Favourite Cafe In Bsas

[PhilinBSAS]

I meant the cafes in the railway stations which, having managed to weather the blitz and post war government reforms remarkably unscathed, have had their charming eateries replaced by M&S express and Wetherspoon's pubs. Not that I mind too much; I love a pint of stale beer and some Percy Pigs before boarding.
St. Pancras has to be the jewel in the crown of transport edifices, and deservedly so after a near 1 billion pound restoration price tag recently. Imagine 800 million pounds of renovation being put into Retiro?

Unfortunately, in the era of serving those who stand and wait, the UK's stations have lost these eddies of reflection and quiescence. In a country like Buenos Aires (intentional, sic) where customer service and business efficiency rank low in priority, there still exist these venerable bastions which draw tourists and those who reminisce of days-gone-by. A pleasant result of the faults here.

Now seeing who vouches for which cafe is interesting. Being very assumptive, I see people who choose the traditional cafes do so for their ambiance, the newer gastro-cafes for their food and possibly for quality of their coffee, and Starbucks for convenience and familiarity.
Is there a place in Buenos Aires that comes close to combining all three?

I agree the Station Cafe has long gone in the UK - together with curling edged white bread stale spam sandwiches washed with a pint of "mild". But the nasty overpriced over wrapped tasteless alternatives plus the corrugated pail of sarbuckery soapy froth now on offer has no merit either. Just a decent cup of tea made in a proper pot and served in crockery would be good but when? So much for privatisation. Brief Encounters anyone?

Unlike France where the Maison de Gare is frequently a little gem and operates under a state run affordable efficient and personable railway system..

Yes I had also come to the conclusion that the type of cafe being nominate here on this thread says a lot about the differing personalities, life styles, aspirations and backgrounds in the "Ex-Pat Community"

Nope I've not come across a classic porteno gastro estrellabucks (with wi-fi) here or anywhere. Hope I never do. These are mutually exclusive principles. Unless someone/somewhere can demonstrate otherwise I'm deeply suspicious. There is a thing called "corporate identity" you have to deal with. Do you think there is an Bs As Cafe equivalent of Wetherspoons to save the day?

Cafe de los Incas serves a good cup of coffee. And Whisky. http://www.clubdelwh...rras/barras.php

p.s restoration of St Pancs included new Norman Foster shed at back to double train lengths for international operation - which now provides the gateway to railway sanity plus the relocated Thameslink Station http://stpancras.com...n/redevelopment Clean up of Retiro was not inexpensive at the time I recall being told but getting figures is more difficult - to which you could add the costs of the new subte link now going in if you wanted to compare. There are grandeous architectural concepts for the redevelopment of the land now occupied by the three stations at Retiro plus land on the Avernida del Libertador side including the sad little railway museum and the much more interesting conversion of the water tower used by UBA Dept of Architects/ Urbanistas for shows. Such redevelopment also requires the relocation of the container yard. Slim chance.

 

[Magogo]

Beans are crucial but age is important as well. I want a young guy who cares about making good coffee rather than the old guy who has been operating the machine poorly for 20 years.

That's the waiter. I meant the guy behind the coffee machine. There must be a certain way to operate such as to deliver a good quality coffee that a beginner would not have had time to master. I don't think it's about following the instructions of the manual only.

If you had been at that machine for 20 years, you can't possibly make low quality coffee without having been told so several times. You wouldn't have lasted that long.

Of course this is all about tastes and likes, but being a coffee lover, I'm rather squeamish when it comes to this precious drink. :lol:

 

[chris]

I remember horrible railway cafes in Britain in the 70's. I'd much ratrher be able to buy a really good sandwich from M&S (and thgey are good) than eat in the dreary places I remember decades ago.

 

[PhilipDT]

If you had been at that machine for 20 years, you can't possibly make low quality coffee without having been told so several times. You wouldn't have lasted that long.

I think you must be confused. We're talking about cafe's in ARGENTINA! In this country utter incompetence seems to have a very strong positive correlation with seniority.

 

[Jose Negro]

Café des Arts at the MALBA

 

[cbonanni]

Cafe Gandini , on beautiful Plaza , Olivos.

 

[Rich One]

That's the waiter. I meant the guy behind the coffee machine. There must be a certain way to operate such as to deliver a good quality coffee that a beginner would not have had time to master. I don't think it's about following the instructions of the manual only.

If you had been at that machine for 20 years, you can't possibly make low quality coffee without having been told so several times. You wouldn't have lasted that long.

Of course this is all about tastes and likes, but being a coffee lover, I'm rather squeamish when it comes to this precious drink. :lol:

On the subject just watched a program on making good coffee by TV Española.

A expert cafetero discussed the varieties of coffee, the roasting and the grind levels. Then demostraded the making of a superior coffee shot, the cup must have conical edges, not straight, that to destroy the creaminess of the coffee. The Machine must be at 120 degrees and 90 Bars or viceversa. The coffee must flow slowly to retain the creaminess, what flowed out of the spout was a thick gold colored foamy creamy fluid. If the coffee flows to fast either there is too little coffee in the filter or the grind is too coarse,

I realized I have never had that type of gold creamy beverage in this city.

 

[Yogur griego]

In this country utter incompetence seems to have a very strong positive correlation with seniority.

I have recently seen pretty comparable situations in Spain. However, there is a certain joy to being served by ten nicely dressed, nearly senile gentleman waiters who just sit there all day and whose employers clearly have never even heard of the word efficiency.

 

[Dipoots]

Suggest a rating by Barrio, refuse to take a taxi for $20 pesos OW, for a cafe..!!

for me, a fav cafe is a place you walk to get cafe and medialunas on the weekend... mine is just across the street.. didn't know the name of the store until they started to have wifi, and this is after one year of going there...

during workdays, my fav is Cafe Floridian along Florida Av... simply because their coffee is really good

 

[recapitulation]

@Dipoots where along Florida is Cafe Floridian? I can't locate it online. Thanks!