I Like Food

This past weekend I went to my first tenedor libre in Buenos Aires, and let me just say, it was awesome! For those who don’t know, a tenedor libre (literally “free fork”) is a type of restaurant where you pay a set price and then order as much food as you want. It’s kind of like a buffet, except you get served by adorably cute old waiters instead of serving yourself.

The BF and I went to a place called Puerreydon out in Flores with another couple on Saturday night, and we had to wait outside for about 40 minutes. The place was packed and there was a waiting list to get seated, but eventually we got in and sat down. The menu was pretty extensive, with different sections for appetizers, parrilla, pastas, sides, etc. To start with our impressively mustached waiter brought us four different appetizers to try, including marinated tongue and this dish called vitel thone, which is basically thinly sliced meat in a tuna/mayo/cream sauce. It sounds kind of weird, but it was absolutely delicious.

Then we all ordered our first dish, which in my case was an amazing chicken breast in a white sauce with chives. The BF ordered bondiola and papas fritas, which were perfectly crispy the way I like them. At this point I was full but there was no way I was stopping at one dish. For a second dish I ordered ravioles in 4 cheese sauce, which is pretty much my ideal pasta dish. Again, delicious. The portions aren’t super huge like in a normal restaurant, so it’s definitely possible to eat two or maybe even three dishes (I’m not just a huge fatty, everyone was doing it!) As a side note, you also get unlimited water and soda with your meal, which is awesome considering most other places charge 7 or 8 pesos for a bottle of water.

For dessert I got a cup of ice cream with the works (chocolate sauce, whipped cream, fresh fruit) and the BF got a dulce de leche filled crepe and we shared…the perfect ending to an interesting and delicious weekend meal! And it only cost 61 pesos. I’m definitely going to have to investigate this tenedor libre scene more thoroughly!

Sunday was also a great day. It was beautiful weather outside, so the BF and I walked to Plaza Francia to look at the Recoleta Fair, which he had never been to. We strolled through all the stalls and looked at the stuff, I discovered that I have a severe addiction to rings, earrings, and silver in general, and then we went and sat in the sun in the park across from the Bellas Artes museum. After a bit we decided we were hungry so we went back to the fair and got a stuffed bread, a dozen churros (half chocolate, half plain, all filled with DDL), and a cup of fresh squeezed orange juice. Honestly, I don’t know how we aren’t the size of buses, considering the amount of crap food we eat on a regular basis.

In the States I ate super healthy and was always conscious of what I was putting in my body. Unlike the lovely comment left by some disgruntled reader on a previous post who deemed me a “typical American brat” who lives on fast food, I almost never ate fast food in the States and wouldn’t have touched a Whopper with a ten foot pole.

Here it seems like all I eat is potatoes, pizza, pasta, and pastry. And meat. And of course the occasional Whopper with onion rings. And yet somehow I weigh less here than I ever did in the States. It’s interesting. I shall have to do further research. Anyway, I can’t wait until the warmer season starts so I can start eating all the delicious fresh fruit that my local fruit and veggie place sells. Strawberries in particular, mmmmm. Fatty signing off!