An elderly Argentine sidles into Don, a recently opened café in Villa Crespo, and casually asks the man behind the counter: “Tenés medialunas?” (“Do you have any medialunas?”). “No,” comes the poignant response, “tenemos croissants” (“We have croissants“).

This exchange sums up the essence of this new American-style pasteleria. With the same owners, Don is Café Crespin’s little yankee sister. Located just a couple of blocks from its better known sibling, ‘The Don’ has recently opened to the delight of cake-lovers in the neighbourhood.

When I walk in, I’m greeted with an immediate blast of air-con combined with the fantastic smell of baking. At Don, lovingly hand-made fresh cookies, innovative cakes, brownies, and other stylish sweet treats are prepared daily. And therein lies the cafe’s greatest asset: everything is baked that morning. The brownies are gooey, the bagels are warm – this is not a place where you will receive yesterday’s leftovers.

The display cabinet placed in the middle of the light, spacious, open café, provides a visual feast, with doughnuts dripping with red icing and flamboyantly decorated muffins. Proper, well-sized, chocolate brownies immediately catch the eye and are worth every single one of the $12 that they cost.

The alfajor de mani is another gem on offer. Imagine two delicious chocolate cookies sandwiched together, separated by a filling of tasty peanut butter. Granola yogurt, milkshakes, and an array of freshly prepared fruit juices serve as a strong selection of potential accompaniments to go with your nourishment.

The real crowd pleaser, however, is the cheesecake maracuya, a passion fruit cheesecake, which melts in the mouth. Passion fruit is hard to come by in Buenos Aires, so this tends to be very popular according to staff. As does the carrot cake, which is outrageously delicious, and I polish it off before I even know what is going on.

Cake is not the only thing on offer, although perhaps it would be better if it was. The café also provides a selection of salads, bagels, paninis, and wraps as alternatives for those who don’t want to stuff their face with cake. The bagel that I try is unfortunately not as good as it looks, lacking in flavour, but then who am I to complain? It’s not easy to find a bagel in Buenos Aires, let alone one containing salmon and cream cheese.

Cookies are reasonably priced at $7 a pop, whilst for those of us who frankly cannot even entertain the thought of settling for just one, you can always opt for the 12-for-$60 option, a safe bet.

From the outside the café looks anything but spectacular, but you get the impression that this is only temporary given that it has only recently opened, and if Café Crespin is anything to go by, I imagine it will be rectified soon enough. Inside, the US influence is as evident in the décor as it is in the food. Even without the New York-style salmon and cream cheese bagel staring down at you from the menu, the diner-esque element to this patisserie is obvious.

Sat around me are old people sipping coffees alone, students beavering away on their laptops, and families with young children gorging themselves on carrot cake. Whilst some of the locals are confused by the lack of table service, unfamiliar with this western style of till payment, there can be no doubting the universal appreciation of the cakes on offer.

Don acts as a nice complement to the owners’ other café, Café Crespin, but it should stick to what it does best; delicious freshly baked cakes, bread, and sweet delights.

Don is in Villa Crespo, Vera 601.
It is open Wed – Mon 9:00 – 20:00

To call Dain Usina Cultural a bookstore is misleading. Agreed, its main feature is books—more than 20,000 of them in a 150m² library—but there is so much more to it than that. On a corner of Palermo Soho, this colonial-style house is a centre of  creative energy, typical of the enterprising spirit that runs through this arty district of Buenos Aires.

DUC stands out for its beautiful architecture and design, crafted by Sebastian Koltan (Estudio Mantero Koltan). The walls have been painted a perfect white, while the tall glass windows and heavy black steel door provide a strikingly modern touch. The refurbishment of the house lasted over a year with the final touches added in April 2011.

The main lobby could be a modern cathedral-like room with alcoves and balconies. The openness establishes the house and its grounds as part of the public realm; something that belongs to everyone. On the right there’s a restaurant-cafe, and on the third floor a splendid “Epicurus” rooftop terrace with big white couches under the shade of a willow tree. To get there I urge you to take the lift. I will not spoil the surprise but I can say that it is a work of art in itself.

When I first discovered DUC, not only did I want to set camp and move in, I felt as if the walls were whispering and telling me there was a story behind it all. A few days later, I went to meet DUC founder Endy Dain and her collaborator Francisco Offenhenden.

DUC is before anything else, a bookshop;  when you enter, it won’t take long for a friendly staff member to ask: “What are you reading right now?”

Dain told me about her untamed love for literature: “I never go anyway without a book, I would feel naked. Sometimes I don’t read but I need a book in my bag, as my friend, my amulet, my fetish”. Francisco Offenhenden says this was his lifetime vocation: “I always knew that I wanted to be surrounded by books”, and he has, since age seventeen. He also plays the guitar— “very well” Endy says—but that’s a secret.

You can find any book in here, from classical to contemporary literature, but DUC is proud in making its mark with a large collection of art and design special editions, with topics ranging from textile, fashion, photography, gastronomy, and travel. Offenhenden explains that “in this neighbourhood the general profile is a literary one, focused on art, design, textile, so we work in this sense. We try to buy special books that are not elsewhere, for specialised people. It goes for literature as well, we have specialist authors”.

For Dain, pursuing your passions and the ideas of your youth is immensely gratifying. “It’s an idea I had when I was 22, when I was a student of history at the faculty of philosophy and literature. I worked a while on investigations and teaching in secondary schools. Then I got married, had children. But I have always been a big reader. I worked part-time as an English translator, but I never stopped reading. And I never left aside the idea that once my kids would be grown up I would have more time in my hands and I could open a book shop.”

Everything has a meaning in DUC. Including its name: “Dain is my surname, from my parents. They were both big readers. I didn’t have any TV before I got married, because my mum wanted us to read instead. Usina cultural was both of our ideas. We agreed that we didn’t want a traditional book shop that was just a library, but more something that generates a lot of creative and positive energy. We wanted people to feel comfortable here, well attended to, to make it their own place. On the creative side we wanted something that would be very open-minded to any form of art: emergent art, from young to more conservative, novels, music, essays, philosophy, poetry.”

In addition to the library, the lobby and cafe host concerts on week-ends, and book signings, art exhibition, short-courses and workshops during the week. Dain loved a recent poetry reading event “That’s the traditional way of reading,” she says. “It’s something that doesn’t happen much today because people don’t read poetry anymore. It was a magical moment.”

Offenhenden and Dain’s different tastes complement each other, when managing the bookshop, choosing the events, the courses and setting the tone of DUC. This is what makes it unique: they are a very open-minded pair, trying to bring fresh new talents to the stage and presenting them in a different way.

Offenhenden told me about their tango show, which actually describes Argentine literature. He wants to “give a new swing” to literature and arts. That’s what DUC is all about and in Offenhenden’s own words, makes them survive as a new conceptual library in Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires, which is UNESCO’s choice for world book capital in 2011, is a source of inspiration for Dain:  “I think we could say Buenos Aires is the world cultural city, really. I was lucky enough to travel a lot in my life, and very few cities in the world have the creative dynamics of Buenos Aires.”

“The city deserves to be world book city”, she says, “because Argentine literature is creative, very creative. There’s a lot of people writing, a lot of readers, a lot of editors and publishers. It’s always a good thing to have a striving cultural scene, it elevates the human mind.”

The gastronomic offer contributes to the general philosophy of DUC. Led by Guadalupe Pimentel, the Resto Café is presented as a meeting place with an elaborate cuisine. The gourmet menu includes options for breakfast and snacks: salads, sandwiches and tapas for brunch, lunch or dinner and a delicious pastry to accompany a coffee at any time of day. They also have a variety of cocktails, including classics like the Mojito, and innovative creations like the ‘Tangerine Raspberry Caipri’ or the ‘Mule’.

DUC also has English books, and from what I have been told, there will soon be more translations of Argentine and Latin-American books into English.

Dain’s final words to me were precious: “Our beautiful and beloved country was given a time for everything, you have to do things right and we want to help make things right, we are signing up for that.”

In the long-run they have more projects, more ideas, more to look forward to –maybe start publishing one day- but for the time being, enjoying, and reading, always.

To compensate the overflow of empanadas, choripan and milanesas that are ever present in Argentina, more and more restaurants and cafes are cropping up with healthier or even vegetarian options in the country of meat. But healthy drinks or alternatives to the popular helado are still fairly new. Enter Smoothie Bar, which opened in February in Belgrano.

Founded by four foreigners – three from the US and one from Ireland – who met a year and a half ago in Buenos Aires, their nationalities definitely were related to the concept. Sean Kapul from San Fransico, explains: “In Europe and the United States a smoothie is a well-known concept which you can find almost everywhere. Here in Buenos Aires, some places do offer something similar to a smoothie, but places that specialise in just smoothies are hard to come by.”

The idea had been around for a while to create something similar – originally, the intention was to create a corner store, with a small bar, where you can buy your smoothie as a take-away. But the concept had to be adapted to take into account local tastes. Sean illustrated: “Since the consumer culture here is more relaxed, with clients sitting down and taking their time, we adapted our concept to that – and this is the result: a space with room to sit down, relax and take your time to ultimately enjoy your smoothie.”

The light space feels very fresh and warm, with classy white bar in the centre and all with tables in the front end, and couches towards the back. Besides the odd bright orange wall, the space is more subtly decorated with little paintings of fruit, a dancing peach here and a couple of green apples there.

Fruit everywhere then, but not only as decoration, also consume! Berry, peach, raspberry, strawberry, banana, mango and the Brazilian açai, are transformed into smoothies like Berrie Bliss, Peach Passion, Sweet Dreams or Frambuesa Fantasia after being mixed with delicious natural frozen yoghurt. All the smoothies the bar offer include at least two and a half pieces of fruits, and with the use of low-fat yoghurt the smoothie can call itself a healthy choice.

Sean added: “Next to our assortment of smoothies we also offer coffee and several plates of healthy food, taking into account that the winter is coming. Also energy, metabolic, protein and vitamin shots to give people an extra boost to ‘survive’ the colder months, are on the menu. In general we are trying to listen to the people’s taste, but on the same time we always do this on our own way, to stay with our formula.”

The bar currently caters to mostly Argentine clients, but the public is very varied, and everyone is welcome. “From little kids who just come out of school and want a smoothie on their way home, to an elderly couple who are taking their time, mothers who are going to the market or a student who takes its laptop inside to study for a bit here,” Sean said.

Due to the success, there are some ideas to expand the concept by creating more Smoothie Bars in town, but there are no concrete plans. Sean explained: “We first want everything to works perfectly and we are not just going to open another store, since we want everything to be of the highest quality. That is what makes all the difference; we won’t be satisfied witha marginal product, we want top quality!”

Of course we had to check if this is all true and I can confirm; it has been a while since I had a smoothie like this: delicious!

For Sean, the key to success for Smoothie Bar is easy: “You just need a good product and a creative way to implement it. We think the concept of a smoothie – where we only use the highest quality products – is perfect. Besides, we truly believe in the product and in the concept and that makes it work!

Throughout history, factories were scarcely regarded as pleasant places or reservoirs of the unexpected. Creativity was reduced to the act of serial production. However, this one finding may transform those grey images of pipes and toxic smoke. And it all starts with an oxymoron: The Food Factory.

A hip restaurant located in the also trendy heart of Palermo Hollywood, The Food Factory defies tradition and breaks boundaries. Originality is the order of the day and has permeated the restaurant’s very birth. As world-renowned chef and owner Tomás Kalika explains, The Food Factory’s concept was inspired in Tim Burton’s wacky adaptation of ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’.

The open, 90m² kitchen is regarded as a creative space, where almost anything can be licked into shape. With methodical and consistent work, the menu is produced and changed seasonally by Kalika himself. The idea is to offer a dynamic experience which exceeds labels. Hence, The Food Factory’s uniqueness relies in its diverse, uncategorized nature.

The menu

So, what about food? The menu is divided into different sections, each providing a different culinary experience.

If you happen to be wandering the streets of Palermo in the morning and get hungry, you could stop by in The Food Factory for breakfast. ‘TFF healthy start’ offers a vitalizing combination of fresh fruits, muesli or cereal, yogurt, orange juice and a hot drink. Else, if the fruity and healthy is not the right fit, you may want to order the ‘Full start’, consisting of a hot drink, three medialunas or toasts, orange juice, various jams and eggs of your choice. Feel free to order scrambled eggs, fried eggs or a cheese, ham, onion or mushrooms omelette.

Weather it is lunch or dinner time, The Food Factory offers tantalising main courses. ‘TFF green salad’ – green veggies, croutons, tomatoes, avocado, poached egg, shallots, garlic balsamic vinaigrette – and baked octopus are not to be missed. Also, sandwiches are a big thing and a favourite amongst clients is the salmon sandwich. Ciabatta loafs containing smoked salmon slices, guacamole, tomatoes and Dill cream cheese pair up with papas rotas. The specialty potatoes are three times cooked, crispy on the outside yet extra creamy on the inside. Plus, salads and sandwiches can be taken away.

Yet, if you cannot make up your mind and want to have everything on the menu, there is a range of miniature, hot or cold dishes that sum up The Food Factory’s culinary alternatives.

Feeling adventurous? Then try chocolate and hazelnuts parfait with beet ice cream. Or, you may want to have the espresso and cardamom crème brûlée.

Fancy a cuppa? Tea is also served with a variety of pastries and bakery delights.

Of integration, interaction and inspiration

Atmosphere seems to be the ultimate complement to The Food Factory’s menu. Predominantly white and neat, the restaurant is spacious and alluring. Architectural and modern, its furniture and décor combine clean lines with a relaxing vibe.

As for the kitchen, its integration is not only achieved by its being open. The obvious is united with the subtle and translates into one of a kind wallpaper, a cohesive piece that brings The Food Factory concept together. The wallpaper is a photomontage, customized piece. It exposes Kalika’s old recipes and utensils, his working tools that have accompanied him throughout his career.

The Food Factory proposes an integral experience where customers can be part of the actual cooking process. Its contagious inspiration is sure to have you trying different flavours. It is a true feast for the senses.

A few dozen litres of coffee and a hundred or so medialunas later we have finally reached the end of our Bares Notables series. Each of the 54 has deservedly earned its place on the list but after some tricky soul searching we’ve managed to whittle down a Top 5 absolute must-visit establishments in Buenos Aires. Enjoy.

1. El Preferido, Palermo

Holding its own among Palermo’s chic bars and noisy restaurants, this family-run business has charm, warmth, a hearty menu and a fat slice of character. Whether you’re looking for a quick bite to eat or a sit down meal, El Preferido will provide.

In 1951, Arturo Fernández, the current owner, arrived in Argentina with his family from Asturias, Spain. A year later his father started working at the El Preferido almacen, central to community life and furnishing the neighbourhood with groceries and nick-nacks.

Instead of being swallowed up by large supermarket chains that started cropping up all over the city like other local shops the family moved with the times and transformed the store into a bistro. Today the restaurant is split into an informal, high-tabled, quick eatery with the original interior fittings and a more traditional restaurant in an adjacent room.

In the restaurant tables are covered with red and white table-cloths and large chandeliers glitter above the chattering crowd. Shields with the emblems of old Spanish families decorate the walls alongside photographs and football memorabilia from the waiters’ favourite teams.

Arturo’s family have brought the rich flavours of Asturias to their trade and the menu proffers a refreshing change from traditional parilla fare that is well worth paying for. Large plates of paella, seafood and fish dishes are wheeled out of the kitchen along with vaska tuna, stroganoff sirloin and kidneys in sherry sauce. Other house favourites are robust portions of lentils, meatballs and rice as well as a delicate salmon rosado.

If you have the self-will to save room for dessert, the El Preferido speciality is a thick and luxurious apple pancake. They are made to order with 40 minutes preparation time and worth planning ahead for.

Although the likes of Francis Ford Coppola and Willem Defoe have dropped in from time to time, the place is generally heaving with local clientele and more than earns its popularity.

Jorge L. Borges 2108 Tel: 4774-6585, Monday to Saturday, 8am-11pm, deliveries available.

2. El Gato Negro, San Nicolas

Bored of beige food and bland meals? Argentina is famous for many things, but groundbreaking cuisine isn’t one of them. Luckily for those of you with comatose taste buds El Gato Negro has specialised in exotic herbs and spices since the 1920s and definitely knows its perjil from its paprika.

A warm, nutty smell of spices is striking as you open the door to this well-kept secret and the café sells everything from aniseed to za’taar (middle-eastern herbs, spices and sesame seeds).

It was founded in 1927 by a Spaniard called Victoriano López who settled here after spending 40 years in the Far East and travelling to exotic places like Ceylon, Singapore, Manchuria and the Philipines before setting up shop in Buenos Aires.

López’ son expanded the range of goods, creating his own blends and insisting that seeds and pods be shipped whole and ground in-store to guarantee freshness.

The 1920s are still very much felt in this natty little shop – in the art deco fixtures and large jars of pickled vegetables stacked to the ceiling behind the broad wooden counter. Seating is intimate with small round tables for a cosy tete-a-tete or solitary afternoon reading in the corner.

There is a wide range of coffees with international blends and spices, exotic aromas and punchy flavours like cardamom and café al jinibre (cream, ginger, honey and cinnamon) from around $10. For a refreshing cuppa El Gato offers a fine variety of tea blends and a mouth-watering selection of cakes to indulge every sweet tooth.

El Gato certainly offers bang for your buck – ordinary coffees are available from $6. The cafe also hosts cultural events like concerts and book readings, as well as occasional music performances and public readings.

El Gato Negro is on Av. Corrientes 1669. Tel: 4374-1730 Website: www.elgatonegronet.com.ar. Opening hours: Mon 9am–10pm, Tue 9am–11pm, Wed 9am–midnight, Thur-Sat 9am–2am

3. Las Violetas, Almagro

Once the preserve of the spendthrift gentry and cream of Buenos Aires high society, this beautiful old café – named after the violet beds of neighbouring town house gardens – recently celebrated its125th birthday and is now busy with locals and travelers alike.

As the heyday of the privileged classes that had kept the cash registers ringing began to wane at the end of the 19th century, the café began to lose business. By the beginning of the 1990s the elegant restaurant, with its art nouveau architecture, gilded curlicues, Italian marble columns and Tiffany style windows was semi-abandoned.

Luckily it was named a national heritage site in 13 years ago and it was re-sold and restored to its lofty glory for re-opening in 2001. Parts of the décor, like the stained glass windows and stone floor, are reproductions but much of the original building remains intact.

Today a suitably decadent menu reflects the café’s early days as a luxury patisserie with indulgent chocolate slices, fluffy meringues and rich cakes covered in bright fruit and smooth cream. Las Violetas still functions as a cake shop with a separate entrance for customers on the market for a box of sugary pastries to take away as well as a delivery service for food hampers.

For a ritzy afternoon tea, try the ‘Maria Carla’ selection with crustless sandwiches, cakes, fondants and fresh orange juice. Sadly Argentina’s flagship combination of ham and cheese has weaseled its way into the shortlist instead of cucumber and salmon but otherwise, at $48 and easily refreshing 3-4 people, it’s well worth it.

Meals haven’t quite lost their expensive price tag and become more expensive on weekends and public holidays but you can still pick up a café con leche for about $10 and absorb some of Las Violetas’ old charm.

Las Violetas is open from 6am to 1am, Sunday to Thursday, and 24 hours, Friday to Saturday. Av. Rivadavia 3899 (corner Medrano). Tel: 4958-7387 www.lasvioletas.com

4. Clásica y Moderna, Recoleta

‘Clásica’, as it is known to friends and admirers has established itself as one of the most important and respected booksellers in Buenos Aires since its opening over 70 years ago. Historically a place for prominent intellectuals to give lectures and people to browse a lovingly-chosen book collection, Clásica has only been serving food, coffee, wine and cocktails for the past two decades.

It was opened in 1938 by Francisco Poblet, who emigrated from Spain with the sole intent of opening a bookstore in Buenos Aires. Himself the son of a bookseller, today the store is run by his daughter Natalia, or ‘Natu’. Poblet believed that forming a cordial relationship with the shop’s patrons was paramount to the art of bookselling and should go beyond the impersonal platitudes of clerk and customer.

The store became a nexus of the intellectual community of Buenos Aires. Politicians such as Alfredo Palacios, Mario Bravo, Alicia Moreau de Justo and Argentine president Roberto Ortiz all frequented the store, as did notable writers such as Ricardo Rojas, Roberto Arlt and Alfonsina Storni.

Like most institutions that survive drastic social changes with the passing decades, Clásica had to go through a period of modernization. In the early 1980s the shop became a popular location for book presentations, lectures and cultural meetings. After the restoration of democracy Isabel Allende, Juan José Sebrili, Abelardo Castillo and David Viñas all presented their works to a freshly invigorated population. As these presentations and meetings became more frequent, and Poblet and Natu found themselves providing their guests with drinks and clearing space amongst the bookshelves, they realized that the bookstore had “organically” reached a point of change.

The café’s dark brick walls, exposed ventilation, and dim lighting give it the feel of a bluesy back-alley. Modern art and photographs are in constant rotation on the walls and a high wooden counter top runs in between the two rows of tables in the middle of the room, providing an excellent reading stand while you’re eating.

The lunch menu includes a featured book on the cover with information and reviews inside. While being on the slightly more pricey side of set menus, at $35 – the food is good and fresh. The larger menu pays homage to literary and film greats with salads named after Corázar, Kundera and Neruda and and dishes like the Fellini, Almodovar, Pechuga Kundera, Pollito Woody Allen and Picada Umberto Ecco. Most consist of typical Argentine fare with meat as the feature and greens as decoration and range from $30 to $50.

Clásica y Moderna can be found at Callao 892, one block from the Callao Subte stop. On most nights the the cafe hosts shows of either jazz or tango singers, for information visit: www.clasicaymoderna.com

5. Lo de Roberto, Almagro

Officially called 12 de Octubre, the spirit of Buenos Aires is alive and well in this decades-old bar located just off of Plaza Almagro. In the late afternoons it serves its faithful octogenarian porteño clientele, who drink whiskey, wine and agua con gas while playing cards and chatting. At night, the bar hosts free live music shows, attracting a younger crowd who pack the cosy space from wall-to-wall.

Starting its life as an almacen the café is tucked into a late 19th-century building, founder Francisco Perez opened the dual-purpose joint in 1930, building a loyal clientele and eventually passing ownership on to his two sons, Roberto and Jorge.

Cracked plaster walls reveal unevenly laid brickwork, an ancient iron fan sits majestically in a corner, opposite a manual cash register; black-and-white photographs of famous Argentines and friends of the bar clutter the walls and thousands of dusty brown bottles line the high shelves.

Estében explains that the collection of the bottles is a kind of tradition, serving as mementos of times passed: “They’re from the time of my grandfather and my old man. They’re not for drinking. And when my children run the bar, there will be ones from today,” he says.

At night, the 12 de Octubre comes alive. On Tuesdays through Saturdays, the bar hosts live music, generally local tango or classic Latin acts, featuring a guitarist and a singer. One favourite performer is the guitarist Lucas Ferrara. Music begins at 11.30pm, with the most established acts playing last, usually winding up at 3am. All shows are free, and the bar fills up early.

These nightly concerts are part of why the bar has been dubbed “Boliche de Roberto”. They have the power to transform this small room on a sleepy block into a sweaty hotspot, with patrons switching from wine to fernet and coke as the night progresses.

12 de Octubre is located at Bulnes 331. Open Mondays from 6.30-9.30pm; Tuesdays-Fridays.

Cafe Tortoni remains one of the most celebrated and famous cafes in Buenos Aires, noted for its position in the middle of the two political centres of the city. Opened by a French family in 1858 the bar is seeped in the history of the last 150 years of Argentina, a period that has witnessed huge political and cultural changes. The bar documents this history and has become a museum of the creative and turbulent changes that have surrounded it. With three rooms to the rear of the long hall dedicated to this history, tourists are attracted from all over the world to learn about and visit this central cultural hub and original Tango salon.

Originally from Paris, the family were intent on creating an area that would attract creativity and become a meeting point for writers and artists, tango musicians, and politicians. Successful in their quest, the walls boast photographs and prints of a range of well known writers that have graced Tortoni in the last century, including Federico Garcia Lorca and works from Argentine artist Benito Quinquela Martín.

Roberto Fanego, responsible for the cultural aspects of the bar, claims that writers and artists were encouraged “to spend lots of time sat at the tables, soaking up the atmosphere”. Fanego slowly guides me around the museum like rooms: the old peluqueria turned library, and the two salons either side of it. Busts of famous visitors adorn the entrances to each room and cabinets along the walls preserve artifacts presenting its history.

Intricate and aged stained glass ceilings help retain the original elegance of the bar along with with gold tinted floral details embedded in the wallpaper. The cafe appears to still belong in the nineteenth century with original fittings and the old fashioned till still in use on the long bar. Scattered with tables the bar is constantly bustling. According to Fanego, Tortoni prided itself on this fact, becoming a site for young people to discuss ideas. He comments that the location, near the Casa Rosada on the Avenida de Mayo, meant that previous politicians and presidents would walk up and down the street and meet their adoring fans.

In attempting to preserve its history the cafe sadly is overrun by tourists, which, while good for business, does not help give it the authentic edge it craves. The expensive specialities that lure in the customers include an elaborate leche meringe and traditional chocolate con churros. The throngs of tourists often lead to queues halfway down the block and have helped bump up the prices of the bar. However, seated in amongst the rabble of tourists it is possible to understand what may have inspired writers and artists to return day after day to Tortonis: it still retains a certain charm and feels very much grounded in contemporary Argentine history.

The central train station of Buenos Aires may not be the tourist attraction of dreams, but throw in a century-old café, a marble viewing balcony and a $7 coffee, and you’re almost there. Café Retiro, located inside the station, beckons back to the coal smoke glamour of yesteryear. The magnificently high ceiling is gracefully punctuated with ornate plaster columns. And a beautiful rooftop dome of colored glass sprays warm yellows and greens across the white and wood-paneled walls. For all its grandiosity, it’s hard to believe that it’s located in the bustling, slightly seedy Retiro station.

While the café shares the usual polished finish of the B.A. classics, it also offers up some authenticity that has been lost in the tourist rush. Instead of playing host to a queue of curious out-of-towners, Café Retiro is a real commuter stop. Men in suits sip their coffee and flatten out their papers in preparation for the day ahead. Unlike most bars in Buenos Aires, these men actually have somewhere to go. And it shows in the service. Café Retiro is a marvel in a city where ordering a coffee takes on average, 30 minutes.

This historically celebrated bar was built 100 years ago and is currently maintained by the train station. Testament to this arrangement is the wooden scaffolding that takes up a large portion of the delicately molded walls. According to the wait staff, the ceiling painting project has been in place for over a month, but has not yet been put into action. A friendly reminder of B.A time, in a café, that otherwise, is unnervingly prompt.

If for no other reason than punctuality, Café Retiro is worth a stop. Besides, the swift table service, the café boasts a relatively extensive menu. Beyond the regular minutas and bar snacks, the kitchen cooks up pizzas, salads, and seemingly dozens of different sandwiches. But don’t get too excited. There is no city in the world more adept at ham and cheese; so don’t expect anything more here. But if it’s ham and cheese you want, and you’re on a tight schedule, then Café Retiro is the place to be. Here’s to hoping your train arrives just as fast.

Outside the more frantic neighbourhoods of the capital, in a leafy suburban setting, Bar Olimpo rests quietly on a residential corner in Villa Luro; its charming wooden frame inviting in passers-by. Like many of the bares notables, Bar Olimpo boasts a certain charm that captures the essence of porteño culture. A sense of community pride beams from the bar with postcards that are strewn on every table of the bar that advertise the café’s fame, government posters that signal its place among the 500 most loved places in Buenos Aires and an owner who has had special booklets printed to celebrate this bar’s history and appeal.

Relics from yesteryear adorn the walls, acting as reminders of Argentina’s golden age of the 1950s. Anything from disused car parts to street signs, from old bank notes to photos of regular customers can be found on the walls of Bar Olimpo, which act as canvasses that document the memories of the community.

Named after a favoured football team that used to frequent the venue before and after their matches, the bar has retained its soul and exists as an homage to that old-age Argentine institution; football. Olimpo was one of the first bars in the area to get its very own television, which prompted excitement at the time. Informal gatherings were hosted in the bar for the local community to come and watch the football matches of a team that had long since been a firm favourite after being the runners up in a tournament in 1949 that included 56 teams.

The bar has also been the scene for an Argentine film ‘Esperando la Carroza’ and famous actor Adolfo García Grau was a regular customer.

One cannot help imagining the typical scene of a crowd of Argentines from the past huddled around the marvel that was the television set in the 1950s, eagerly awaiting the result of a football match. This scene is all too easy to imagine as the original television remains a focal point in the bar, alongside other objects from the bar’s founding 60 years ago.

The menu is at Bar Olimpo is not dressed to be anything other than it is. There are no frills and not a lot of variety, but what it does, it does well. Argentine culinary staples such as medialunas, empanadas and licuados are all made with care.

Although Bar Olimpo is far from the popular sites of the city centre and may not be on everyone’s itinerary, it is a lovely spot that has survived the galloping feet of tourists. If in Buenos Aires for five days, it is not a marvel that you need to see but if your time in the city is not rushed and you simply wish to discover her splendour on every far-flung corner, let Bar Olimpo show you the way.

Imposing and majestic, Alvear Palace Hotel stands its ground amongst the impressive hotels that line the street towards Recoleta Cemetery. The hotel is home to four bars: L’Orangerie, La Borbogne, the Cigar bar, and the Lobby bar, each of which is immaculately designed with extravagant fittings. The latter is among the notables, making the list as a result of its history and presence within one of the most prestigious hotels in Buenos Aires.

Fitted wall to wall with elegant French wooden panelling, the bar draws you back to the time when its doors first opened in 1932. Sitting within the plush chairs and gazing around at the array of elite guests it feels as unrealistic as the set of a movie.

Nestled to the side of the hotel lobby, the bar is possibly the most visited of them all, but maybe not the most desired. Among the transitional space of the lifts, with bell boys moving luggage around and throngs of guests being lead to their rooms, the lobby is the perfect spot to wait and sip a glass of wine or coffee while waiting for someone else.

But perhaps its glory ends there: despite its beauty and ornate features, the bar is lacking a certain charm. The energy or spark the bar once may have had when graced with the presence of stylish Argentines in the 1930s is missing. Thus perhaps a more worthy visit may be L’Orangerie, which boasts a unique afternoon tea with fancy pastries and blends of tea.

The Lobby bar, however, is still in keeping with the refined majesty of the hotel. Adorned with chandeliers and bouquets of red roses, the décor is pristine, and completely in keeping with the range of stylish cocktails served, well-received by the guests the hotel welcomes in.

I went to this bar hoping not to use phrases like “typical”, “oak panelling” and “original period charm” but the fact is that Plaza Bar Dorrego, with its graffitied oak panelling, typical selection of Argentine bar food and original fittings is absolutely charming and there’s little I can do to change that.

First opened at the end of the 19th century as an almacen and despacho de bebidas – the bar has seen tourists and locals passing though San Telmo for over 130 years. Faded photographs proudly chronicle some of the more famous faces – including the Clintons, Bobby De Niro, Eric Clapton and Robert Duval as well as Carlos Gardel and Borges.

Carlos, the head waitor, who has worked here for over twenty years says that nothing much has changed apart from a shiny 80-year old coffee maker being consigned to the dusty shelves along with elderly bottles of ginebra, anis and cognac.

“San Telmo is the oldest of the 100 neighbourhoods in Buenos Aires and this bar has kept the feeling of that time – so people like to come here and feel like it is the authentic Argentine experience,” he says as people read their morning papers and drink their coffees before sloping to work.

Defensa, along which the antique dealers, artisans and jumble sellers unfold their tables and unpack their treasures for the Sunday market every week, seems the perfect place for this relic of a bar to scoop up travellers after a long afternoon bartering and watching their backs for sneakthieves. Plaza Dorrego, opposite, with its live music and mini craft fair is a daily tourist honey-trap.

In the bar, the tables, scored with etching and love messages are made from reclaimed wood and look like they might have been borrowed from a turn of the century boys’ boarding school – which, indeed, they may have been.

Tango music, which has permeated San Telmo and seeps out of every mouse-hole and cobble-stone as barflies gossip over mournful accordion music under the watchful eyes of famous musicians and singers painted on the walls.

An electric blue Christmas tree, festooned with gaudy baubles and silver tinsel only serves to make the original cash register and cracked wooden spice drawers behind the bar look more like a portal to the past.

Unfortunately the price of authenticity is an exorbitant menu. Intriguingly the Dorrego Salad costs $48: given that it’s comprised of tomato, lettuce, onion, egg and – national favourite – ham and cheese – I imagine it must be a rather a special lettuce.

Coffee and three medialunas – a good benchmark for affordability – will set you back $17 and round tostados $22. Carlos recommends the lomitos, which are available from around $50.

Cider, always a scarce commodity in the city, is available for $16 a chopp and the bar also offers draught beers and stout although a stiff whiskey and a saucer of monkey nuts seems more appropriate.

This bar is deservedly on the list of bares notables but while it’s worth a visit it might be worth saving your pennies for souveniers and steaks elsewhere.