the food factory
the food factory likes white. and this is most probably why i’m attracted to it. this, and the fact that they serve couscous. couscous, which i’ve been looking for every day since we arrived in buenos. yes, they serve it. just like that. with their fish of the day.
we go there and order. chicken for Karol, you know what for me. the waiter is a moaner. first he says there is no salad, then it takes him a while to suggest something instead (roasted potatoes – delicious, away from healthy), he also can’t get it why we like it here. apparently we’re nutters because we enjoy the weather and no, buenos is not a good place to learn spanish. it’s not that he’s rude, he just seems tired of his life and oh, the waiting mistakes he makes are endless. reminds me of the taxi driver from Have a Nice Day by Stereophonics. but here they play argentinean, mostly female, hip-hop. it goes with the space and the early evening light that makes it even more inviting.
our food arrives. bread with garlic and rosemary. served with salt. pepper and light white cheese. a strange combination yet we like it. i get salmon and what i’ve been pining for: couscous. whoa, wait a minute, what’s wrong with it? it seems to be cooked in vegetable stock but hey, not any fresh one but the nasty stuff you get packed in a small so-called cube. too salty and far too moist for my liking. i taste the fish and it’s also oversalted. two bits of grilled mango make hardly any difference to the overall taste, maybe they are what they look like: accidentally dropped pieces of fruit.
Karol’s vegetables look and taste good. he reports the chicken is nothing special but we both like the extra: roasted potatoes.
so are we coming back here? yes, but only for coffee. and couscous? the waiter told us we can easily get it in china town so i guess that’s where we’ll be heading next.
(the food factory, nicaragua 6055, palermo, buenos aires)