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Pastuso

3/9/2017

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Pastuso is one of the Flinders Lane jewels, I have never quite got round to visiting. What I have heard about is mixed - there are some serious fans and some that still need winning over.

Steve and I joined our friends Zoe and Kirsty for a late Sunday lunch on a sunny September afternoon. We were early and our table wasn't quite ready so I enjoyed a refreshing pisco sour beforehand. 

The restaurant is large with tables well spaced out. We were quite comfortable at our little round table which aided the sharing of the dishes we ordered. We put ourselves in the capable hands of our dining companions whe had visited several times before.
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We started off with a couple of ceviches and a couple of entrees:

  • SALMON - Ora King salmon with a sour orange dressing and plantain chips
  • TIRADITO DE CORBINA – Hiramasa kingfish with aji mirasol and miso dressing, crispy nori seaweed and flying fish roe
  • ​SALCHICHA DE HUACHO – Traditional Peruvian house made sausage, caramelized onion puree, soft egg and herb panko
  • CHICHARRON DE POLLO – Spicy fried chicken, lima bean and aji amarillo puree, salsa criolla and Asian celery

The kingfish ceviche and the fried chicken were my favourites. Some great flavour balances and crispy non greasy fried chicken. I found the sour orange dressing for the salmon too one sided and sharp, overpowering the fish.

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We shared a couple of main dishes:

  • PALETILLA DE CORDERO - Smoked lamb shoulder, grilled kale, smoked chilli salsa and pickled cucumber
The second dish was pork belly but it was a special so I don't have a description.

  • YUCAS – Fried cassava chips with spicy rocoto mayonnaise

The lamb was delicious - smokiness and sweetness with some spice. The pork was tasty but a little dry. I found the fried cassava chips quite interesting, I was expecting crackers not actual chips.

The cheese and mayo dip were yummy. The texture of the chips are pretty dense and starchier than potato. They're probably no better than potato but it's fun to try new things and they're an interesting alternative.
Dessert wise we carried on the sharing route:

DELICIA DE PINA - Vanilla meringue parfait with pineapple sauce and freeze dried mango yoghurt

PICARONES —Sweet potato and pumpkin doughnuts served with cinnamon infused raw sugar syrup and white chocolate mousse

I found the doughnuts looked appealing and I liked that they weren't overly sweet but the texture was a but mushy like baked sweet potato which I found weird for a doughnut.
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The vanilla parfait was more of the texture I was expecting and I enjoyed the light, fresh, tropical flavours.

Pastuso is solid place for that Peruvian, South American influenced cuisine. It's interesting and there's plenty of choice to satisfy all preferences. I think it's better to dine here in a group and enjoy the large main dishes and feast family style. Personally I prefer Asian flavours but that's only a personal preference and not a reflection of the food on offer. I found our time there enjoyable and the food mostly hit the mark.
Pastuso Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato
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El Alamo

12/7/2014

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El Alamo is a pop up shop / cafe brought to the Melbourne massiv by Argentinian Ignacio and Sicilian Andrea who are on a mission to bring the empanada to Melbourne.

They describe the empanada as:
"
a pastry clad hot pocket, filled with fresh, locally sourced ingredients. Hand-carved beef slow cooked in red wine, fresh herbs and vegetables in a béchamel sauce, chicken, chorizo, fish (the list is endless) - all wrapped and baked in freshly rolled pastry crisped to perfection."


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Faced with logistical challenges such as a retail shop front with no kitchen and all that comes with being a start up business, those little empanadas are truly a product that is not only filled with love, nurture and pipe dreams but blood, sweat and tears. They have set up a project:

http://www.pozible.com/project/184063#description

to generate support to make this start up an ongoing possibility so if you believe in the empanada, do pledge your support to these two new entrants to the hospitality industry.

So are the empanadas worth a pledge. We entered the airy and bright pop up shop on a rainy Saturday afternoon. Give the restrictions in the shop, there's licence, coffee machine or anything really permanent so the empanadas really have to do the the talking.

And we had to wait a while as the orders piled in so there was an anticipated wait but the wait was worth it and these little pastries are delicious. We tried every flavour except the sweet and whilst the meat ones were delicious, funnily enough it was the veggie cheesy ones that were our favourites. Just wonderfully seasoned fillings
and the chimichurri sauce with it's acidic tang and fragrant herbs enhanced those flavours. All hail the empanada!

What was great to see too, although it added to our wait time, was the queue of people coming in to pick up takeaway empanadas and speaking native Spanish so these have to be authentic! And now having read  more about this mission and the restrictive nature of the current
set up, well utmost respect to Andrea and Ignacio for managing  and succeeding through it and for wanting to continue to take over Melbourne!
El Alamo on Urbanspoon
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San Telmo

23/8/2012

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The Australian Gourmet Traveller Top 100 restaurants for 2013 was revealed and we're trying to make our way down the Victorian entries. Steve decide no time like the present so propositioned me with a visit to San Telmo on a cold Thursday evening and I was of course, happy to oblige!

We had to wait short time at the bar with a drink before being shown to a little corner in the bar area. Service was super friendly and the menu explained passionately to us.
We started off proceedings with the Provoleta which is fried provolone cheese. Now I really know the differences between saganaki, provolone, halloumi etc but I do like friend cheese with a squeeze of lemon. This was a great version just on the right side of salty.

The Mejilla de Cerdo - braised Berkshire pork jowl ‘cheek’ with crackling was quite fatty and whilst the crackling was great the meat part wasn't as nice to eat. A bit too flabby and gelatinous for me.

The chorizo was a good version and like the cheese just on the right side of flavoursome.
Next came our main grilled items to eat along with the hot salsa and chimichurri we had. We went for the half roast chicken with minced garlic and the dish of the day which was a 300gram Scotch fillet. Interestingly we weren't asked how we'd like this cooked so I guess it's chef's choice.

The chicken was tender and tasty and very enjoyable. The steak came out probably medium. The top piece was more rare and the bottom piece was closed to medium / well done. Whilst the meat had a great deal of flavour the texture was quite dense and tough. But no denying the flavour of the meat along with piquant chimichurri was delicious. A bit more blood or less cooking time may have helped it from being quite so tough. I would have enjoyed it more if it was cooked rare.
Our side dishes were roasted potatoes with peas and garlic which were very enjoyable and a beetroot salad. The beetroot was flavoured with cumin and I think we'd have preferred it au naturel.

San Telmo was a fun place to eat. Service was great and there was a buzzy atmosphere. I'm never sure where rotisserie or grill is the centre piece whether the actual cooking is that technically difficult. The output was definitely tasty and the produce of excellent quality but not sure how hard it is to actually cook the food or what kind of expertise is involved as it seems so simple. Nevertheless, however simple or complicated it is, we did enjoy the food.

San Telmo on Urbanspoon
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    Fine Print

    For those that know us, this section will probably come with no surprise! Steve and I love eating out so this is our record of our time in Australia.

    This is a blog that is 100% written and edited by Steve and I. All opinions expressed are our own and are not influenced by any third party.

    Any sponsored posts are easily identified as such.

    Thanks for reading barleyblog.

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