China. The best of its type in the world.