Sushi Inflation in Buenos Aires

[Fiscal]

i gave sushi club a try once...it was better than average but not by much. the price was very expensive. i tried itamae recently and liked it a little better, plus they had tuna sashimi available and it was decent quality.

salmon, smoked salmon, cream cheese, palta, sesame seeds. those ingredients make up about 90% of standard sushi restaurants menus, just in different combinations.

Yes, exactly!!! Really wish there were more options!

 

[Fiscal]

Hard to believe Argentina has a huge coastline and as you said, most Argentinians do not like fish. That has baffled me for years as I really do enjoy fish and seafood. My wife will not even touch it...Oh well, it is what it is, as they say.

Blue fin tuna in Los Angeles is always flown in from somewhere else. Spain or Japan. Why can't fancy restaurants in BA do the same?

 

[Ries]

Argentines dont like fish. They really dont like raw fish. Except, maybe, ceviche.
Even carpaccio, which, of course, is Italian, is almost never seen here.
Dont even think about eel, or sea urchin eggs, or octupus sushi...

the average argentine diet is a pre-teen palate- bland, and mostly bread, cheese, and meat.
this has been changing, I have seen large changes over the last decade, but the vast majority of restaurants here are still pretty much the same as they were in 1960.

dont get me wrong- I love faina, and fugazetta, and lomo and chori's and provelta and pasta and papas fritas.
but I also like salads and vegetables and seafood and innovative cooking, along with spicy food.

Most of the authentic foreign food restaurants, however, dont do very well here. There are a lot of peruvian restaurants, but they tend to water everything down for the argentine palate. Same thing with mexican, or sushi places- they make what sells.

 

[ariel81]

Argentines dont like fish. They really dont like raw fish. Except, maybe, ceviche.
Even carpaccio, which, of course, is Italian, is almost never seen here.
Dont even think about eel, or sea urchin eggs, or octupus sushi...

the average argentine diet is a pre-teen palate- bland, and mostly bread, cheese, and meat.
this has been changing, I have seen large changes over the last decade, but the vast majority of restaurants here are still pretty much the same as they were in 1960.

dont get me wrong- I love faina, and fugazetta, and lomo and chori's and provelta and pasta and papas fritas.
but I also like salads and vegetables and seafood and innovative cooking, along with spicy food.

Most of the authentic foreign food restaurants, however, dont do very well here. There are a lot of peruvian restaurants, but they tend to water everything down for the argentine palate. Same thing with mexican, or sushi places- they make what sells.

You can get salads in every restaurant.
Mexican food is disgusting.
Its not preteen,its european,something you still dont understand,no matter how many times I have to repeat it.We are descendants of europeans,and we like to keep our traditions,we dont want to be americans.
And dont get me started on american food habits

 

[sts7049]

You can get salads in every restaurant.
Mexican food is disgusting.
Its not preteen,its european,something you still dont understand,no matter how many times I have to repeat it.We are descendants of europeans,and we like to keep our traditions,we dont want to be americans.
And dont get me started on american food habits

a lot of what i see i wouldn't call salad (lettuce with a little shredded carrot?)

 

[Ries]

Having raised two children thru adulthood, I stand by my statement.

 

[Ries]

To say "mexican food is disgusting" is just ignorant.
There are a couple of dozen different mexican cuisines, which vary widely.
There is Zero authentic mexican food in Buenos Aires.
So, unless you have lived in Mexico, travelled there, or learned to cook mexican dishes (I have, all three) you are completely unconvincing.

Everyone is allowed their personal taste-
which means, saying "I dont like Mexican food" is completely Ok, and, no doubt, true.
But its meaningless when discussing the bigger issue of the authenticity and quality of "foreign" food in Argentina.

I enjoy Argentine food. I wouldnt own a home here, and have spent portions of the last 12 years here, if I did not.
I have also travelled pretty extensively in Europe since 1968.
And Argentine food has a pretty loose connection to real Italian or Spanish food.

Its like the old joke of the Argentine, visiting Italy for the first time, opening the phone book, and exclaiming- "Hey- all of the people here have Argentine Names!".

Italians, for one, are pretty amused at what is called "Italian Food" here.
And the Spanish feel similarly.
After all, the Spanish basically invented molecular cooking, with ElBulli.
A couple of his chefs, one of them Argentine, opened an excellent restaurant in Montserrat years ago- I went a few times, it was incredible. And Argentines, predictably, were befuddled and confused by it, and it went out of business within a year or two.
So much for honoring heritage.

There are a bunch of restaurants in Buenos Aires, run by rising Argentine chefs, that I think are excellent. The times they are a changing, and the food here is consistently getting better, fresher, and more sophisticated.
And I will still visit PinPun at 2am for a porcion.

 

[Fiscal]

Omg Mexican food (not "nachos" sold in Buenos Aires) is soooo good. But good Mexican food depends on there being good quality produce and fresh ingredients...

 

[Fiscal]

Argentines dont like fish. They really dont like raw fish. Except, maybe, ceviche.
Even carpaccio, which, of course, is Italian, is almost never seen here.
Dont even think about eel, or sea urchin eggs, or octupus sushi...

the average argentine diet is a pre-teen palate- bland, and mostly bread, cheese, and meat.
this has been changing, I have seen large changes over the last decade, but the vast majority of restaurants here are still pretty much the same as they were in 1960.

dont get me wrong- I love faina, and fugazetta, and lomo and chori's and provelta and pasta and papas fritas.
but I also like salads and vegetables and seafood and innovative cooking, along with spicy food.

Most of the authentic foreign food restaurants, however, dont do very well here. There are a lot of peruvian restaurants, but they tend to water everything down for the argentine palate. Same thing with mexican, or sushi places- they make what sells.

Your description of the Argentinian palate describes my wife and in laws perfectly

 

[Margarita]

Oregon sushi is worse, don't worry...