Shipping Home, Classic Bar Hopping, Casa Cruz
Trip Start
Sep 29, 2007
1
81
221
Trip End
Ongoing
Buenos Aires, Palermo,
Argentina
Monday, February 18, 2008
We had heard about many eclectic bars and restaurants located near our hostel so decided to do a pre-dinner bar hop excursion to check out the venues. The first venue we went to was the cocktail bar ¨Home¨, located inside a chic, boutique hotel in Palermo. This place serves up more vodkas than a Russian Tsar and had a tapas menu
Argentina flag outside post office
. I had the best mojhito of my life made with lots of fresh lime and an added drop of angustora bitters. Nadine had a tangerine and mandarin concoction, equally as fine. The bar has a summer patio with an ivy covered wall and swimming pool. ¨Home¨ seemed to be frequented by a predominantly gay male crowd who were all sitting on the unbelievably green lawn in funky white plastic egg chairs, all deep in conversation, doing business or tapping away on lap tops. The service in Buenos Aires has been impeccable everywhere we go and we often tip more than the expected 10% because it is so cheap. The deal is that the quality is premium and the cost is low. The next place we went to was ¨Acabar¨ where there was a completely different vibe. We were some of the only customers at this early time but the place still managed to hold an atmosphere. Neon lighting, coloured and wallpapered corrugated iron sheets, mannequins, decoupaged everything and other odds and sods adorn every inch of wall space in ¨Acabar¨. There were even chandeliers in the bathrooms. The bar was all about fun and the menu was too. I had a cocktail called a ¨Geisha¨ made from triple sec, lemon and vodka and blended with mountains of ice, a divine sherbet-y sensation. We shared a plate of deep fried cheese fingers, delicious. Folks seem to come here to play board games and drink but we passed on the toy corner and went to the very adult Casa Cruz restaurant.There are so many restaurants to choose from in Palermo. We decided to try Buenos Aires most other-worldly dining experience, we passed through a pair of unmarked 16 foot brass doors and entered the magical world of Casa Cruz. The head chef and co-owner is German Martitegui who does modern urban Argentinian cuisine. Reservations were necessary for a table however we decided to loiter by the sleek oval bar in the lobby on an over-sized Chesterfield sofa and watch well practiced mixologists serve us up a sublime champagne cocktail and classic long island ice tea while waiting for a table
flash restaurants and bars, pelermo
. Proving it´s not just for local celebrities, we scored a table and then glided (no walking- this was a classy joint) behind the waitress through to the spotlit, redwood-panelled dining area, a large space dominated by a ceiling high wall of a wine rack showcasing Argentina´s top wineries. Nadine ordered beef and i had an octopus and passionfruit mash dish. By the time the main course arrived we were well trashed from a bottle of Malbec wine which had come from the great wall of wine and previously done the journey from Mendoza, the wine-growing region in the north-east. So, we ordered another and staggered home. During the night we were both ill and ended up throwing up all over the crispy white bed sheets in the hostel while four male (mixed dorm) room mates watched on in bewilderment. Embarrassed, we had to explain the situation to reception in the morning. Perhaps this is the evidence that we are not quite adults yet. 
