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Random Observations: Week 8
The sushi is horrible here – don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Ok, that may not be entirely true, some of the sushi is passable here and if you only like salmon and cream cheese, you’ll probably be fine. Had we become sushi snobs from living in NYC?
Ok, so let me be completely open here – I am writing this after we stopped into a random sushi place to satisfy a sushi craving and were given a tuna roll with tuna from the can. Now, I like tuna from the can – with some mayo on a sandwich. When it is rolled up inside of some seaweed and rice, it is one of the most disgusting things you can ever have. We have pretty much decided that the next time we get a sushi craving we’re going to do everything possible to quash it. And yes, we have tried a lot of recommended places, some of which are ok, but they cannot compare to NYC sushi restaurants for freshness or variety. When we’re back in December, we’re talking about only eating sushi!
- I still can’t believe that beer is so cheap here. We had a party last week and seven 1-liter bottles were only $27 pesos! (U$9) Beer is close to being cheaper than soda.
- If you want to write “hahahaha” as if you were laughing, you actually write it as “jajajaja.” This makes sense in Spanish since “ja” is pronounced as “ha” would be in English. Still, it looks a bit weird to see it in an email the first time.
F*CK
The f-word, f-bomb, f***, @$#*%, fcuk, etc. is one of the nastier 4-letter words that one does not say in polite company. It’s also one of the most versatile words in the English language – it can be a verb, noun, adjective, interjection and more.The use of the word fuck is quite interesting here. It is not a part of the Spanish language, but you’ll see it in grafitti and even in the name of some trendy stores and hip clothing brands. The photo to the right is the new clothing store that just opened around the corner from us. It’s name would raise a lot of eyebrows and probably some protests in the U.S. but it doesn’t get any attention here (except from us foreigners).
Giving someone the middle finger seems to be a near universal gesture, and porteños (locals) call the gesture “the f*ck you” – most without even knowing what that means exactly. When watching re-runs of U.S. cable shows on standard TV, they don’t bother to bleep out the f-word as they would at home. The translation of it to Spanish in the subtitles is usually something like mierda.
While you really notice it at first, you eventually realize it’s just a word like any other, and humans are the ones who give it meaning. All right, I’m off to learn some of the 4-letter words of the Spanish language, so I can truly be conversant.
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16 responses so far ↓
1 TomAtAlki // Oct 4, 2008 at 3:40 am
I also live around the corner from Diablo FU. We’re on Guatamala between Aaroz and Julian Alveraz. We must be neighbors. We’ll be down for Dec, Jan and Feb. If you are around then give us a hello. Also, for sushi, give saltshaker an email. He has a couple of good places.
Tom
2 Hernan // Oct 4, 2008 at 1:39 pm
I know you gave up… but this is the list of the best sushi restaurants.
It is true what you said before about porteños not liking fish.
In fact I remember the first time I tried sea food: I was 20!
http://www.sushi.infogate.de/rest/sa_argentina_argentinien_buenosaires.htm
3 John // Oct 4, 2008 at 7:02 pm
We expats sure are obsessed with food, aren’t we? Robin just wrote a similar post in regards to our tex-mex restaurant experience.
Want to go into the restaurateering business? This town would surely support at least 1 each of a high-end sushi and a high-end mexican food joint!
4 DaVe // Oct 6, 2008 at 9:59 am
Hernan – thanks for the link. We probably will keep trying – at least once in awhile. No more random places though!
5 DaVe // Oct 6, 2008 at 10:00 am
John – yeah, Mexican food is severely lacking here too. I think BsAs definitely needs a good tex-mex and sushi place!
6 robyn // Oct 6, 2008 at 12:06 pm
you found your calling. open an nyc style sushi joint. bring some people over from here to run it. i smell millions. or raw fish.
7 Hernan // Oct 6, 2008 at 2:35 pm
I am glad that there are not many Mexican restaurants in Buenos Aires, however I think I went once to one in Barrio Norte. I don’t know the name though.
8 Khara // Oct 6, 2008 at 5:09 pm
When we go back to Chicago our two places is Mexican(chili rellenos) and sushi. We have tried most sushi places. You can’t get good tuna and you must like cream cheese. I think I have used the word fuck more here…it seems so common
9 Mary J // Oct 11, 2008 at 11:13 pm
There is something I will like to understand… you (everybody I’m reading) people leave the states looking for a new live style, running away from the rush of the big cities and then oh! this new place, but oh!(again) I want what I have there!, already winning and snobbing over a sushi roll, how vain!, now all of you are coming with the ideas to impose and wanting to tell others how to live (or eat), hello! this is their country, their culture, their home, respcet them, they are not into this “fancy foods” that we think we cant live on the states, because that is not so important for them, not to mention the fact that meat is their main product and one of the best producers in the world (in case you dont know), when you are in some ones house you go by their rules not yours…
10 DaVe // Oct 13, 2008 at 9:07 am
Mary – the point of this column, “Random Observations” is to point out the many cultural differences that we’ve noticed. I am not trying to impose any of my ideas, I’m (hopefully) just informing people of the differences that we’ve seen.
Buenos Aires is a major city and has many different types of food and cultures. As I’ve mentioned before, the beef here is some of the best in the world. The sushi is not, yet they have many sushi restaurants. The problem, in my mind, seems to be that it is difficult to get a variety of fresh fish here. Also, you’re not going to find much spicy food here. These are things to be aware of, and while I may have sounded like I was complaining a bit too much, it was mostly just about that one particular experience.
11 mersal // Oct 13, 2008 at 1:56 pm
I miss not having good sushi while living here also, but I don’t think that makes me a snob. Besides, after living in Argentina, it is quite possible that I am becoming a steak (and empanada and dulce and mate etc.) snob
12 Hernan // Oct 13, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Argentines are also snobs anyway… And again… the same thing that you notice in the food in Argentina, I noticed in the US but the opposite… like the spicy food, and the Mexican food… I just don’t think that killing the flavor with spicy things is worth paying, and the food has to look tasty before eating… and to me Mexican food doesn’t.
Also, New York is closer to the ocean than Argentina, perhaps if you go closer to Mar del Plata or the Atlantic you would find more variety (I know you will). Portenos are not very good fish eaters… that’s a fact.
I haven’t seen many sushi restaurants, or sea food in general in the mid west, Texas, New Mexico and in the north west like Idaho or Utah, but yes, I did see a LOT of Mexican food.
Food food food, now I am hungry.
13 Hernan // Oct 13, 2008 at 6:45 pm
I meant Buenos Aires is not as close to the Ocean as New York
14 Carla // Oct 24, 2008 at 10:04 am
The fact is that sushi is not good here. I’ve been to plenty of places and compared to restaurants in Miami (my old home) it’s pretty bad. BUT, if you’re willing to pay, there is one place that is actually really really good. It’s called Osaka and it’s on the corner of Soler and Fitz Roy. Give it a try and I promise it will satisfy your sushi cravings.
15 DaVe // Oct 25, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Carla – thanks for the advice and funny that you should mention Osaka. We have reservations for Monday there! We’ll report back…
16 The Quest for Sushi // Oct 28, 2008 at 10:14 am
[...] we love so much about Buenos Aires, we’ll be the first to admit that we have been less than enthusiastic about the sushi here. For a major cosmopolitan city, we expected more options and choices even [...]
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