Jangada

Images Our last night in Buenos Aires, we had dinner with Jessica’s
friend and her family.  They are
staying at the Faena Hotel + Universe so Fred and I went over there with Jess to meet them
for a drink. 

 The hotel is quite cool.  Philip Starck designed.  You feel as if you have entered the land of cool the second
walk into the place.  I guess that is why it has a + Universe at the end of the name. The bar is a
large room with couches, chairs, and the light is dim.  A nice looking pool outside to hang
during the day too.  From what they said, the rooms are way too small. 

 Years ago, after doing the boutique hotel scene, we all
decided in unison to bag that direction. 
Although cool scenes, not always great locations and more important,
rooms that were way too small for staying more than a night and basic services
that were questionable.  In the last few years we have gone the larger hotel route.  For the time being, it works.

I wanted to pick a fish restaurant this night because I knew
it was the right thing for the group we were dining with.  We had already done Oveida and so had
they and Jangada, which appeared to have really good reviews would be the
perfect choice.  Wrong.

Don’t always believe what you read.  Do not go to Jangada.  The restaurant is simple in décor which
is totally fine.  The service isn’t
great but certainly that is part of the culture but the food is awful.

Portions are huge. 
We began with a mixture of things. 
Somehow the first round was small bowls of fried calamari which I do not
recall ordering not does anybody else but at least we had something to eat.  Nothing great but at this point
edible.  The salads came out for
the few that ordered them.  Well,
not all of them, one salad never appeared.  A few of us had ordered the stuffed calamari to begin but
that came about 15 minutes after the salad.  Tiny squid stuffed with nuts and then sautéed in olive
oil.  Tasteless really and way too
much effort to stuff those tiny squids if they can’t deliver them on time to
the table.

 The thing at Jangada is the paca.  Pacu is a relative of the barracuda and can grow up to 60
lbs.  There are a variety of fish
that they offer coming from the river which you don't see in Buenos Aires. 
Many of the fish are for 2. 
Each fish is served on a wooden plank.

 Fred and I went for the Pacu, someone else went for the
Dorado and someone else went for the pink salmon.  There was 8 of us and 4 fish.  2 would have been ample.  But more important, none of the fish were any good.  All overcooked and completely bland
served with sopping deep fried onion rings and huge slabs of boiled potatoes
with butter.  After a night of not getting anything on time, it would have been ok if the main courses were delicious but they were so not.

 Most definitely our worst meal in BA.  So sorry I picked it.  I would have picked Le Sucre but we had
already been to one of their restaurants, Bar Uriate. 
I would have picked El Trapiche but thought too much steak.  That is the one restaurant I am sorry we did not get to.  All and all, I should have gone for the
quality of the food not the type of food. 
Lesson learned but am sharing the lesson with any of you on the way to
Buenos Aires.  Don’t go to Jangada.

Comments (Archived):

  1. Evan

    I strongly agree that Jangada sucks.btw, Buenos Aires is probably the worst city in the world to eat fish. People here just don’t want to eat fish if they can eat meat.i personally think Sucre is overrated, but good. And Trapiche is an institution here, but…I wouldn’t really ever recommend it to an American. I don’t find their steak to be anything special by any means, and the rest of the menu is the same: nothing special.

    1. Gotham Gal

      I think the majority of the restaurants were overrated but regardless, we had a great time.

  2. LivePaola

    Faena Hotel does have its flaws (Rule One: Thou shalt not make door handles that look like a less-than-wholesome implement from the movie Seven), but we had a suite for three nights and had way more space than we knew what to do with. We often find that suites, especially if one is staying for a few nights, make all the difference. And the New Year’s Eve tango show… Spectacular. Happy 2010!