Vegetarian vexed while visiting Argentina

Meat Eaters’ Paradise

I knew before coming to Argentina that the country was known for its beef. The meat in Argentina is supposed to be some of the best in the world. For all you carnivores out there, that’s great news; however, for those who eat less meat, it can be a bit daunting.
Now I’m not 100% vegetarian. I still eat meat, just very occasionally. I do eat cheese and eggs on a regular basis though. Because I don’t consider myself super strict when it comes to meat consumption, I can generally find a few vegetarian options (3 or more) on every menu, at least in the United States.
Here in Argentina, it’s a different story. About 90% of the restaurants here do have an option for vegetarians. The challenge lies in that there is only ONE choice. (Even a majority of the salads here contain some form of meat.) So, if you’re not feeling like spaghetti for the 3rd night in a row, then you’re out of luck. For example, three of the last four restaurants we ate in offered only one vegetarian option. All of them were a variant of pasta. (Pumpkin ravioli is the most popular option.) I’m not a huge pasta eater. I like it occasionally, and usually for lunch. However, down here, I have eaten more pasta than probably anything else.

We have found four vegetarian restaurants here in Buenos Aires. However, we have only eaten at two of them. We will definitely try one more, but I don’t really feel like it’s fair for me to force my food preference onto others by taking them to a restaurant that serves no meat. This is part of the reason why it’s frustrating me that there is only one option for me to choose at most restaurants in Buenos Aires.
All I’m asking for here is a few more choices. I’m tired of pasta, and not having a choice of what to order. Even if I had two and I could choose from two options, I would be grateful.
May the Argentine beef gods forgive me.
(If you’d like, you can check out some of my Buenos Aires Restaurant Reviews)

Quickroute says:

April 23, 2008 at 4:51 pm

It’s true – If you don’t like meat here your choice is limited – Barrio China in Belgrano has good restaurants with veggie options. – Have you been there?

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#3 says:

April 24, 2008 at 10:19 am

i think i may want to go traveling with you. soonish. somewhere cool.

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Carrie says:

April 28, 2008 at 7:28 am

@ Quickroute
No, we haven’t been to Barrio China yet. We’ve been to Bio in Palermo Hollywood and it was great. We’re also probably going to try Krishna sometime soon as well. Thanks for the recommendation. We’ll probably try there as well.

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Carrie says:

April 28, 2008 at 7:29 am

@ #3
Yes, please come with us. We’d love to have you along. I miss you. (Everywhere is cool when you travel with us.)
#2

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Carrie says:

April 29, 2008 at 12:11 pm

Funny…
Here’s my horoscope for the day I posted this.
“You’ll feel better about yourself and your options if you will only lighten up and consider yourself fortunate to have any choice at all.”
I found that very funny.

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Christina says:

February 18, 2009 at 9:03 am

I’m a parilla lover but when I get sick of meat and pasta in Buenos Aires I head for the Tenedor Libre restaurants (all-you-can-eats.) The quality/variety for the price is incredible. I love “Cocina Y Cia” near Palermo and “Quorum” across the street from the Congresso is one of our favorites. Naturally they have grilled meats but they also have wonderful salads, seafood,vegetables, desserts, etc..
God I’m hungry.

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