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another subcontinent forums _ restaurant reviews _ Restaurants in South America

Posted by: anil Aug 29 2004, 05:02 AM

As usual I find the exposure to Indu/Hindu cuisine non-existent. After a few visits I was more knowledgable about Buenos Aires that the Indian Embassy PRs that are supposed to help Indian Trade Associations

The Mainstay of Indian in Buenos Aires are essentialy three restaurants - There have been others, which have opened and closed. The three are "Kathmandu" "The bengal" and now-called Krishna, the last being aHare-Krishna devotee catneen fare.

The Bengal was opened by a retred Argentinian diplmat who served for decades in India. SO Is it a Bengali restaurant ? No, Is it an Indian restaurant ? eh! So Why include it ?
1. Inspiration
2. Fusion

The restaurant does have last two pages which have indian fusion dished prepared based on the Chef's interpretation. The nan's are small, the dal serving is akin to portions one got initially in a thali-joint in Bombay. The lamb was hugh (remember this is a carnivorous country with beef being amongst the best in the world) and very mildly spiced.

The restaurant's focus is ostly on Carne, Lomito ... i.e Beef Since there are many excellent grills and parrillas in Buenos Aires. have never tried this.

[.....to be continued....]

Posted by: anil Aug 29 2004, 04:53 PM

Kathmandu

Of all the sundry indian/indu/Hindu restaurants in BuenosAires, Kathmandu is the most stable and traditional of the lot. In being that it has retained most elements of an indian restaurant - Kitchy motifs, old pre-colonial icons (read mughal paintings, and south indian architectural photography) and an open clay tandoor.

Kathmandu is open only in the evenings; and is closed on Sundays. The owners are first generation portenos (i.e natives of Buenos Aires) The clientele is mostly gringos,inglias,some indians(given an indian Embassy) and odd sundry tourist.

Most portenos tend not to be very bold and experimental on their own; and stick to straight steaks and grilled meats. Over the years I have introduced nearly all my portenos to the indian cuisine. Knowing well that even the mildest of dishes will be too much for them, I've always ordered raita along with rice and naan.

Since te owners are hindus, there is no beef dishes in the restaurant. All the dishes are middle of the road inn terms of preparation i.e neither excellent neither terrible.

They do have a good wine list and Melbac is my favorite argentinian wine.

Posted by: arnab Aug 29 2004, 09:55 PM

anil, thanks so much for these capsules--keep 'em coming!

i'm intrigued that these people named the restaurant "kathmandu". i mean first of all the usual naming convention in the u.s seem's to be to include at least one of the following words: india's, tandoor(i), taj, durbar. all three places in buenos aires seem to eschew these options. secondly, why does kathmandu connote indian to argentinians? i wonder if they occasionally get very confused nepali tourists.

Posted by: armagod Sep 1 2004, 02:57 AM

QUOTE (arnab @ Aug 29 2004, 09:55 PM)

secondly, why does kathmandu connote indian to argentinians? i wonder if they occasionally get very confused nepali tourists.

In Europe at least, in certain circles "Kathmandu" has all sorts of new age associations - Everest, Buddhism, Dalai Lama, monks, robes, peace, meditation, trance music, marijuana, hippie trail, etc.

Posted by: anil Sep 1 2004, 08:20 AM

QUOTE (arnab @ Aug 29 2004, 01:25 PM)

I have also wondered over the years. However, I never asked because I know they have changed hands atleast twice - Maybe it is to preserve name-recognition a.k.a poor-hombre's-marketing-101 ??

Posted by: anil Sep 9 2004, 02:36 PM

Natraj
Rua General San Martin, 1219
Rio de Janeiro

Located in a posh residential neighborhood of Rio, Natraj is only indian restaurant run by expats. Others are run and managed by cariocas.

This is one of the very few indian eatery where I have had a really memorable meal. When we first went to Natraj in the late 90s it was it's second day. They were not yet setup for CC payments or TCs and we were short rias - We settled the check in USD. Over the years I have made it a point to atleast have one dinner per trip.

Natraj is run by a family whose matriarch used to work for the British HighCommission in GIG. She had been doing special event catering for the embassy as a side interest and then one fine day she decided to open a restaurant - I'm glad she did. It takes courage to make a caipirinha with an indian twist

Posted by: anil Sep 18 2004, 01:45 PM

BW Hotel Majestic Santiago-de-Chile

This restaurant is attached to a Best Western Hotel managed by some Sindhi folks in Chile - is average at best. http://www.hotelmajestic.cl/restaurant/restaurant.htm however does impress many chilean folks, who have not been exposed to spices. I took a few of them on my last trip. You'd have thought that atleast they'd have one or two sindhi dishes - nah

I have found indian restaurants in cities/countries with great food traditions to under perform. One would expect the Chef to get inspired with the vast variety of fresh fish no ?

My suspicion is that much of the clientele in nthis restaurant is from the diplomatic community, Indian + the British High Commission; given that Chicken tikka-Masala is now England's numero-uno dish.