[Note from Alan: I'm still here! I promise! I didn't leave the country! I haven't updated the blog for ages because I've been so busy with the walking tours and related work/emails. But please do keep checking back as soon there will be some very exciting changes happening here at the Buenos Aires Argentina Guide. To keep you going for now, here is a post that Kim wrote for me a while back about Rumi Nightclub...]

The trademark red lights of Rumi are anything but a sign to stop. And as long as you don’t, you’re in for a good night. Rumi boasts a welcoming and sizable venue for dancing, food, lounging and drinks, and even doubles as a restaurant in the earlier hours (at around 10pm or so).

Rumi is much more of a boliche (nightclub) than a bar or restaurant, but holds on to its desire to be all three just enough. Naturally, like any boliche/bar/restaurant in Buenos Aires, the hour in which you arrive will drastically determine the night you have in store. Because Rumi is the perfect halfway point between the larger clubs like Museum & the once famed Opera Bay, and the smaller boliches (where you find your self fighting for room at the: bar, dance floor, restrooms, entrance, etc…), it’s a great way to enjoy Argentine nightlife without having to embrace the extremes. The red lights of Rumi shine from the outside beckoning patrons to enter…

Rumi’s Wednesday Night Dinner Special

If you’ve arrived early then you’ve already avoided the fuss of waiting in line and probably sauntered your way right on in. At around 10:30pm the club serves dinner. Rumi is known for its Wednesday night, when for 30 pesos (women) or 40 pesos (men) you can choose between a choices of entrée, drink and dessert. The menu offers rotating options, but when we visited it was steak and pasta, both of which are delicious, and your choice of beers, wine or coffee. Afterwards, choosing which ice cream dessert most suits your fancy won’t be an easy feat!

The Early Bird Catches the Booth in Buenos Aires

The restaurant set up is calming and still, and you’ll most likely be set up with a table on the dance floor. Keep in mind you’ll hardly notice that the exact spot you’re eating at will soon transform into a sea of dancers. However, asking politely, calling ahead, or knowing the owner might get you a booth seat located away from the dance floor. This eating scenario is more reminiscent of higher end restaurants and is also a great place to be seated if you plan on staying for the music and dancing.

The booths turn into a wonderful hiatus from the energy of the dance floor and are a perfect place to rest your feet and rejuvenate your spirits. There are seemingly endless benefits to arriving early, and here are just a few: you can see who’s arriving, who’s looking good and if it’s worth hanging around for.

So, You Think You Can Dance?

If you and your amigos have made other plans and have already enjoyed dinner, a siesta and perhaps a drink or two at another bar, then you’re here to dance. Arriving around 2:30am, you’re amongst the fashionable Argentines who are here for fun and to bust some moves. At this point the tables have been cleared, the music is pumping and everyone around you is here for the same reason. All those early birds who aren’t in it for the long haul, have flown the coop.

Rumi has a lovely outside terrace where people enjoy the fresh air and the occasional cigarette. If you want in, you’ll have to wait AND pay your dues. The covers very from weeknight to weekend, coming in a tad steeper on the nights truly dedicated for the night owls. 30 pesos should be plenty and it will be worth it. Passing under the red letters of Rumi, yet more red summons you toward the dance floor.

One of Rumi’s greatest perks is the bar and dance floor set up. The bar runs the length of the dance floor so there are no corner bars you need to fight and huddle your way into. The DJ booth is opposite the entrance where the man in charge of the decks quickly changes up synthesized pop hits to pumping techno as he feels out the vibe of the crowd. Those relaxing, watching or simply enjoying from afar seem to melt away, making the dance floor the center of a attention. And why shouldn’t it be? The surging crowd is filled with energy and the club stays this way until the sun comes up, and your priorities switch from boogie to bed.

A Word About Nightclub Ambiance

As mentioned, the layout of Rumi does a lot for the club. The bathrooms are upstairs and separate from the club and the hallway leading to the dance floor creates a sort of ‘calm before the storm’. Here you can find couples snuggling and making out in sphere shaped chairs, between bouts of dancing.

Rumi isn’t unaware of its red-light stereotype and hired entertainment is much more “red-light district” than the rest of the club. A feature dancer or two may be propped up for all to see and combing the crowd are other colorful entertainers. It adds a great mix of flavor to the club in the later hours and the crowd digs the extras like glow sticks and candy handed out by the hot-bodied dancers or men in drag. Yet another visual to keep your interest peaked is the footage of live concerts and music videos projected on the screens above the dance floor. You’re sure to draw inspiration from somewhere and I’m sure you’ll enjoy what Rumi is throwing down on the dance floor.

Location, Location, Location…

Rumi is located on the Costanera of Buenos Aires, but not near Puerto Madero. Instead, look north. It’s much closer to Belgrano and the cab rides are cheap from other eating and nightlife areas such as Recoleta, Palermo or Las Canitas. Mention the club name to a cabbie or scribble down: Avenida Figueroa Alcorta 6442 y La Pampa and you’ll be there in no time.

I’ve just seen on Pasa en Buenos Aires [ES] that the Buenos Aires Government Tourism Portal has launched two new blogs about tourism in the city of Buenos Aires, one in English, and one in Spanish.

Buenos Aires and Web 2.0

They say that the aim of the blogs is to form a Web 2.0 community around the subject of tourism in the city, with readers hopefully contributing useful ideas and content in addition to the city government writers themselves. For example, the new blogs want to be open to the following:

• travelers can ask their questions about the city before arriving;
• visitors can ask their questions when they already are in Buenos Aires;
• visitors can tell other travelers and also porteños about the places they found out;
• porteños can go public with their secrets about the city;
• you can comment what you like and what you don’t of Buenos Aires;
• you can meet people traveling, staying or living in the city;
• you can recommend, criticize, discuss and learn what is said about tourism in Buenos Aires.

Sounds interesting, and I’m looking forward to their posts, plus the comments from visitors to the city and of course porteños. So far, they have a couple of posts up: one on Buenos Aires in Winter / Buenos Aires en invierno, and another entitled Where did you go last night / ¿Adónde fuiste anoche? – both excellent starting topics, so go take a look and comment in whichever language you prefer.

But don’t forget me and the other Buenos Aires bloggers…

I have to say, that I still also welcome as much user interaction on my Buenos Aires blog as possible, in the same vein as the new city government blogs wish for – so please don’t be afraid to leave your views or questions in the comments sections at the end of each of my posts, or you can email me if you are interested in contributing a guest post or review from in and around Buenos Aires to this blog – such as the recent excellent guest posts we’ve seen from Diva of Bitchtours and Tango Cherie.

Finally, worth noting is that, after an extended absence, Jude has made a welcome return to the land of Buenos Aires blogging, over at Not for the fainthearted, and another fairly new blog that I’m reading on a regular basis is Soy So Lindo, which covers a load of cool and quirky things going on in Buenos Aires.

Happy reading!

Jazz in Buenos Aires at Thelonious Club

If you are looking to spend a night in a setting of utmost Buenos Aires cool, check out the famed Palermo jazz club, Thelonious. This bar features live jazz bands Wednesday through Sunday nights, starting at 9:30 pm. On Friday and Saturday nights there are two bands in the line-up. Thelonious, named after the legendary American jazz pianist, is not a place to hear second-rate jazz. The performance on any given night will enrapture you with the energy, talent, and improvisational skills of the musicians.

Cover fees range from $7 to $15 depending on the night: you can check their website, call for more information about that night’s particular show (4829-1562), or stop by Thelonious to pick up the current month’s schedule.

Reserve a table for a night of elegance and spectacular jazz

In order to make sure you have a space to sit and view the musicians, you should call ahead and reserve a table. They will hold it for you until 9:30pm, when the music is supposed to start (I say “supposed to” because this is Argentina and nothing starts exactly on time).

If you come with a date, you’ll get a cozy table for two; bigger groups get couches and coffee tables; otherwise you can pull up a stool at the bar or even hang out on the stairs leading to the upper level. The place is small, so get there early if you don’t have a reservation. Your experience will be much more enjoyable if you have a seat, as the jazz sets are often quite long (an hour and a half on average).

Sip on a cool cocktail in the color of your choice

Located in a fairly posh part of Palermo, near Plaza Guemes and its lovely Our Lady of Guadalupe church, Thelonious club is usually packed with smartly-dressed Buenos Aires hipsters, old-school jazz fans, and foreigners visiting the city. It’s okay to be casual, but if you are looking for somewhere to show off your trendy new Palermo boutique finds, this is the place.

Everybody checks each other out, wondering who is going to be having drinks with the band after the show. So make sure you order a fashionable drink, like the local-standard Fernet and coke (AR$11), or one of Thelonious’ colorful cocktails, such as a daquiri (AR$13, made with fresh lemon), or a frozen mojito ($13, bright green due to the blended mint leaves).

Thelonious offers a very complete list of cocktails, and some creative ones, like the Keith Richards: vodka, lemon, and sugar (AR$13). Of course, if you are on a budget, be glad that you are in Argentina and you can share a bottle of El Portillo Malbec with some friends for AR$24, or a Lat 33 for AR$27. To impress your date go for one of the Salentein Robles (AR$53). And if you’re just a regular beer guy, grab a bottle of Heineken (AR$8) or Guinness (AR$10).

Thelonious, a recycled building decorated with a special touch

The atmosphere alone at Thelonious is reason enough to stop by. As with many modern restaurants and bars in Buenos Aires, Thelonious is a “recycled” rendition of an old house. One special feature of Palermo architecture that you will see at this club is the bare brick ceilings. Above the stage hangs a light fixture consisting of subdued yellow light bulbs twisted every which way like an unruly nest of wires.

The place is designed to be a live music venue, with low-wattage spot lighting placed strategically around the premises. The sturdy bar seems to be made of adobe, and it has built-in lights that cast a glow on the face of your date as he or she absorbs the frenetic bleeps and bloops of the trumpet or the whirring drum rhythms.

Whatever act is on at Thelonious, you can be assured that it’s a respected, nationally or even internationally acclaimed group of artists who dedicate themselves to their instruments. Depending on the artist, the songs may be original compositions with influences from classical jazz, modern rock, and Latin American musical genres, or they might be renditions of standards from the likes of John Coltrane and Dizzy Gillespie. The late-night bands on Fridays and Saturdays are more the dance-and-groove types, while the weekday night bands are better for listening and watching attentively.

Worth an after-dinner visit, for an evening of musical bliss

Even if you aren’t a jazz aficionado, Thelonious Club is pretty much sure to guarantee a unique and interesting evening. The service is not especially warm but it is certainly professional and efficient. It’s best to eat before the show (or after, at the café on the corner of Salguero, which is open late), but if you come hungry, you can order simple pizzetas for between AR$10 and AR$12, or a cheese plate (tabla de quesos) for AR$15.

Thelonious also offers desserts, making it a great place to bring your date after an early dinner. Try their gooey chocolate brownie with walnuts and vanilla ice cream (AR$12), or simply a coffee or tea (AR$3). Possibly one of the best after-dinner drink choices on the menu is the Irish coffee, which is affordable (AR$7) and deliciously sweet with a kick of liquor. Or for an even more elegant dessert, cozy up to a bottle of Chandon champagne (AR$48) to enjoy the jazz in true style.

A place like Club Thelonious could exist in any fashionable international city: New York, London, or Paris. But in the tastefully decorated upstairs space of Thelonious, surrounded by eclectic people from all over the world, sipping Malbec with good company, you will be glad you are watching a jazz show in Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires Argentina Guide Special Tip

To repeat, to avoid disappointment at the small, usually packed Thelonious Jazz Club, make sure you reserve a table ahead or get there early – definitely before 9pm. That way you won’t miss out on an excellent night of cool jazz grooves in Buenos Aires.

[Note from Alan Patrick: Just a quick welcome to Alan Epstein to the blog as a guest author, with this post on Club Museum, and perhaps some other posts on Buenos Aires nightclubs in the future. So, from one Alan to another - good to have you here, and thanks for your contribution! ] 

Buenos Aires Before Hours

In a late-night city like Buenos Aires it isn’t hard to find a club that stays open until the crack of dawn, or an “after hours” party that will keep you dancing until 10am the next day. This is what makes Club Museum in San Telmo so special: on Wednesdays, the people come pouring into this massive three-story club early, at around 7pm, for their “After Office” party.

Club Museum – Two-for-one happy “hour”

Happy hour begins at 7pm, and then until 10pm the drinks are 2-for-1, with the food reasonably priced as well. Unusual for Buenos Aires nightclubs, there is no charge for entry at Museum, and mixed drinks will run you between 15 and 20 pesos depending on the type of liquor you order (remember, that is the price for two drinks if you order between 7pm and 10pm).

A wide variety of dining options… and sushi!

The variety of food is decent – you can have picadas, pizzas, capresse salad, or of course sushi. The sushi here is about as good as it is anywhere else in Buenos Aires. It’s the same-old-same with sushi in Argentina, everything is salmon and cream cheese, salmon and cream cheese… I don’t know if I’m eating sushi or bagels. Or you might get a “bumblebee tuna roll” (this is only what I refer to it as, I’m sure that’s not what it’s really called) where they actually stick tuna from a can inside the sushi rice. It’s actually not that bad I suppose, but it’s a shocker to see after being accustomed to the bright red fresh tuna from back in the states.

Pardon the rant – the sushi here is as good as it is anywhere else in town, it’s just the state of all sushi in Argentina. Apparently sushi is very new and exotic for Argentines, a drastic change from the beef that they are so accustomed to. And most locals don’t have a point of reference to compare the sushi here to, like many foreign visitors do. (For a slightly different opinion on sushi in Buenos Aires, and further discussion in the comments section, check out Rachel’s post on Maki Sushi).

Anyway, in the end I chose the Tabla de Quesos y Fiambres for AR$20, which is an extremely Argentine dish of meats and cheeses, including jamon crudo (raw ham) – unbelievably tasty and large enough for two to pick on, and a good amount to eat to not get bogged down for dancing. The appetizers will run you 8 to 20 pesos and the main dishes 13 to 16.

What do Club Museum and the Eiffel Tower have in common?

The building is amazing – it really stands out from the rest in this part of San Telmo. The sheer size of Club Museum is overwhelming, and upon further research I discovered that it was designed by Gustave Eiffel, of Eiffel Tower fame! This old style French influence is apparent from the outside but not so much once you enter.

There is a huge cluster of giant disco balls hanging from the ceiling and large projection screens playing a mixture of liquor and fashion commercials, and also street scenes from across Europe. The floor is wide open in the middle with tables in the front and in the back. There are also tables to sit on at the perimeters of the second and third floors, which you need reservations to get.

Live Bands – first sit down and enjoy the show…

Club Museum puts on live bands every Wednesday from around 9pm to 10pm. During this time I recommend that you sit either on the second or third floor so you can enjoy your food and the music simultaneously without losing your voice attempting to talk to your friends over the speakers. I made this mistake on my first visit to the museum – never again. To ensure that you have a decent seat you can reserve a table in advance (see end of post for details), though to do so you should have at least 6 or 7 people in your party.

…then get on the dance floor and do your thing

Once 10pm rolls around make your way down to the dance floor where the DJ will surely play every song Madonna has ever recorded. I would say that Madonna sings about 15% of the songs played in Buenos Aires nightclubs. Museum is no different. The mix at Museum is mostly 80s music and electronic.

I haven’t heard a rap song since I’ve been here (except for the Opera Bay rap room) – the closest I’ve heard was an electronic version of the early nineties hit “Jump Around” by the Irish-American group House of Pain. But nobody jumped. Perhaps I’m the only one that remembers this song from my 7th-grade dance, and also I guess nobody knows what the hell jump around means. Maybe there would have been more response had the song been “Salta Alrededor“, but that’s too many syllables.

When you are downstairs, remember that the Argentines require less personal space in general than we do in the States (and perhaps in Europe too). Everybody is bumping into each other and amazingly nobody gets upset about it. It’s just the way it is in Buenos Aires. Restrain from getting angry and pushing back – this is just a cultural difference to get used to.

Have an economic evening at Museum, and still get up the next morning!

You can enjoy yourself in Museum for very few pesos. I walked out of there after drinking four Fernet and Cokes, a popular drink amongst the locals (it’s of Italian origin – if you haven’t noticed, Argentines are huge fans of all things Italian, probably due to the fact that half of them have Italian blood running through their veins) and eating the Tabla de Quesos y Fiambres, all for the grand total of just 50 pesos. Not bad at all.

And if you happen to be in Buenos Aires teaching English or working (or even have daytime sightseeing to do), you can have a great evening partying at Museum and still leave in time to not be devastated and useless throughout the next day, because of the early 7pm start.

Buenos Aires Argentina Guide Special Tip

Make sure you go to Club Museum in San Telmo on Wednesday nights at 7pm, so as to experience the craziness of the Buenos Aires “After Office” phenomenon.

Club Museum: Reservations

For advance reservations, you can contact Club Museum using the following details:

Email: museum@bsasinsomnio.com.ar
Phone: 4611-5657 or 4632-9381 (between 10am and 6pm, Mondays to Fridays)
Online: Click here for reservation form

07-07-07 A CALENTAR/HEAT IT UP Kick-Off Party Éste Sábado!!!

This weekend I invite you and your friends to: Live Bossanova music, cheap drinks and dancing at the fabulous Casa de Niko in Palermo.

When: Saturday, July 7th
Where: Darwin 1154, PB 14 (Palermo – near Córdoba)
10 pm: Live Bossanova Music
11 pm: Live DJ – hip/hop, electro
Cover: 5 pesos
Drinks: 3 pesos – beer and mixed drinks
ALL PROFITS GO TO CHARITY

This is a Kick-Off party for PROYECTO A CALENTAR CONVIVEN – a project to raise 5,000 pesos in 3 months to get a heating system installed at Centro Conviven (http://www.conviven.org.ar/) – a cultural center in Mataderos dedicated to helping disadvantaged kids and their families stay off the streets by offering educational and cultural activities and providing a healthy, safe environment. They NEED heat, and we like to party – so let’s make it happen!

Bring your friends and come HEAT IT UP FOR CONVIVEN!

THANKS!!!

(Read on for invitation in Spanish)

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Éste fin de sémana les invito a: Música Bossanova en vivo, tragos baratos y bailando!

Cuando: Sábado el 7 de Julio
Donde: Darwin 1154 PB 14 (Palermo – cerca de Córdoba)
10 pm: Música Bossanova en Vivo
11 pm: DJ en Vivo – hip/hop, electro
5 pesos a la puerta
Bebidas 3 pesos
TODOS BENEFICIOS SE CONTRIBUYEN A LA CARIDAD

Les trajemos una fiesta de inaugeración para el PROYECTO A CALENTAR CONVIVEN – un proyecto que quiere juntar 5.000 pesos en 3 meses para conseguir un sistema de calefacción por el Centro Conviven (http://www.conviven.org.ar/) – un centro cultural dedicado a ayudar a jovenes perjudicados y sus familias, y sacarles de la calle- CONVIVEN ofrecece actividades educativas y culturales y un ambiente sano y seguro para mucha gente, pero necesitan calefacción! Y nosotros necesitamos una fiesta, así que lo podemos alcanzar a la vez!

Inviten a tus amigos y vengan A CALENTAR PARA CONVIVEN!

GRACIAS!!!