Palermo Hollywood

PALERMO. It’s the Buenos Aires super-barrio that simply can’t be ignored. You probably live there, likely shop there, surely have amigos there, and DEFINITELY go there for brunch and a session on your MacBook ‘doing Spanish homework’ – i.e. updating your Facebook status and reading celebrity gossip. It’s ok, you don’t have to deny it! You’re among friends here.

Anyway, that’s Palermo in general. What about Palermo Hollywood… and why is it called that? Palermo Hollywood, is the colloquial name for the section of Palermo Viejo (which, for the map lovers, is the half of Palermo that’s bordered by Santa Fe, Córdoba, Dorrego and Coronel Díaz) that lies between Juan B. Justo and Dorrego. There are a lot of radio and television studios in the area – hence the name – but now it’s more known for its nightlife, which includes some of the best restaurants, bar and clubs in the city.

History

Palermo ‘Hollywood’ is, of course, a name that was recently invented, but the area it describes has been a popular place to live in Buenos Aires since the late 1800s.

When you walk around Palermo Hollywood you might notice that features more of the old, Spanish-style architecture than other areas of the city, and also that there aren’t many high buildings apart from newer apartment towers. That’s because for a long time there was a law prohibiting new buildings in the area from being above nine meters in height. The combination of low houses, wide streets and trees lends it a nice ambiance.

It’s thought the name Palermo probably comes from Saint Benedict of Palermo, a Franciscan abbey that was built in the area in the 1500s. The abbey was named in honor of the abbot, who was from Palermo in Sicily.

Things to see and do

Like its neighbor, Palermo Soho, Palermo Hollywood is all about wining and dining as opposed to sightseeing. But for something different, what about a spot of tango? Palermo Hollywood is home to the well known milonga Práctica X (Humboldt 1464). This milonga is notable for the fact that its patrons are overwhelmingly non-Argentine, which might be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what you’re looking for. It’s a young crowd too. Check their website for exact details, but a preliminary tango class from 9pm to 10:30pm, and a dance from 10:30pm until 3am is standard.

Stretch the boundaries of what you consider to be Palermo Hollywood just a little and you get the opportunity to visit the Mercado de las Pulgas (Niceto Vega 200), which technically is in Colegiales. You won’t see many tourists at this covered market, which sells second-hand (or probably more accurately fourth- or fifth-hand) furniture, something which Buenos Aires has no shortage of. Its rabbits’ warren of stalls are fun to poke around in and offer a glimpse of the city’s opulent past. Open daily from 10am to 5pm.

Cafés

Yes, I know it pops up on every one of these lists, but French-style café Oui Oui (Nicaragua 6068) is so good that it bears mentioning again (and again). Reasonable coffee, fresh lemonade, bacon and eggs, fruit salad with yogurt and granola, great salads, croissants, eggs benedict, bagels…are you convinced yet? And it’s also just a really nice place to hang out and read the paper or abuse the free Wi-Fi for a couple of hours. AND it’s only a short walk from Ministro Carranza subte station, so it’s easy to get to.

Restaurants

It is, of course, hard to get good Asian food in Buenos Aires. It makes sense – Argentineans don’t have much of an appetite for spicy food or complex flavors, and it’d be silly to try to rely on foreigners alone. Vietnamese restaurant Green Bamboo (Costa Rica 5802) is therefore an oasis in the desert. Its menu is littered with words like ginger, soy, fish sauce, lime, chili and coriander. To be honest it’s not perfect, and by Buenos Aires standards it’s expensive too, but for we Asian food lovers, even an approximation is better than nothing.

Sticking with a theme, Palermo Hollywood also offers The Bangalore Pub & Curry House (Humboldt 1416). With its powerful spices it’s hard to imagine a cuisine less suited to the Argentine palate than Indian food, but the crazy fools who run Bangalore have gone ahead with the concept anyway. The food is great and they offer G&T jugs in a cozy pub atmosphere. Perfect!

Sick of both steak and Argentine interpretation of Asian food? Why not move up the food chain (jajaja) and try the fine dining restaurant Tegui (Costa Rica 5852). Its entrance is a featureless black door in the middle of a wall of graffiti, so you just know it’s going to be cool before you even go in. And it is, and thankfully, in a good way. The restaurant is in fact visually stunning, with gleaming, contemporary black-and-white décor and a large open kitchen at the back. The food is also fantastic, cleverly put together and extremely tasty. The menu changes from week to week. It’s expensive (150 pesos for the tasting menu), but given that it might just be the best meal you eat in Buenos Aires, it’s worth it.

Nightlife

Let’s not sugar-coat this: are you looking for some action? If so you could do a lot worse than head to Unico (Honduras 5604). There’s nothing particularly special about this corner-located bar, but it always seems to attract a large crowd who are willing to meet and mingle.

Sometimes you want to go to a nightspot just because it has a cool name. Like Voodoo Motel (Dorrego 1735). Voodoo. Motel. Cool. They play more techno/electro at Voodoo Motel than is common at most Buenos Aires nightclubs, which makes for a nice change if you like that type of thing. Live sets are mixed in with the DJs and it all attracts a fun crowd. There are a number of different spaces including a patio. It’s open from Thursday to Saturday, 8pm until close.

Seriously, how long has it been since you played a really good game of Trivial Pursuit (in Spanish) or giant Jenga? Too long, right? Well don’t worry because Acabar (Honduras 5733) has enough board games to stock a games store. Huge, noisy, full of character and ridiculously popular with a young crowd of Porteños (which may or not be because it’s very cheap), resto-bar Acabar is the epitome of fun casual Palermo dining and drinking. The food is utterly Buenos Aires-pedestrian – think milanesas, pasta and extremely suspect renditions of Chinese food – but the serving sizes are massive and the drinks are cheap.

Finalmente

With its huge abundance of restaurants and bars, Palermo Hollywood offers you options, options, options for every night of the week. Somewhat surprisingly with all this nightlife it’s also leafy, quiet and relaxed, so it makes a brilliant place to live. Just don’t plan on quiet nights in – it’s far too tempting for that!