Comments on: Coreana – Take Two

By: SaltShaker » Blog Archive » Koreatown Caution

SaltShaker » Blog Archive » Koreatown Caution — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:50:41 +0000

[...] and recommended against it. So, I’d say, for Korean food these days here in BA, stick with Bi Won in [...]

By: eliza jane curtis » Blog Archive » Buenos Aires eats

eliza jane curtis » Blog Archive » Buenos Aires eats — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:56:19 +0000

[...] BiWon: a Korean restaurant in Once (Junin 548, 4372-1146, cash only, closed sundays). I think it’s pretty authentic Korean but i’m not an expert. The star of the show is Korean barbecue, unbelievably tender and delicious marinated strips of beef or pork. They’ll bring you a grill to cook it yourself on your table, or they will cook it for you in the kitchen. There’s also tasty noodle soups, dumplings, bi-bim-bap, soju, and lots of other stuff I’ve never ordered. As soon as you sit down they will bring you a delicious array of 10 or 12 little dishes, like Korean tapas, ranging from pickled spicy cabbage kim-chi to potato salad to seaweed and sometimes a dish of tiny crispy whole fishes. It’s a little expensive but totally totally worth it. The ambience and decor are a bit weird, but the waiters are always really nice. [...]

By: Miguel

Miguel — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:36:10 +0000

I went there a couple of weeks ago. The place is great and I also live in Recolta. You don’t need to take a bus! The place is very near the Facultad de Economia so anything that goes through Cordoba will take you but really, you can walk it.

By: dan

dan — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 16:57:38 +0000

Randy,

That depends where in Recoleta you are – but most likely, you’d simply walk. Recoleta and Balvanera are next to each other, and the restaurant is basically right on the line between them. Probably the furthest point in Recoleta you could possibly be is no more than a 15-20 minute walk.

By: randy c

randy c — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 08:47:39 +0000

What colectivo or Subte from Recoleta would I need to take to:

Bi Won at Junín 548.

New to BsAs and need to get a fix of Korean food soon.

Thank you.

By: dan

dan — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:17:06 +0000

Now see, there you went and used “bop” after telling me to use “bap”. How can I win?

I’m glad you liked the place, and yes, it’s likely because of being vacation time here in BA, and Bi Won isn’t likely a hotspot on most tourists’ lists. Very cool about the vegetarian accommodation, not something I knew about them, but that makes it an even bigger recommendation, as that’s something that comes up often with visitors.

By: Coleen

Coleen — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:01:41 +0000

Hullo!

I just went there and it was great! I was so happy… there was no one there at around 2 PM, which was kind of sad but apparently it’s vacation season so business is a bit slow?

The food was fully authentic, spicy, etc. Possibly because we were the only people there, with the owner sitting watching the passing of the torch to Obama in the main salon (I spoke to her briefly and they clearly saw I was Korean)…

We had the spicy miso stew (denjang jiggae, spelling varies) and bibim bop. They were very accommodating with my Argentinian boyfriend’s vegetarian diet needs, too.

We ate EVERYTHING.

Weird about the kim chee issue; I’ve never heard that kind of thing before!

Anyway, thanks for the detailed reviews of ethnic eats in Baires!

By: dan

dan — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 22:50:48 +0000

No question that Bi Won offers a more toned down version of Korean food than those spots found in the heart of the Korean community, but then, that’s why it’s there – to offer a taste of Korean food to the Argentine community. Given that the Argentine palate, in general, is not fond of spicy cuisine, they have no choice if they want to survive. They will, however, make it authentically spicy if you ask, and I’ve yet to hear from anyone Korean or not, that they didn’t like the food (and you can see from at least one past comment that one reader found it as authentic as they recall from back home). I have yet to encounter a time when they didn’t have kim chee and an array of other ban chan. As to the terminology, as I’ve said, I always thought exactly what you stated, but I’ve had more than one Korean person tell me that I’m simply wrong. No mistakes in communication or context, I’ve sat right there in a Korean restaurant, with Koreans, who pointed to all the various little dishes, spicy, sweet, vegetable, fish, meat – and said “all this together is called kim chee, not just the spicy cabbage dish, ban chan is just another name for the same thing”. I don’t speak the language, nor pretend to be an expert on the cuisine, but it’s a tiresome argument (most of which has gone on via e-mail outside of this page), and I leave it to be settled within the Korean community itself – work it out amongst yourselves and let us know when you’re all in agreement!