Local MilongasYou don't have to walk far from our casas to find some of the best milongas in town. Both El Beso and Porteño y Bailarin in are in Riobamba, only 3 blocks away towards Obelisco.  And the shopfront of Porteño y Bailarin looks like a tourist bar.  Oh, but inside......... the dancing is what dreams are made of! To check the milongas and tango classes for each day, look at the very useful www.hoy-milonga.com.  Av Corrientes The street that never sleeps | .  The Buenos Aires water reservoir
(Junin/Viamonte/Cordoba) See Don & Linda Freedman's discussion
Local useful placesNearly every block (cuadra) holds its own supermercado, which also sells wine and beer, fruit and vegetables, and has a butcher who will cut your carne for you while you wait.  Several of the big chain supermarkets (Coto, Disco, Jumbo, Carrefour) are within 4 blocks of our Casas, but the queues can be horrendous, and the staff grumpy.So for a small quantity of items we recommend the local supermercados. Or you can buy on-line (in Spanish), and for a small fee your items will be delivered to the casa.
Small things like sweets, cold drinks, cigarettes and phone cards can be bought from the kioscos that are everywhere. The kioscos on Corrientes (1 block away) stay open 'til quite late at night.
There are also farmacías on most blocks, many specialising in Bach Flowers and homeopathic or herbal remedies. But you really need to know what to ask for in many of these shops. If you want to look at items on shelves you might be best to go to Farmacity - there is a branch quite close at Corrientes 1820.
Most blocks have a lavadero / lavandería which will wash (and, for little extra) iron your clothes. Many are also dry cleaners (tintorerías), and some will mend or alter clothes, although not usually while you wait.
You'll also find plenty of hairdressers (peluquerías) which, as well as washing, cutting and colouring your hair, offer manicures and other female mysteries. We also have information about doctors, dentists, etc, so just ask if you need to know about those.
 Many of our female and male guests have treated themselves to a session at David Duquesne (Uriburu 435) and liked the way the hair looked when they came out - despite the rather lurid pictures on his website.
(NOTE: The Duquesne link won't work for you if you don't have Flash on your computer. In fact about 70% of local websites won't work for you, as Flash is very popular with local web designers. And local sites are notorious for not updating their operating hours, phone numbers, email addresses and sometimes even their physical addresses. So before you jump in a taxi to go across town, it always pays to ring and check the details.) | Local places to buy food  For those with special dietary needs, there is a shop selling products for people with diabetes, gluten allergies, etc across the road from the entrance to Casa Jasmin. And there are several shops selling dried fruit, nuts, cereals, and related products in the same block. The truly wonderful Tealosophy, supplier of heavenly teas of all descriptions, is in the Alvear Palace shopping arcade at Recoleta - which is not far away. While you are there, why not experience afternoon tea in L'Orangerie, next best thing to staying at the Alvear Palace yourself!  For buying food at the supermercado, see "Useful Places" further down this page. You can also buy very drinkable wine (vino) there - starting at about 30 pesos, as well as beer (cerveca), cider (sidra) and many other alcoholic products. 
(Courtesy Abasto Shopping)
This shopping centre is about 7 blocks from the casa.
Local RestaurantsYou don't have to leave the casa to eat if you are feeling lazy or tired, because Buenos Aires has a great tradition of delivering 'just cooked' meals to our homes.You can even do it on-line, in English at Buenos Aires Delivery  If you want to go out, there are many good basic restaurants within two blocks of our casas. We like Maral (1 block away on the corner of Uriburu and Tucuman, pictured above), but when we want empanadas or pizzas a la piedra, we usually order in from Zapi - they cook to order, so everything is fresh (2 blocks in Tucuman y Junin).  There are also many kosher restaurants around Casas Rosa y Jasmin. For security reasons these are rarely pictured on the web, but we will give you a pamphlet for kosher dining should you be interested, or you can check the list at Beit Jabad Recoleta (most on their list are in walking distance). If you are vegetarian, here is the Happy Cow list of all the vegetarian places in (generally carnivorous) Buenos Aires. And here is a NYT (Mar, 2010) article about vegetarian restaurants in BsAs. The great food blog Pick Up the Fork also has a good entry (2011) on where do get good food if you don't eat meat. Chinatown (in Belgrano) always has options for vegetarians, and one of the best Korean restaurants in Buenos Aires is just around the corner from us (Bi Won at Junin 548).
When you want to go further there's always the kilometer of wall to wall restaurants at Puerto Madero (just jump on the subte B and get a 40 peso taxi back when you are too full to walk). Also the great line-up outside Recoleta Cemetary, or within the Buenos AIres Design shopping centre next to the cemetary (and you could walk home afterwards for exercise). Or you can check out the various restaurant guides - Chowhound, Lonely Planet, Frommers, Trip Advisor, the Freedman blog (all in English), or the Oleo Guide by barrio (in Spanish) - very comprehensive but we don't always agree with their ratings, so try for yourself. And then there is always Pick Up the Fork (did I mention that already?). Having said all that, restaurants come and go, so we keep the latest copy of Time Out Magazine in each of the casas, so you can search out the latest places showcased there. |
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