Muslims (and Halal food) in BA ?

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Heisenberg

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Hello, I'm thinking of staying in Buenos Aires for a few months and was hoping someone could help...

Apparently about 2% of the population in Argentina is Muslim. This seems a bit odd to me as apart from the big mosque in Palermo, I hardly saw any Muslim influence in the capital / around the country when I visited four years ago. Especially when you compare it with UK, where 3% are Muslims and are very prominent. So...

1. Do these numbers seem right? Is it that most of the people classed as Muslims have Muslim ancestry but are not really practising (e.g. Carlos Menem, who I think eventually converted to Catholocism)? In which case the lack of prominence would make sense. If not, where are they all?

2. What kind of attitude exists towards Muslims in Argentina - or are most people fairly ambivalent?

3. Most importantly, what chance have I got of finding Halal food in Buenos Aires? I'm not after dodgy shawarma / kebab type things, but does anyone know where i could get something like a halal steak? Last time round it was no fun going to parillas with friends and watching them tuck into giant slabs of meat while I was left to tuck into a bit of measly veg and pasta..

If not, any idea where I could find out? I tried emailing the mosque a while ago and didn't get a response - think it was a dud email...

Thanks in advance!
 
I'm afraid I can't help much with the other questions, but I do have a restaurant to recommend. Baraka, one of my favourite lunchtime cafes in Palermo, mentions on its menu that all its food is halal. Look them up on http://www.barakarestaurant.com.ar/ - maybe you can email them to ask for other recommendations?
 
Thanks Slopey, seems like a great tip! Very pleased to see "bife de chorizo (halal)" on the menu. I will drop them an email.
 
1. No idea, there doesn't seem to be a set region afaik.

2. I doubt anyone will give a shit what religion you practice.

3. I've not seen any Halal meat about at all, there are tonnes of Kosher places concentrated in and around once. (i know not all muslims accept kosher meat etc.)
 
There's a very good, family-owned halal restaurant called La Alhambra in Palermo (on Charcas around Borges.) They would actually probably be able to recommend the name of a few halal food suppliers.
 
Cheers Amargo, Ries. Yes, I had come across a few of those links in my search, they mostly show where to buy the meat / Arab and Indian restaurants, as opposed to steak places, which is why I asked the question. Baraka seems like the best option - but plenty there for me to do a bit more digging.

The wiki article is pretty interesting. I remember thinking why the mosque was as big as it was, given where it was and how empty it was when I visited - but Menem being president at the time might explain that.
 
Not a Muslim myself (actually I'm partly Jewish), but a big Middle East lover. ;) There is Habibi in San Telmo. Plenty of Oriental places down the Scalabrini Ortiz
 
i haven´t seen that meat. but when i want arab food i go to the club sirio libanes in recoleta. for about 100 pesos per person you can help yourself to any cold dishes and then ask for a hot dish. is only open at night and it is sort of a fancy place.
if you ever go to la plata city don´t miss shamborak in 11 street 592 it´s a really small place the owners are armenian and bring part of the ingredients form there. and they cook it front of you. it´s not quite a restaurant is more the take away sort of place but they have a bar and you can it there.
 
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