Planning to start a Indian resturant in Buenos Aires

[Markgeezer]

Hi, agree that the 3 best known curry houses in the microcentro and on Cordoba are not in the league of Brick Lane, but hey.... just 10 years ago there were no curry houses in Arg or S. America. YES there is custom, and if it were styled on a UK menu with reasonable prices then it definately would work. Just recently I was astounded by the quality of Indian restaurants in the Algave, S. Portugal.

 

[Markgeezer]

Re Re Re this topic is dear to my taste buds (AlfajorEfi go get a life with your Uncle Bens and yellow c vegie as you have no idea what we are talking about) but seriously the only costly item is Basmati rice, whereas I think that all the spices are available, and certainly all the veg.... well not Lady's Finger haha ! So, yeah what we need is more CURRY !

 

[CoutureGirlNYC]

As someone who loves Indian food, has lived in London and eats at the best Indian restaurants in NYC, I recommend that you get an actual brick oven here. So far all the Indian food I have had here has been disgusting (Tandoor included). You need to have spicier options as well as true Indian dishes, not "modified" options e.g. saying Chicken Tikka and actually cooking it in a clay oven (imagine that .

I think if you did the restaurant well, you would do very well here as there really are no decent options and people who are suggesting the places that already exist clearly have unsophisticated palates.. just saying...

 

[nataliewardo]

I think some Argentines will - some of my friends who are Argentine like Indian food. But yeah - most likely it will be an expat market to aim for. MASH in san telmo do great curries, really nice- and a great chicken salad too.

 

[Mano Negra]

Do you think is this the right place to start ? Have mad a intencive research and have travelled across South America and found Bs As is the right place to start one ...

If you know what you are doing, i.e. have experience in the restaurant trade, and are or can bring great cooks, I would back you. Yes you have to reduce the heat here, but that doesn't mean you have to reduce flavour. I think Tandoor is pretty good, especially the slow cooked lamb/mutton main courses.

I've spent a fair bit of time in India and it is not just about heat. It is about slow cooking, getting the ingredients to meld smoothly, and then having the sharpness of fresh herbs.

Yes, we could be successful here, without being a Brick Lane curry house<

Though Brick Lane is a great name

 

[Gilani]

@Prabhu,

I am a Indian guy living in BA for 4 years now. I have eaten in all Indian restaurants here and I must say food is awful!

Some people have mentioned NYC Indian restaurants. I have lived a long time in NYC as well..food is awful!

The main flaw is that Indian restaurants in BA and NYc serve old stale food cooked many days ago.

The 2nd flaw is that the Indian restaurants lack trained cooks from india. They simply pick up illegal Indian immigrants for the job.

The 3rd flaw is lack of man power in the restaurants. Most of the restaurants have plenty of waiters but lack number of cooks and usually relying on 1 or 2 guys.

The 4th flaw is lack of using adequate spice and herbs in the food.

The 5th flaw is lack of good service. In restaurants such as Tandoor, the male waiters are really evil and downrite nasty! The waiters at "taj mahal" in Palermo Hollywood are good but the Indian manager is a really cocky guy. So mind your manners in the restaurant business.

Lastly, the owners do not seem to know anything about cooking themselves. Its so stupid to be in restaurant business but not knowing anything about cooking!

 

[random.striker]

We've just had dinner at Tandoor today (Laprida y Charcas).

The place and the ambiance is nice.

However, the food was rather poor.

We order chicken tikka masala, which is probably the signature dish of most Indian restraurants, and it was burnt :-( Even the basmati rice was all clustered as reheated.

The naan was slightly raw and the service is really basic.

It was about $100 pesos each including wine (we were four). It's definitely not on the cheap side yet the food feels cheap.

I had a word after dinner with the owner, who claims to be Indian, and mentioned that he would 'have a word with the chef'. I didn't get the impression that he really cared though.

Another interesting observation was that about 70% of the clientele were foreigners. Didn't get the impression that they were tourist but rather expats trying to get a good share of good Indian food... Unfortunately Tandoor is not a good place for that.

I would welcome a good Indian restaurant in Buenos Aires. Really hope this happens soon.

 

[Smcali23]

If you open a proper Indian restaurant here, I will travel to London by foot just to bring you the spices. I looooong for good Indian food here.

Give me a proper Indian meal and a cold Cobra beer and I will love you forever.

 

[jb5]

It's always kind of sad when an expat posts an idea for something many want. There's a new idea every week. The last big one was imported food at cheap prices.

But then the Argentine realities set in. You can't import reliably. Food costs a lot so you can't sell it cheap. Good refridgerators are hard to come by so food spoils easily. Unionized labor is not so cheap. Business taxes are outrageous. Good space requires a garantia.....

So most good ideas never get off the ground. Unfortunately.

 

[withersdavis]

I've eaten at Tandoor at least 20 times, and I've never had a bad experience. I'm American, so we don't have the curry culture that exists in India or London, so I can't claim to be an expert but...

I really love the food at Tandoor - especially the Chicken Tikka Masala.