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Buenos Aires, Argentina > Buenos Aires restaurants > La Farola La FarolaAvenida Almirante A. Brown 800 (@ B. Perez Galdos); Tel. +(011.54.11) 4362-9143 / 4300-2826
At first glace you’d be forgiven for thinking that La Farola was little more than an excuse to put up a large green 7up sign and slap a restaurant underneath. This is perhaps not a million miles from the truth. If, as a general rule, you try to avoid places that offer photographs of what you might be about to enjoy then this is not the place for you. If, however, you are more of the adventurous type perhaps you might enjoy some of La Farola’s inverted charms. Where the 7up sign acts as probably its most redeeming feature outside, its interior unfortunately has about the same attention to ambiance. The fairly non-descript space is filled with rather soulless wooden furniture, pre-requisite Argentine flags comprise almost the sole attempt at decoration and two televisions supply a constant drone of news programmes and budget network adverts for your listening pleasure. On the plus side the menu is varied and the food, for the most part, decently cooked. Billing itself as a pizzería, restaurant, parilla, café, bar, pastelría and delivery service, La Farola might take the hybrid concept to identity crisis levels but at least in terms of choice there is something to suit everybody. Prices are reasonable with main meals around $18AR, pizzas for $20AR and cheap tasty tostados for just $4.50AR. Though not confirmed, the suspicion is that this may be the only place in Buenos Aires to offer the Pizzanesa. By way of attracting you to this suspicious sounding dish La Farola invites you to “Imagine the milanesa… now add the traditional flavours of the Pizza”! Add to this the half scowl of disinterested waiters and you end up with something curiously irresistible. Situated on a corner of the roaring six lane Avenida Alte. Brown, La Farola is definitely an insight into genuine no frills cuisine in the heart of La Boca. Sandwiched between somewhat faceless kioscos and locotorios its only other locational claim is the view opposite of the torre del fantasma. This striking domed building was designed by Guillermo Alvarez and is said to have a ghost residing in its uppermost tower. A far cry from the touristic pretensions of El Caminito, La Farola is a taste of real-life living in this, one of the city’s poorer barrios. Though the restaurant itself surely stays afloat off the back of its pizza delivery service if you’re looking for somewhere unremarkable to sit with a coffee and a tostado and consider fantasmas then this will easily fit the bill. —La Farola review by Tessa Pettman
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