The final installation of “Hola Buenos Aires” – Things that I encountered in the first few weeks of moving to BA that let me know that it’s a city that I will love.
In my first post, I talked about the friendly people. Part two was about the beautiful parks and green spaces. This post (part three), is all about the cafe culture. As a flaneur (see About Me for Flaneur description), the numerous cafes on every street are my “happy place” There’s nothing I like better that being able to sit in a cozy cafe with a friend or my hubby enjoying a cup of espresso watching the world go by.
While you can order just about anything on the menu any time, most cafes in Buenos Aires offer a “menu mediadia” (midday menu) which is usually a lighter meal or a coffee and bakery good. At almost all cafes that I’ve been to, or passed by, I see them promoting a popular mediadia offering of – café con leche (coffee with milk) and two medialunas (which translates as half-moons, but are in fact, big, warm, flakey croissants) While I most often don’t allow myself the decadence of eating two yummy croissants, I happily order a coffee and join locals who enjoy this leisurely time of day.
The mid-day menu is usually offered anytime between about 2:00pm – 5:00pm/6:00pm, and cafes are buzzing with people at this time. Local folks consider any time before 6:00pm “afternoon” as dinnertime isn’t until at least 8:30/9:00pm!
Spending and afternoon in a cute, cozy cafe with an espresso and delicious, warm croissant, sweet treat, or ham and cheese “toastie”? I say, “Si por favor!” (Yes please!)
