I’m off my duff for a while and am traveling around Argentina, so this blog has been quiet. I am in Bariloche after having spent three days in Buenos Aires, eating wonderful food and drinking wonderful wine — all on the cheap. Here are a few rundowns on pricing, mostly for restaurants that would be considered a fancy night out at home. It’s easy to splurge here.
We met up with a New Zealand masseuse and a Peruvian exporter at the hotel and four of us went out to dinner at a nice restaurant in San Telmo. Candlelight, good music, attentive service, and a bill that came in under $35 total, with tip. I said, “I’ll get the wine” when we sat down and sounded like a big shot. It was seven bucks though… So the $35 covered a nice bottle of Malbec, an additional glass of Torrentes, two large bottles of mineral water, and dinner for four.
The day before we went to a place in Retiro that had a buffet lunch. It was 10 pesos each–$3.33. Throw in a buck more each for a half bottle of wine and we walked out stuffed.
Dinner the night before that in a rustic bistro-like restaurant: a prix fixed menu with starter, main course, dessert, and one alcoholic drink was $7.60 each.
Lunch the day before: 4 glasses of wine, 1 bottle of water, one appetizer, two mains — $22. Definitely needed a nap after that one. We are on a vacation budget, obviously, but there are plenty of places where you can get a good meal for two to five dollars. A pizza and empanadas dinner one night was seven dollars for two.
Thankfully, I’ve been walking most of it off. Only took one taxi ($4) and one subway ride (25 cents). Buenos Aires is a great city for walking, even if it did rain half the time we were there. We’ll be back again though, after hitting a few other cities.
I am alternating between fancy hotels on assignment and simple local ones when I am not working. For the latter, we got a big comfy room at TelmoTango Hostel & Suites , which was $27 for a double, including breakfast, maid service, and free internet use. Nice place, friendly people, good location.
Other notable bargains: museum admissions seldom more than $1, a kilo of tangerines 50 cents, six croissants for a dollar, a liter of beer is $1 in a grocery store, while an average bottle of wine in a store is $1 to $3. Cafe con leche in a cafe for $1.50 to $2–served at your table by a nicely dressed waiter.
