Brasserie Petanque - San Telmo

It has been several days since having anything worthwhile to post about, but we're back!  Unfortunately, we were both struck by dreaded TD (travelers' diarrhea, Argentine 2 step - well, you know what I mean).  We were not really feeling terrible - no fever or chills - but just not quite right and on the 3rd day, we took a 3 day dose of the magic bullet - ciprofloxin - which you can buy OTC in Buenos Aires and the nearest pharmacy is only 2 short blocks from our apartment.  Well, by yesterday we were finally over it and today we were ready for another excursion.

Our new friends, Shirley and Gary, discovered a French restaurant in San Telmo which they liked a lot and so suggested that we meet them there today for lunch.  Of course, wouldn't you know it, today was the hottest and most humid day we have had so far in BA.  The high hit a blistering 97 deg with serious humidity - pretty hard on a couple of high desert folks like us.  But, the lure of a French restaurant after several days of inactivity and eating little more than chicken soup sounded really good.  We hopped on the no. 61 bus and 30 minutes later hopped off and walked two blocks to the restaurant. At first the air conditioning felt good but later it didn't feel that cool inside either.

The staff here were very friendly and funny.  They welcomed Gary and Shirley like old friends even though they had only been there once before.  Service was great.   The lunch special included appetizer, main dish and dessert for 69 pesos.  John and I both ordered from the specials - he had a serving of quiche for appetizer while I had the pate.  We both ordered the fish filet - I have no idea what kind of fish it was - but it was white, perfectly cooked and good with a nice salsa on top - just had to add a little salt, as usual.  It came with a tasty rice side.  Gary ordered the steak tartare, which was good looking - mixed by the waiter at the table.  Shirley had the beef bourguignon which she said was delicious.  We shared a nice bottle of white wine.  The dessert was creme brulee.  It was a very good lunch but the best part was conversing and laughing with Gary and Shirley and sharing stories and travels. We hope to get a chance to see them again next week before we leave.  They will be in BA until the middle of February or so.  We're also hoping that they can come visit us in San Miguel now that they are retired.  

After a 2 1/2 hour lunch, we walked back to the bus stop in the sauna and after a considerable wait for the bus, we were delighted that it turned out to be one of the air conditioned ones - not bad for a 50 cent bus ride.  

Here are a few more pictures of our lunch.  Life is good again.

Gary and Shirley

Steak Tartare prep 

Fish

Beef Bourguignon