View Full Version : Empire Thai
Alright, this is definately a tourist / expat joint but the food is good albeit extremely overpriced. I recommend any of the satays as an appetizer and my favorite is the pinneapple chicken curry. Also the fried banana peices in banana liqueor sauce is really great. I have never seen more than 2 tables of Argentines in this place because it is just too damn expensive but it is worth it every once in a blue moon. Its on the pedestrian stretch of Tres Sargentos between Reconquista and San Martin? (If not it is in this general area.
That's the correct location and much closer to Reconquista than San Martin. Agree about the food and prices but in Microcenter there aren't alot of options for oriental fare.
Nextdoor is Bar Bar O. On any given night there will be mostly regular Portenos but also a selection of working girls that are having an after-work drink after a long day on the job at Orleans just around the corner. Live music some nights and a beautiful 16ft high backbar.
You're not going to find a lot of Southeast Asian food in BsAs, generally speaking. What would be the point.
Argentina is a the number one consumer of beef in the world per capita, hands down. One of the highest wine consumers as well, locally produced of course.
You are in the land of plenty and beef export taxes. Not even the poorest argentino has to slaughter a poodle for a meal. There is no need to look for stir fried cats, tamales, curry, or flaming bananas.
Or you can get some hearty pasta.
You're not going to find a lot of Southeast Asian food in BsAs, generally speaking. What would be the point.Variety. Diversity in taste, texture and flavor. As in mongering.
There is no need to look for stir fried cats, tamales, curry, or flaming bananas.Cat? Cultural elitist? Tamales and curries are wonderful things. Did you say flaming bananas? As in Bananas Foster? Hey, make mine a double. And charge me quad.
My personal opinion on the restaurant, having eaten here about four times, never of my own accord: the place is terrible and is to be avoided.
My personal opinion about Moore's racist comments: terrible, and to be avoided, and typical, and against forum rules. A very unpleasant post by a consistently unpleasant poster, whom I met once in person, and found very unpleasant.
We really don't need this kind of shit on the forum.
I can't edit my last post any more, but Jackson edited the ethnic slurs out of Moore's post, so now my last post makes a lot less sense.
I like Thai food so this was fairly edible. Still, it was the worst Thai food I've ever had and actually more expensive than what I pay for good Thai in the United States.
Member #1036
02-20-07, 13:02
I should have read this thread yesterday.
I had an urge for Pad Thai. I sat at the counter as it was full of people and ordered Pad Thai with seafood. The noodles were shit and seafood well I saw those pinsized shrimp and something else.
Got the bill and it was outrageous. I don't remember but fuck this place.
ç
Had dinner here the other night with a bunch of mongers. Shish kebab appetizers with carne and pollo were damn good. Service was adequate. Everyone was satisfied with their entrees from what I could tell, except me. I had the Pad Thai with pork. Put me on and off the shitter most of the next day. Judging from my experience and Monger#1036's below, I would avoid the Pad Thai.
Member #3320
09-18-08, 22:53
I was here with bunch of mongers the other day and ate Thai food (the day they "caught" me with Viagra on me!!).I couldnt really decide on the place that evening.
I will be eating here once again and then make a detailed review of this place.
One thing is for sure. This place, they aren't apologetic about supplying spicy food. They didnt even ask, if we want less spicy! Thats what really for me, makes this place stand out. NOt being apologetic or meek about serving spicy food.
So if your stomach is not used to spices or you have not been eating spicy food lately, I would strongly advise to avoid this place. However, if you desire spicy food. And you want to feel the tears streaming down your eyes and enjoy the burning of tongue (which I do) this place is good for you.
Another thing, if you aren't used to spicy food..DONT eat it. Do not blame the restaurant. Do not blame the Thai people. Do not blame Thailand. Its because if you are served real Thai food cooked by experienced Thai cooks, you will NOT like it, anyway whether its in Argentina or in Thailand!! So lets not blame the Thai restaurants here!!
One thing. People often say here on this forum, this is the worst Thai food ever etc. I have been traveling to Thailand for like last 10 years,bits a luxury I give myself once every year simply for trying authentic Thai massages & authentic Thai food (not into thai girls, unfortunately!!) So on basis of this experience of 10 years, I can safely say that its impossible to get authentic Thai food in South America unless you actually import Thai cooks & original Thai spices. The Thai food served in Argentina or most of the other South American countries is been cooked by people who learnt Thai cuisine late in life and they are just a faint reflection of Thai cooks from Thailand.
So always, go to these places with a open mind. Do not expect 100% real Thai food here. However, I am more than happy with a close similarity as I firmly believe that "something is better than nothing".
Cheers
If you've got a jones for Tom yum goong and you're stuck in Buenos Aires, this is the place to go. Hair on fire spicy.
It's pricey at 33 p for a little bowl with 3 shrimps and the wait staff prefer polishing the silver or watching the ceiling to taking your order and delivering your dish, but eventually you get the fix and it doesn't matter.
Member #3320
09-18-08, 23:31
eventually you get the fix and nothing else matters.Exactly!
Well put, Bacchus9
Hey Captain. This is the place I told you about in the Sudestada thread.
Hey Dogg. Sometimes that happens to me also, but for some reason, I still eat the spicy food?
Best Regards.
Smuler
Hey Captain. This is the place I told you about in the Sudestada thread.
Hey Dogg. Sometimes that happens to me also, but for some reason, I still eat the spicy food?
Best Regards.
SmulerHey, mine wasn't spicy, just not right! Like I said, the appetizers were very good. I just think they gave me some Pad Thai that had been gathering dust for a day or two!
I eat fairly often here and as I mentioned before in another thread. I have never been to Tailand so I don't have a clue as to how authentic it is but I like it so what the...!
They do ask you (well at least they have asked me) how spicey I wanted my food but I have a feeling that it won't make much difference whatever you tell them!
As to the service, it's far from good. As Bacchus9 said, they seem to prefer to polish the silverware! A girl I took there last Friday was friendly with one of the waiters and she hires him as DJ at some parties she organizes so I thought we would get good service that night but being friends with a waiter doesn't help. I'm still waiting for them to replace one of the little pots of spices I asked for!
I have always been disappointed with the shrimps there. You need good eyesight to find them on the plate! For good shrimps go to Tancat the Spanish restaurant on Parguay between Maipu and Florida but they are expensive.
I also have had the runs once or twice after eating there. I seem to recall that both times I had eaten trout so it's not just the Pad Thai.
The owner of this place used to be and ex-pat but I don't know if he still is. It's also know to be very gay friendly.
The owner of this place used to be and ex-pat but I don't know if he still is. It's also know to be very gay friendly.I was told yesterday by an expat who has been here for a long time that a guy from New York owns the place.
BTW-the skinny, brunette barkeep is pretty sexy and seems to have a gleam in her eye.
BTW-the skinny, brunette barkeep is pretty sexy and seems to have a gleam in her eye.I've been told she prefers boys - but of course, I'm only repeating what I was told and it may have been by someone spurn by her!
Hi Guys. This is what I wrote in August about Empire:
On a sidenote- one of the strangest things happened to me at Empire. I walked into the place, and the owner (An American) turned to me and said " Hi. Don't I know you? " I said there is no F'in way you know me as this is my first time here (BA) and I know nobody here. I told him where I was from, and he really " turned white ", and said " you are goofing on me, who put you up to this? " I proved to him where I live my showing him my driver's license. What are the chances that this guy lived ONE mile from where I grew up. We laughed and talked about many things about the neighborhood.
He was NYC metro based in his previous business.
The owner is gay friendly IMHO.
Best Regards.
Smuler
How funny I find out now that the owner is from NYC. This place is worse than a NYC rip off thai joint.
First of all the food is nothing close to being thai food. Asian inspired would be the best way to describe it. The portion size was a complete joke. When the waiter set the main entree in front of me I thought it was one of those cubierto salads that come with the meal.
After I ate my rations and free shrimp chips I had to buy a 6 peso sandwhich to fill me up.
Same shit happened to me in Lima. The only rip off I encountered was in a restaurant owned by a new yorker.
I should have known by the techno music that this place was a scam.
I've been having great luck at the old fashioned looking bistros. You see them very often. They look like a set in a humphrey bogart movie.
Just had to put my two cents' worth in here.
I would agree that what you had at Empire Thai wouldn't be any better than the worst place you could find in New York City, and may even have been worse.
The sad thing is, for Argentina, it is a upper-middle level for a foreign food place. And for us expats who live here, it's not a bad place, for a decent price, among places that don't do pasta or beef.
I've never seen a worse lack of ability to fix foreign foods than here in Argentina. You won't find very many places that are even close to what we consider "authentic" in the States (and having been to many places around the world, most foreign food even in the States is "Americanized") In fact, for some things, you will never find anything that approximates what we are used to in either taste, composition, or even presentation.
Most restaurants here have a hard time even preparing their own style of food competently on a regular basis.
I like to repeat my attempts to find "genuine" Mexcian food, for example, here. EVERY PLACE I've been to, no matter how good the actual meal, for example, serves the food the same way. "Mexican" food here consists of a few basics, which in Texas we like to call Tex-Mex because it's not really Mexican all the way. Enchiladas are Mexican enough, but then there are tacos and burritos. That is about the norm here for a Mexican meal, those three.
But let us examine those definitions.
Here, a taco is a soft taco, a bit of meat (usually only meat, but sometimes with a few other things in it like sauteed onions and a little meaty sauce) folded over in a tortilla. You will never see (or at least I haven't) a fried taco shell in a restaurant, although I have found Old El Paso taco shells in the supermarket. In fact I have three boxes in the kitchen now)
A burrito is a bit of meat with some extra sauce of some sort inside, and MAYBE refried beans (or something close) folded over in a taco shell.
An enchilada is a bit of meat, rarely with anything inside it, topped with some extra sauce of some sort.
In other words, it's basically about re-arranging one set of ingredients.
There are exceptions to this of course. I have yet to see how the California Burrito Company does their stuff here. There is a small Mexican restaurant out here in Pilar that does a pretty good job of enchiladas (but only have Swiss enchiladas, nothing else)
Other than that, every place I've been to in Argentina (BA and Cordoba) serve Mexican food like described above. And that's not even talking about the things that are NOT on their menus, like chili rellenos, steaks and chicken cooked with sauces and cheeses, etc (I. E. More authentic Mexican dishes)
So, Empire Thai would never pass muster in the States, but normally, if you are sick of Pasta and beef, it's not a bad place to go to.
And like ALL things in Argentina, you can't judge the standards of a place in one visit, usually. It's very likely that the next visit you might swear that they approached mediocrity with one of their meals.
Hi Artist,
Not to invalidate your POV. But calling this place a rip off joint is a little excessive.
I have been there on 4 occasions with a few other seasoned mongers and to be honest, I liked it. And I was never once ripped off.
I am not Thai and have never been, so I can't say if it is " authentic ". But I have been to the restaurant with others who have and they liked the food as well.
As far as prices, this is Argentina and those are their prices. I would suggest next time, before sitting down for a meal, ask to see the menu and prices and possibly inquire about the portion sizes of the restaurant expressed in grams.
Again, this place is NOT a rip off joint. The food was pretty good when I ate there. The portions were medium size for my taste. Obviously portion sizes differ depending on size of stomach and appetite, so that is subjective as well. As far as prices, I found it to be pretty cheap.
I had some sate for $ 20 pesos, a main course for $ 40 pesos and drinks for about $ 20. Including tip I paid about $90 pesos. At today's exchange rate that is about $ 24 USD.
If anyone wants information on the restaurant, pictures, menu, pricing etc.
Here is the website.
http://www.empirethai.net/menu.html
Regards,
BM.
Btw. I would feel comfortable recommending this place to friends and family if they were in the mood to try something a little more exotic.
Also: Good point Queso, most places ANYWHERE (USA included) can be hit or miss, depending on the day or your just your own luck. It has happened to me on many occasions. I know a pretty good taco place in Palermo, that I go to often. The other day I went and my order took about 30 minutes, when it usually takes about 10, and I am a regular customer that knows the owner well. But these things happen. I could have gotten hysterical or upset, but what good would that have done other than put other people off? These things happen sometimes. They realized their mistake and apologized and even threw in some frijoles charros (yes Queso, they have that as well now) free of charge. I think alot has to do with how you approach a situation what the outcome will be.
I agree that it would be very difficult to obtain the ingredients here for authentic thai food. I dealt with something similar in medellin colombia and it was actually decent japanese food. With cream cheese in the sushi rolls.
My gripe is about the portions. I still stand by my first impression which was "rip off". By all means go and see for yourselves. Maybe the complete package of a trendy restaurant techno music etc. is appealing to some but I like to eat and they gave me rations. I seriously was going to ask what kind of a cubierto salad they gave me until I saw the chicken.
On a brighter note I've paid alot less for some excellent italian dishes in recoleta of all places.
I like to give a thumbs up when I can but not for this place. That was a little slice of new york I'd rather forget about while in south america.
Member #3320
06-15-09, 23:08
Hi Artist,
Not to invalidate your POV. But calling this place a rip off joint is a little excessive.
I have been there on 4 occasions with a few other seasoned mongers and to be honest, I liked it. And I was never once ripped off.
I am not Thai and have never been, so I can't say if it is " authentic ". But I have been to the restaurant with others who have and they liked the food as well.
As far as prices, this is Argentina and those are their prices. I would suggest next time, before sitting down for a meal, ask to see the menu and prices and possibly inquire about the portion sizes of the restaurant expressed in grams.
Again, this place is NOT a rip off joint. The food was pretty good when I ate there. The portions were medium size for my taste. Obviously portion sizes differ depending on size of stomach and appetite, so that is subjective as well. As far as prices, I found it to be pretty cheap.
I had some sate for $ 20 pesos, a main course for $ 40 pesos and drinks for about $ 20. Including tip I paid about $90 pesos. At today's exchange rate that is about $ 24 USD.
If anyone wants information on the restaurant, pictures, menu, pricing etc.
Here is the website.
http://www.empirethai.net/menu.html
Regards,
BMI agree with Badman 100% on this. In fact, me and Badman have gone there together on 2~3 occasions and every time the meal was good.
I have been traveling to Bangkok for last 15 years and have a fair idea of good Thai food and I would say that Empire Thai is not doing a bad job at all.
I am here in Manhattan for past 3 months on some personal work and have had some real rotten Thai food in some pretty well-known up scale Thai restaurants, right here in Manhattan. Believe me, Empire Thai is NOT doing a bad job, there in BA.
I still stand by my first impression which was "rip off". By all means go and see for yourselves.I have to agree with Artisttyp. I thought it was the worst Thai food I had ever had, and when I got the bill I also felt slightly like I had been ripped off. I wasn't angry, mind you, just had a nagging bitter feeling. Trader Joe's curry mix is infinitely better than the red curry panang at Empire, and it didn't weigh very much in my bag.
Only place in Argentina where I have had food poisoning. The meals I have had here were not great, sort of half-spiced and lacking the aroma and piquancy of authentic Thai food. But for a change from parilla, pasta and pizza, it ain't that bad. And it is on the money for equivalent restaurants in that location.
Argento
Thebadnomad
07-18-09, 16:48
Hi there Expats. This is my first post in the forums. I hope I do not break any of the forum guidelines and offend anyone because I really enjoy this website. I believe everyone is entitled to their opinion. I frequent Empire Thai at least twice a day every day and intend to spend a small fortune in the restaurant. This is my expat bar and I love it. The owner is a very good friend of mine. I live about 75 feet from the establishment and can always be found at the bar during happy hour drinking my Bloody Marys and dark rum. I do agree the portions are on the small side but the food is delicious. I think the half of the staff is very friendly and some are bitches. If you like constructive conversation and meeting other expats this is a good place to come. Generally the people that come here are pretty cool. To all the people that made negative comments I hope to get a chance to play Poker against you at El Alamo on poker night. I will in a friendly way take your money and make you look like a complete amateur and laugh at your pathetic poker skills. Then with your money I will go spend it in Empire Thai restaurant. I am issuing the challenge now so If you play Texas hold'em poker and read this post please inform me when the poker night. I mean this all in a good way and need to be knocked off my high horse.
Suerte from the Canadian.
Rockin Bob
09-11-09, 20:01
I've been living on Reconquista these days and have got to know all the places up and down Recon and San Martin.
I've been hanging out lately at Empire Thai and I'm surprised at the bad reviews it gets on the board.
OK, I've never been to Thailand, but I am from New York and I know a good Thai restaurant when I see one. Are there better Thai restaurants than ET? Yes. But the food here is fine and I don't understand the complaints. And as somebody wrote, it's a break from the pasta pizza parilla cuisine.
It's a little pricey for Buenos Aires, but that just means you pay what you would pay anywhere else.
Kevin the owner is a great raconteur and having a couple of beers there for happy hour is always pretty funny.
His partner is Rosanna, a Chilean woman who has a sharp wit. I told the barmaid that I liked her sense of fashion and this got us onto a discussion of clothes and I told her that I really liked the blouse I had seen on a girl earlier in the day (a hooker at Cafe Orleans): it had only one long sleeve, the other arm was bare.
I said I had never seen that before and she tells me that it was something Carolina Herrera had made popular in the past couple of years.
Rosanna goes, yeah, but it was Daniel Scioli who invented it.
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