Asian Cantina — Restaurant in Autonomous City of Buenos Aires

First let me tell you that when you arrive to this restaurant for the first time you will not be aware that you can not just walk up and open the door. What I did was walk up and try to open the door, I wiggled it back and forth a couple times to no avail and then stood back. At this point I saw three different people standing at the bar waving at me to come in, I'm wondering if this is a joke at this point. The bar is a good 25 feet from the door by the way and they make quite a commotion with the waving. Hesitant to be humiliated I try the door once again and this time it opened. Someone at the bar has to push a button to allow you in. I watched this same thing happen repeatedly to other people while seated at the bar and having my dinner. It's a very awkward way to enter a restaurant, especially fine dining where you would expect to actually be greeted.

From there I ordered a cocktail that was very tasty but ultimately unexpectedly super sweet which overpowered the other ingredients.

Next I had a salad that was super good and would have been better if not drenched in dressing. The second half of the salad just had too much of it.

The entree was perfectly sized and very beautiful looking but had absolutely no seasoning other than a bit of pork fat. I enjoyed it but had much higher flavor expectations.

This was a meh experience. It's hard to say if this is just not my thing or the place needs refining.

I deleted 1 star primarily for the...

I’m always suspicious of places with so many reviews and a high rating. Especially when they’re close a fancy hotel since to me I have to ask, is the food actually good or is it just rich people who have bad taste and are too scared to try local cuisine that enjoy it.

Well after eating here I can say it’s legit. I spent time in SE Asia and first off I was happy they had Khao Soi which isn’t usually on the menu at Thai/asian restaurants and I was even happier with how it tasted. I wouldn’t say it’s a perfect replica of the Thai Khao Soi BUT THATS just because it wasn’t as spicy. Nothing wrong with making a dish slightly less spicy to appeal to a population that doesn’t eat a ton of spicy food. The egg rolls or Lumpia was good and I had no qualms with it. I mean honestly everything I got was up to par and good. If I had to have a critique is that it’s a little expensive but that’s too be expected with the neighborhood they are in.

My server spoke excellent English and provided good service (although I’m not going to give a place 5?stars just because they have employees that speak English), but they were nice and provided suggestions. The food was good, the service was good and I’m glad I was starving and needed to eat quickly before I leave for the airport because otherwise I would have never tried this place.

Is it Argentinian food? No but is it good? Yes. If you’re in the mood for Asian I’d...

We ate here in February 2024. The food, service, and atmosphere were excellent. The dishes had mostly South East Asian influences but were different from any dishes I could get from Toronto, Canada, where I'm from. In Toronto there is a huge South East Asian and Asian community and restaurants from many countries in that area are represented there (even different regions within a country are specifically represented on many menus there). My parents are born in the Philippines with a Chinese background. I thought Asian Cantina's food creations were tasty and unique. I'd say almost half of the food items were labelled as Filipino, and they all sounded good, and never mind that the repeating of ingredients in dishes labelled as being from somewhere other than the Philippines because after all, I think it reflects how much is shared among people who are close together (and the world really isn't very big). There is an open kitchen. The staff were all very friendly and professional. Although I wanted to try the whole menu, and keeping in mind there were allergies we had to pay attention to, we had the papaya salad, the pork on crispy rice cakes, the Pad Thai, and curry fish. Aside from great taste, I liked the crispy with soft combos, veggie-meat-starch ratios, and cool colours. A great choice for anyone looking for a delicious meal with Argentine...