In a few months I'm packing up and leaving on a one way ticket for Buenos Aires. I was just wondering if any of you have experienced this part of the world as a vegetarian/vegan, how socially acceptable it is there, if it's commonly catered for... all of these things. Any wisdom would be much appreciated.
I recall a Paraguyan poster who said it was all beef all the time in the region. Argentina is a beef capitol, much like the American West. What does Happy Cow have to say about it? what happens if you search veg and argentina? any societies?
Sorry this is such a late response--just browsing thru older posts. I spent a few weeks in Montevideo, Uruguay with my famiy several years ago. I ate very well. yes, there is a big deal about the Asado, or grilled meats. But there are many options of salads, pastas, potato dishes, etc. Most meals feature LOTS of fresh vegetables there that are grown organically. They don't use and never have used pesticides and hormones. The stuff there had SO MUCH FLAVOR. Simple, yet delicate and full in flavors. They don't use a lot of seasoning, allowing the natural ingredients to shine thru. The beer was yummy, too! The people there are BEAUTIFUL, so look out!
I've been living in Buenos Aires for almost a year now and although I'm not full vegetarian I have several friends who are. So I'll give you my rundown of things here. You can definately check Happy Cow - there are a couple of vegetarian restaurants here that are pretty good. Be forewarned SO MANY things contain beef fat. I never would have imagined my cats would want to eat breakfast pastries, but I realized there is beef fat in them. Also even the vegetable empanadas are usually made with beef fat as well. You can find vegetarian foods in the supermarkets - there are some veggie patties in the frozen cases, and supermarkets as well as fast food places have a soy milanesas (milanesas are ubiquitous here). For health and vegetarian foods like tofu, you should go to "dieteticas" which are tiny little health food shops. They're everywhere in the city. You can go to Barrio Chino which is in the Belgrano part of the city.It's a little mini chinatown where you can find some pretty good stuff. Some stores have organic, vegetarian, bulk products. like Casa de China. Last there is a great delivery company that delivers freshly picked organic veggies - a little more expensive but excellent quality called TalloVerde.com only sell what's in season and that's it. Hope this helps. If you have questions, don't hesistate to email me or check my blog for more info.
