El Refugio — Bad Lighting, Good Food

San Telmo’s El Refugio is one of those back-to-basics gems that haven’t yet made it into any guidebook, meaning it remains, as it always has been– traditional, excessively affordable and virtually gringo-free. Those on a budget will want to leave it to the Lonely Planet crowd to spend more at the nearby Des Nivel – here you can get equally good food and friendly service at half the price.

This restaurant, owned and operated by the Association of the Sons of Oleiros (of Galicia Spain) and dating to 1918, is certainly no romantic get-away but it is located in a beautiful classic San Telmo building with leaded glass windows and a tiled entryway. The dining area is stuck in the 1960’s. The tables are covered with the standard yellow and red tablecloths, aging posters of Galicia grace the walls and an old TV in the back provides the only soundtrack (usually a game) in the fluorescently lit salon.

Dismal design-wise, but there’s the rub; although the lighting may make you feel like you’re stuck in school, in Argentina often the places that have the most atrocious lighting and terribly slow waitstaff are the ones with the best food at the lowest prices.

Where else can you have a dinner of a quarter roast chicken and potatoes for AR$15 anymore? Even a plate of Patagonian trout and potatoes goes for AR$26, Galician style cuttlefish marinated in far away spices like sassafras with onions and red peppers will only set you back AR$24. The refuge is a great place to take a break the Argentine Atkins diet; they specialize in Galician-style seafood, paella and shellfish. If they don’t have Galician roots, even your Argentine friends may not be familiar with some of the items on the menu. If you’ve been in Argentina for any length of time, you’ll welcome the chance to try something new.

Even though smoking was banned in Buenos Aires’ restaurants a few years ago, El Refugio is a social club and thus is subject to different zoning laws; smoking is still allowed. If you don’t like the smell of Lucky Strikes while your pallet takes a trip to Galicia, there is a non-smoking section but the two areas aren’t physically divided— luckily the ceilings are very high.

This place is so old-school that in the afternoons groups of old men gather here playing Truco, a popular card game in which one tries to outwit their opponent.

El Refugio de Oleiros
$-$$ — Cash only
Hours: Mon – Sat:  12pm – 3pm & 8pm – 12am
Closed Sundays
Piedras 848
San Telmo
Tel: 4300-1171

Bar Seddon: A Seductive San Telmo Classic

Bar Seddon is a nostalgic refuge on one of the nicest little cobble-stoned corners of San Telmo. It’s a seductive destination to enjoy a coffee while gazing out the window or to linger over a bottle of Malbec on a casual date.

The 19th-century former pharmacy oozes style with its classic black and white tiled floor, wood paneled walls topped by beveled mirrors, antique furniture filled with knick-knacks and candles endlessly flickering around the bar. An antique railway clock keeps time.

Seddon is overseen by the friendly owner, Pamela, which kind of makes you feel like you’re hanging out at your favorite eccentric aunt’s house. Her dad, who founded the much-mourned original Seddon downtown, has since passed away but you’ll still find Pam’s mom hanging out almost everyday. In the good old days, Seddon was one of the best venues to see Cuban, blues and rock and roll music live in San Telmo. Unfortunately the city government started enforcing zoning laws limiting live music in bars, but there is still always a cool selection of tunes playing over the stereo system at a volume that still allows for conversation.

So beloved is Bar Seddon that it is declared a ‘notable’ bar of historical significance by the city of Buenos Aires. This is more of a bar than a restaurant but the reasonably priced menu does include a few typical Argentine dishes as well as pizza, pastas and meat and cheese platters.

The crowd tends to be down-to-earth, cultured Porteños with mix of international visitors. Here you’ll enjoy a relaxed old-school San Telmo vibe, which is a pleasant contrast to the ‘fashion’ bars of Palermo.

Bar Seddon
$$-$$$ /Credit cards accepted
Defensa 695 (corner of Chile)
San Telmo
Tel: 4342-3700
Tue—Fri: 10am–4am
Saturdays: 6pm-4am

Porteño Corner: The Fruit Pusher, Pedro Jose Barriani

Pedro Jose Barriani
a.k.a., ‘The Fruit Pusher’
Owner of the no-name fruit stand
Mexico 789
San Telmo

Q: How long have you been here?

55 years.

• 55 years? How old are you?

I’m 66. We moved here when I was 11, in 1955. My father had a butcher shop here, then he gave me a little spot and I started selling vegetables.

At one point I did close for ten years because my dad bugged me and I had little kids at home. And now I’ve been open again for 16 years.

• What’s the most popular fruit?

Bananas, grapes. Whatever I put in front, sells.

• What’s the most popular veggie?

Potatoes, people like their potatoes.

• Those carrots are abnormally huge.

Those carrots are for the ladies that are fighting with their husbands. All she has to do is whack him over the head with the carrot and problem solved!

• How come you always push fruit and don’t have more veggies like broccoli?

Because I’m an undependable, low-class vegetable seller. Sometimes I work, sometimes I don’t. Why should I? I don’t have a cent, but I don’t need money. I don’t even spend $200 pesos a month. I don’t have a phone. I don’t smoke. I don’t go out on the town because the women don’t pay attention to me anymore. Now I don’t even remember how to kiss and cuddle.

I have one son who is rich though. He owns ten houses, lives in a gated community, the whole nine yards.

• You must have done something right then.

Nope! Really, I didn’t pay any attention to him at all. And now he doesn’t pay attention to me.

• Really-?

Yeah, in fact, all my children hate me because I don’t look for a girl my age, but all the girls my age are old!

• Oh, so you like younger women?

Well, how old are you? Nah, seriously why would I want a young girl? So I can watch her die of sadness? She’d want to go out dancing every night and I’d only be able to take her once a month!

• Do you have internet so that you can see this article?

What is internet?

• You’ve never heard of the internet?

No, I swear, I don’t have the slightest idea of what it is.

• What’s the deal with your cat?

¿Flora, la que llora? (Flora, the one who cries?) We were drinking mate, she comes in here and sits herself down. I throw her out, she keeps coming back.

The cats stay. The women leave. That’s how it goes.

Krakow: A Polish-Flavored Pub in San Telmo

First there was Gibraltar, then there was Puerta Roja, now there is Krakow. As the name implies, this pub is Polish-owned and is a nice spot in San Telmo to grab a drink among an international mix of travelers and neighborhood folk.

The stylish low-lit pub has a nice spacious bar, low-slung couches and in the rear of the bar, board games and a Wii play center so that the video generation doesn’t feel left out.

Although there is a big screen in the back and sometimes games on the tube, the floor space isn’t dominated by TV’s like so many other bars in the city. Behind the bar you’ll find one bulldog who nevertheless does a good job taking care of the music, co-owner Toman Pytel and a sweet-faced Dominican — look to him to keep your drinks flowing. The darling bilingual servers also do a good job making sure you don’t go thirsty.

Vodka, Micro-brewed Beer & Polish Specialties

There is a good selection of liquors including Polish vodka, and some nice brews on tap, including the Antares line, an Argentine microbrew with a couple of varieties of stout for those looking for a break from the watery national brand, Quilmes. The menu has the basic cheese plates, sandwiches, hamburgers, but your best bet is the Polish specialties such as sausage and sauerkraut, Pierogi (Polish raviolis) and for dessert, apple pancakes. The kitchen is open until 1 a.m.

This is a good place to warm up before the night gets going or have your last drink before heading to bed. On the weekdays there’s a two-for-one happy hour from 6-10 pm. Later in the night it tends to be fairly mellow and is a chill place to go for after-dinner drinks. On the weekends it picks up, and can get crowded in the high season, but not uncomfortably so.

Krakow
Venezuela 474
San Telmo
Tel:4342-3916

• Hours: Mon-Fri: 5 p.m.- 3 a.m.
-Sat & Sun: 6 p.m.- 5 a.m.

Biking in Buenos Aires

An excellent way to see Buenos Aires is by bicycle. Be it La Boca, Recoleta, Puerto Madero or Palermo — many of the city’s neighborhoods are perfectly suited for bike riding. Buenos Aires is a flat, pretty city, so peddle power is a fast and easy way to get around town.

There’s a good reason that so many food deliverers and couriers get around by bike — it’s often the fastest mode of transport in a sometimes cluttered city. While no one would recommend mimicking the deliver boys’ behavior, hopping up onto sidewalks to avoid traffic congestion and sending pedestrians scurrying out of the way, or riding nonchalantly the wrong way down a one-way street, bikes means less traffic and less pollution for everyone.

The number of bike commuters in Buenos Aires has increased exponentially in recent years, as the city government created bike lanes covering 130km through the city and even set up a bike sharing program called EcoBici. Thanks to these efforts, biking is safer than ever in Buenos Aires. Bike tours are a still novel but growing part of Buenos Aires’ tourism industry. Hotels are getting on the bike bandwagon as well, such as ‘Ecohotel’ Casa Calma which provides cool-looking bamboo bicycles for guests.

Bike Tours in Buenos Aires

If you’re only in town for a short while and want to check out the city on two wheels, taking a bike tour in English or Spanish provides a fun and economical way to be guided through the city. Four hour tours take place twice a day and conducted using the cool-looking playeras (‘cruisers’) bikes seen around town.

A Southside tour covers areas closer to downtown such as San Telmo, La Boca, Puerto Madero and the Ecological Reserve for a mate break of Argentina’s favorite hot beverage and a snack. The Northside tour explores leafy Recoleta, including a stop at the city’s most prestigious cemetery, Palermo, including the Bosques de Palermo (Palermo Forest) for a mate pit-stop.

Both tours are pretty easy going, and last four hours.

The Tigre Bike and Canoe tour on weekends and holidays, involves a visit the peaceful suburb of Tigre, and then a canoe ride to the islands of the Delta Tigre for lunch. Upon return to the mainland, a leisurely ride heads by local attractions, including a visit to the Puerto de Frutas.