New Koreatown: Markets & Restaurants (suggestions + pics)

[mfktango]

I went there on a super spice exploration and though found it to be totally interesting wrote a little something about my experience in the barrio - check it out:

http://Blogs.FanBox.com/font-facefont-familyBookmanOldStyle

 

[Uncle Dermot]

I went there on a super spice exploration and though found it to be totally interesting wrote a little something about my experience in the barrio - check it out:

http://Blogs.FanBox.com/font-facefont-familyBookmanOldStyle

Sorry to hear about your mugging experience. I am going there today with my partner, we don't really look like Korean people, but we can easily blend in with Argentinian people. As long as the conversation is no longer than 3 mins they always think we are from here, but then some words in Spanish Castellano always come out and there we are: unmasked!

 

[Bigboxer]

I went there on a super spice exploration and though found it to be totally interesting wrote a little something about my experience in the barrio - check it out:

http://Blogs.FanBox.com/font-facefont-familyBookmanOldStyle

I'd stay away from that area, but to each his own....

 

[withersdavis]

K-town in Bajo Flores (Carabobo) is a tad peligroso, but the food is delicious. Go with a group and just get a remise back.

The Kareoke place (Chess Club) is tons of fun too.

 

[Napoleon]

K-town in Bajo Flores (Carabobo) is a tad peligroso, but the food is delicious. Go with a group...

Backpacking through Europe in '97 I met an American guy at my hostel in Geneva (Genève, Genf, Ginevra), Switzerland. He told me a story about being in a group of 7 guys walking around Portugal and they got mugged by a group of 9 locals.

There's safety in numbers. Both for tourists AND locals.

 

[vanessa]

K-town in Bajo Flores (Carabobo) is a tad peligroso, but the food is delicious. Go with a group and just get a remise back.

The Kareoke place (Chess Club) is tons of fun too.

I always thought that was a real Chess Club. And then I was wondering where the Go club was.

 

[Casa Mun]

Hi All -- it seems almost everybody knows of or has been to Barrio Chino. I myself buy a lot of ingredients there on the weekdays (it's a complete mob scene on the weekends). But for the more adventurous types, I can recommend an excursion to this city's new "Koreatown." It's in the Floresta neighborhood near Avenida Avellaneda. This broad avenue hosts a thriving wholesale clothing and apparel market and many of the stores will sell to the public as well. If they don't, they have a sign saying "solo mayor". This could be a definite plus and another part of the adventure.

The Korean markets, restaurant and shops are a few streets away on Moron street between Campana and Bahia Blanca. In general, Korean food is fresher and cheaper here than Barrio Chino. I buy these things here: Korean miso and hot paste, hot pepper flakes, sesame oil, Korean ramen, soy bean sprouts, tofu, garlic stems, Korean wontons, meat for Korean BBQ, variety of soy sauces etc. My favorite Korean market is Jung Ang Foodstore and the address is Campana 627. If they don't have what you need, just ask and they will get it from another store or Mercado Central. The Lims provide a very personal service and their son, Leo, also speaks perfect English. The Lims go to Mercado Central 3 times a week at 4 AM to buy fresh vegetables and fruits. Also on the same street is a Korean restaurant, Kil Jung, recommended by several Koreans, including the Lims.

Here is a link to my pictures of Jung Ang Foodstore and Kil Jung:
http://picasaweb.google.com/CasaMunBA/Avellaneda

As a followup to this post, a blog on LaNacion.com provides his suggestions for the best Korean food in Floresta: http://blogs.lanacion.com.ar/secretos-de-la-piramide/consumo/los-mejores-restaurantes-coreanos/.

 

[MacDaddy]

Many thanks to Casa Mun for the original post. My girlfriend and I went over there yesterday, and here's a few comments on what we found:

The neighborhood is safe. I don't know what people are going on about; maybe at night it's different, but it feels like an upper-middle class area with trendy stores.. not dangerous in the least.

Av. Avellaneda has great clothes shopping.. mainly women's fashion.. nothing name-brand, but all fashionable, nice shops, great prices. Be warned that at least half of the shops only sell to wholesalers.. look for "por mayor" in the window, and you'll know that you'd be wasting your time going in that shop.

The Koreatown is centered around Morón and Campana streets. It only extends one or two blocks in each direction (certainly not as far as Bahia Blanca).. it's quite small, don't expect much - it's not nearly as big as Barrio Chino in Belgrano. We were a bit disappointed for this reason.
We found three or four small Korean groceries, none of them as large as the supermarkets in Chinatown. I realize this was my bad for preconceived assumptions. The groceries have some good things, but the prices are not cheap - 4 – 7 pesos for a packet of ramen, for example.

We didn't find restaurant Kil Jung - I stupidly didn't bring the address and assumed the name would be written in Roman letters! So I'll have to go back to try the food there.. looking forward to that. Surprisingly, we didn't see any other Korean restaurants. Are they hidden? There are a few coffee shops, one Arabian cafe, and a Kiosko selling standard Argentinian fast food with tables to sit outside. Nice atmosphere around here.. to just sit and watch the well-dressed young Korean women stroll by.. we definitely did not feel like we were in B.A. anymore.

If you continue along Morón street towards Nazca, you will pass another Middle Eastern restaurant / bakery called Siria with delicious fatay, baklava, and fresh pita bread (9 pesos for a bag of about 20 of them!)

Continuing on our cultural travels, on Av Nazca we passed many orthodox Jews with their attendant Kosher bakeries! Very interesting - within 5 blocks, there are at least three distinct ethnicities from different regions of the globe.

 

[BROOKLYN]

any good middle eastern restaurants? with live shows??? im in the mood for some lamb gyros! hummus and babaganush

 

[Napoleon]

any good middle eastern restaurants? with live shows??? im in the mood for some lamb gyros! hummus and babaganush

Scalabrini Ortiz between ~Costa Rica & Cabrera for a live show. For just the food, Scalabrini Ortiz, Armenia, Thames, a street or two in P. Hollywood.

"Middle Eastern Food" (a.k.a. Eastern Mediterranean/ Armenian food) is probably the one ethnic group whose food has been around for a long time and yet has not been watered down by the bland taste buds of porteños.