Twelve Days of Tostadas, The Buenos Aires Breakfast

When I got to my hotel (hostel really), the night manager told me that they have a great breakfast in the morning: cafe con leche, toast, cheese, and in my sleepy airplane daze, I was pretty sure he said fruit and eggs. I was like great! Desayuno is mi comida favorita. In the morning, they served me this:

I ate it, and then I waited for a bit convinced there had to be more coming. Then I figured, maybe tomorrow, and went to another cafe for more food, where I ordered eggs, was the only one eating eggs, and it became obvious that this is what people eat for breakfast in Buenos Aires: mate tea or cafe with tostadas, or with a bunch of mini croissants (medialunas here).

That afternoon I tried the Tostadas at Cafe Duo Bar, and fell in love. This is a great breakfast! I decided to eat it every day while I'm here, at either Cafe Duo or a different cafe.

Tostadas are:

- Toasted pan, bread, blanco or negro, white or black. I go negro.

- Queso crema, a creamy cheesy thats like a mix of ricotta and cream cheese

- Marmalade or dulce de leche

Most cafes have breakfast deals that include cafe or tea con leche (with milk), and the price is around 90 - 135 pesos (under $6 to $8). I tipped between 5 and 10 pesos on each at cafes and 10 to 20 if there was table service.

My 12 Days of Tostadas, in order of the best to worst:

Cafe Duo Bar wins the #1 spot. I ate these four of 10 days. Cripsy, grainy bread - the best of the bunch, the most flavorful cheese and lots of it, and nice and light but thick strawberry jam. Also, great wifi + best atmosphere of the bunch. (110 pesos)

Coming in at a very tasty number two, Cafe Montecarlo, up in Palermo/Colegiales. I found this place simply by googling, Best Tostadas in Buenos Aires, and sure enough, one woman had written, "los mejores tostadas." They were quite enjoyable, as was the scene. Relaxing, no tourists. This breakfast is 110p.

#3 is Tostado Cafe Club. Softer and thicker bread, nice cheese, and the best jam of the bunch. There are a few Tostado Clubs in the city. Also: great wifi + parkability for a few hours. (110 pesos with a cappuccino, 95 with cafe con leche). I've gone twice now.

Fourth prize: Pani, just off the pier on the other side of the Rio de Plata. This spot has an uplifting delightful ambiance too. It's brightly colored, there are seats outside, it's far enough away from the eateries directly on the river to avoid most of the tourists, but close enough to the river to combine it with a lovely walk on the pier. Also, at Pani I got queso crema, marmalade, and dulce de leche. However: wifi did not work. (135 pesos)

Fifth: Cafe Martinez, an Argentinian coffee chain that is expanding around the world. These places are packed in the morning with locals eating tostadas and medialunas and reading the paper. I've eaten and worked at a few. These are fun because you get to make so many little tostadas. These probably tied for third with Pani actually. Solid wifi + parkability for a few hours. (100 pesos)

Six, Arenales. The cheese was like ricotta, which I liked a lot, but there was only enough for one and a half toasts. I do use a heavy hand with the cheese. I also liked the price (105) which even included freshly squeezed juice. Great wifi + somewhat parkable for a few hours.

Seven, only because I didn't like the cheese (too jello-like), is Piacere, a realtively new cafe that I went to twice because I liked it a lot otherwise (enjoyed the grilled cheese and tomato sandwich and the baristas). Very tasty big alfajores (amazing Argentinian cookies) - plus mini alfajores with your coffee! I chose dulce de leche this day, my fault, I definitely prefer jam. (105 pesos)

Eighth, obviously, were the tostadas at my hotel.

Another fun breakfast in Buenos Aires is facturas. Tasty little pastries, they are like the doughnut of Argentina, only much better, in my opinion. More artisanal.

Here they are at Portenita, a bakery which is never without a line. They had a different variety every day!

My GoFundMe =)

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