I've been living here for about 8 months now and I definitely hear all the things you guys are saying... Just wanted to throw in my 2 cents for anyone new to the city who is trying to figure out how to eat more or less normally here.
I live in Palermo and within a few blocks of my house there are 2 great, small fiambrerias that carry good products.
One is on Oro between Guemes and Charcas where they have freshly made REALLY delicious "pan arabe" that are better then any pita bread I could buy in the US. They also have some manchego cheese, and a queso crillo which has a really strong good flavor (national brand). The prices are reasonable, the pack of 6 pitas is 8 pesos (currently), jamon cocido natural (not bocati but fine) is 6 pesos x 100g. There is also a smoked salami that is really tasty to use a substitute for pepperoni on pizza. Also the pre-pizzas are yummy, really light and tasty.
The other one is on Paraguay near Thames. They carry Don Eugenio brand products which are supposedly "artisan" (they also use that term for car washes so... take it with a grain of salt). There are bondiola de campo and jamon crudo de campo for around 10 pesos x 100g. The queso "romanito" has a fantastic flavor and is more or less equivalent to a cheese from the US and is 56 pesos x kg. They also have a mozzarela, which is nothing like the US mozarella but also quite tasty, not at all plastic tasting, and I think goes for between 30 to 40 pesos x kg. Eggs last time I was there could be bought by 30 for quite a discount, a dozen is 10 pesos. Oh, and there is vino patero for 11 pesos to drown your sorrows about inflation. I frequently buy it with coins, which the woman at the shop loves.
2 other suggestions if you are looking for a meal out without spending a fortune.
Magdalenas Party is owned by Americans and does Cal-Mex style food. The hamburger is huge and my boyfriend (argentine) really liked it. I had the fish burrito, huge, with guac, chips, etc. It could have had a little more fish, but for the 40 pesos I felt like it was worth it. On thursday nights beers are 10 pesos, and all the time fernet, whiskcola, etc. are 2x30. You can go out and eat for 2 with 100 pesos... not too shabby.
Also here in Palermo we frequently go to Elebar on Thursday nights using the Restaurant.com.ar check. It is for 50% off on food, so your entrees are basically 2x1. We both love the lomo with bacon cream sauce, dried tomatoes and mashed potato. There is usually about one lunch sized portion to have the next day and with a bottle of wine we usually spend about 130-140 with tip.
Hope that helps anyone out there who is trying to cut down on costs but still enjoy their time here in Buenos Aires! Look around, there are still good values, and if that doesnt help you go back to the states, order a filet mignon and a bottle of wine at a decent restaurant and compare to the 140 pesos I spent this week at Elebar. It's all about perspective friends.
