Tag: empanada

Categories
Café Latin American

Storgē and Co. – North Parramatta NSW Cafe Review

My girlfriend and I often fall victim to sponsored posts on social media, and it was just such a sponsored post that led us to Storgē and Co., one of North Parramatta’s foremost demountable-based Latin American restaurants.

Storge and Co features a mix of indoor and outdoor courtyard seating, though it appears that the indoor seating is not used on days with clear weather. We parked in the Petbarn next door, making a note to buy some cat food so that we wouldn’t feel bad about taking their customer only parking.

The Crispy Dog ($10) is pretty good. It is a hot dog of grilled chorizo, pico de gallo, parmesan, and a rich creamy sauce, topped with a generous serving of potato crisps for an extra crunch. The flavours of this hot dog were quite good. The chorizo sausage itself had quite a complex flavour which rose beyond mere saltiness, which I did not expect from a $10 hot dog. The pico de gallo provided freshness, whilst the potato crisps were salty and crispy. The white creamy sauce was a bit heavy, though in conjunction with all the other flavours and the deliciously toasted bread was not as unbalanced as in the pepito.

This creamy monstrosity is the Pepito ($15). It is essentially a toasted sourdough baguette, filled with 24-hour marinated beef tenderloin, parmesan, mozzarella, and topped with “heavenly sauce”. The beef was very tender, juicy, and tasted good, but that was essentially the best part. There was an absolute cheese overload, and while I can’t tell you the exact components of the heavenly sauce, I assume it is named so as the rich fatty creaminess books you an express ticket to heaven. The sauce and two cheeses mixed together make this a very heavy roll indeed. Not at all wholesome, and not really that good to taste either.

Enthused by our recent positive empanada experience at Mas Tinto, we ordered Storgē and Co.’s cheese and guava jam empanadas (3 for $9.50). Unlike Mas Tinto’s Storge and Co’s were a major disappointment. Where Mas Tinto’s guava and cheese empanadas were lightly but deftly flavoured, Storge’s take is much more heavy handed. I was surprised to find both a too-sweet and too-salty filling, The flavours were unfortunately far too strong, and the dipping sauce did nothing to help with this. It would’ve been better for them to sell them individually, but I imagine that if they did they would only sell one to each customer, and no more following that.

The Thre3* Milk Cake ($6.50), consisting of sponge cake soaked in and topped with three or four different types of milk reminded me of something served for dessert at a year 6 camp. Not awful, but not very good either. A strange hit of nostalgia, and a no go from me.

INTERIM IMPRESSION
I think ultimately, out of the things that we tried at Storgē and Co., there are more losers than winners. While their Crispy Dog was good, it’s only a member of their seasonal menu, and not part of the regular cast. I wouldn’t mind coming back to try their Reuben Sandwich, though a return to Storgē and Co. is reasonably low on my list of things to do.

A RETURN

True to my word, I returned to Storgē and Co whilst servincing my car at West End Mazda across the road to try out their Reuben Sando ($12). The sauerkraut to meat to cheese ratio was certianly achieved, but I felt that whilst the bread was well toasted the insides remained extremely tepid. If I had to rate this sandwich against the two other Reuben’s previously in my life, I’d put this between the excellent one at Croquembouche Patisserie that I had no less than 10 times in 2020, and the extremely low-tier average one I had at Nepean Hospital in 2019.

Whilst I won’t bore you with exterior shots of the Beef Empanada (3 for $9.50), I can tell you they looked exactly the same as the guave empaanda from the outside. They were, however, much better. The more solid contents meant that the beef empanada wasn’t as piping hot, and therefore more easy to eat. The savoury filling of potato and beef was quite hearty, and the flavours were actually well comlimented by the provided dipping sauce. They were really not bad.

VERDICT
After trying quite a few things on their menu, I think really only the Crispy Dog was anything very special.

Storgē and Co.
69a Church St, North Parramatta NSW 2151
0413 054 553

Categories
Spanish

Del Punto – Randwick NSW Restaurant Review

Our party of six went to Del Punto one Thursday evening, looked at the a la carte and tasting menus, pulled out our phones and decided we could do better. Instead of $80 per person for dishes picked by the restaurant we calculated that we could either get one of every item on the menu, or multiples of the things we wanted (read: everything with meat, only one dish without meat) for cheaper. Our waitress’ eyes widened as we finished telling her our order. She told us that we ordered way too much food. John took it a a challenge and ordered some more.

This air conditioner was about as decorative as the flowers surrounding it. Throughout the entire meal we felt like we were working on a quick paced production line. The food kept coming and coming in such rapid succession, with no attention paid to the small geographical size of our table. There was just no way that we could eat so fast so as to clear the table for more dishes to come. It almost felt like they were trying to punish us for ordering so much. Like we were running a spring that had turned into a marathon. Like we were hamsters running on wheels that generated power for the neighbouring town, and we would fall and get churned into the mechanism of the wheel and get crushed if we faltered. Twice during the meal we did ask the kitchen for a pause. It was just too much.

We shared a carafe of Peach, Strawberry, and Mint Sangria ($33.50). It was very refreshing, though not as refreshing as the large quantities of water we drank from reused spirit bottles. The strong flavours of the meal, the close proximity in which we were sitting, the rapid pace of food delivery, and the weak air conditioning meant that our meal was a very warm and thirsty affair.

The duck crepes ($20.50 for 4 pieces) were quite nice. They were served drizzled in a plum sauce, kind of reminiscent of what you would get in a Chinese restaurant. They were however much meatier than their Chinese counterparts, and as the first dish of the night really did herald a very meaty meal overall.

The garlic prawns ($23.50) pan fried and served with “a hint of chilli and parsley” were pretty good. The prawns were large and juicy, and there were quite a few for the price and location. The hint of chilli and parsley were just hints, however. They were very much garlic prawns, as advertised.

The beef empanadas (4 for $19.50, 6 for $28.50) were pretty good. Freshly fried with a nice filling of beef brisket and caramelised onion. I quite enjoyed the freshness of the jalapeno and feta dipping sauce.

I thought the salt and pepper whitebait ($17.50) was a bit weak. They were quite oily and salty, which aside from being dangerous to the coronaries are also not great to taste. My colleagues thought that they were OK when matched with the aioli, but I think that if I were to ever come back I would skip it entirely.

The chicken skewers (4 for $17.50, 6 for $25.50) marinated in yoghurt, paprika & oregano were pretty good!. I think they were tenderloins but my colleagues thought they were cut up breast. Regardless of what part of the chicken they came from they were quite tender and moist. The bed of rocket on which the chicken was served was demolished by one of my colleagues keen to get in his daily fibre intake. Ultimately though I think it was a mistake to get them, as they also came included in the paella.

Del Punto’s Lamb skewers (4 for $25.50, 6 for $38.50) were also very good but quite expensive. The meat was marinated in chimichurri, and very tender and flavourful. The sweet potato crisps on top were superfluous though I’m sure someone enjoyed them.

The Plato de Baleares ($16.50) with grilled halloumi, asparagus and cherry tomato in a pomegranate reduction was delicious. The cherry tomatoes were extremely juicy and made for the perfect burst of flavour and freshness when popped in the mouth.

I enjoyed the Baby Octopus ($18.50), topped with basil oil, lemon and lime juices, pesto, and sun dried tomato. The flavours were well balanced, and the octopus tender. This is some of the best octopus I’ve had recently.

The Pork Belly ($28.50 for 4 pieces, $43.50 for 6 pieces), is one of Del Punto’s house specialties and a real delight. The pieces of pork are very large, thick, and juicy, served with its crispy skin intact. The shots of green apple and brandy sauce added a welcome dimension of tart freshness. I can recommend this dish.

The Prawn & Chorizo skewers (4 for $19.50, 6 for $30.50) were pretty good, with big juicy prawns and slices of chorizo. This was our second prawn dish and first chorizo dish. We would soon feel the weight of repeated ingredients.

The sea scallops (4 for $20.50, 6 for $30.50) with sliced morcilla blood sausage served on a bed of pea puree I could’ve gone without. The scallops were small and unimpressive, as were the flavours. I’ve certainly paid less for better scallop dishes.

The Tumbet ($17.50) – layers of potato, eggplant & grilled capsicum topped with fried tomato & garlic – was our only vegetarian dish and the biggest disappointment of the night. It was all a bit mushed together, with no contrasting textures or flavours to really define its different components.

Our second chorizo dish, aptly named Chorizo ($17.50) consisted of longitudinally sliced chorizo with zucchini ribbons. This chorizo dish did nothing to really set itself out from the chorizo in the prawn and chorizo skewers. A mistake.

Del Punto’s Paella (Mediana size – $65) is their other signature dish, and a stark reminder of why we shouldn’t have just ordered everything that looked yummy on the menu. Notable repeats of this dish included 6 chicken skewers that were identical to the previous 6 chicken skewers, as well as a bunch of chorizo and prawn. That aside, and even though I was absolutely full at this point, this paella was the best paella I’ve ever had. I loved the flavorful and moist rice, mixed in with diced chorizo and pipis. My friends were less impressed however, being more widely eaten in the Spanish cuisines. A few of them thought that the bottom of the paella wasn’t extra-crisped enough. I didn’t realise that was a criteria for judgement.

VERDICT
Overall we had a good but sweaty time at Del Punto.

Protips for dining at Del Punto include:

  • Avoid the set menu, just pick what you want. You will get more food for less money
  • If the waitress gives you an uneasy look and tells you you’ve ordred too much food, she probably knows better than your mate who has no stretch receptors in his stomach.
  • Make a special point to ask the kitchen to go slowly, and make sure to ask for pauses if you need. Otherwise they will try to feed you all at once until you drown.
  • If you’re going to get the paella, don’t double or triple up by getting all its constituent ingredients as share plates.

4/5

Del Punto
40 St Pauls St, Randwick NSW 2031
(02) 9398 2027

Categories
Café Latin American

Mas Tinto – Stanmore NSW Restaurant Review

Colombia is the birthplace of one of the friendliest wardspeople I have ever worked with, as well as the home of Más Tinto’s cuisine. Más Tinto, as Google Translate tells me, translates from Spanish into “More Red”, which does not look to add any additional meaning to the cafe’s name what so ever.

The first thing I need to tell you about is this amazing guava and cheese empanada ($3.50). As you can see, these empanadas here are a bit smaller than the ones at Mascot-based Chilean joint Pochito, and a bit more deep fried than baked. My partner had some significant misgivings about me ordering a fruit empanada over a meaty one, but these evaporated the moment this empanada was bitten into. The sweet guava and salty cheese complimented each other perfectly, with the soft filling contrasting in texture with its crispy fried envelope. This empanada was the best part of the meal by far, and could be a true ambassador for the café.

It’s kind of unfortunate that unbridled praise for Mas Tinto starts ands with its guava empanada. The Ajiaco ($18), a chicken, corn, and potato soup, was the better of the two mains that we ordered. The soup itself had a nice tangy flavour, especially eaten with the provided capers. The rice served was flavoured, though the rice itself was very loose and a little bit harder and dryer than we are used to. It is unfortunate that we ordered both this and the Mazorcada (shown below), as essentially both were meated with the same shredded chicken breast, something that we found repetitive and boring.

The Mazorcada ($16), a too-cheesy concoction of shredded chicken, sweet corn kernels, French Fries (the potato crisps from the packet), mushrooms, and chorizo, felt like the opposite of what I wanted. Rightfully or wrongly Más Tinto was chosen because we thought it would be a lighter alternative. The Mazorcada was anything but light. It was far too cheesy, and far too heavy. Despite this, I thought the flavours were too mild, a problem that not even the healthy smattering of chorizo could solve.

VERDICT
While I didn’t like either of our mains that much, Más Tinto’ guava and cheese empanada is worth a small detour alone. I’m sure that based on the quality of this little parcel of joy there are other things on the menu that I would’ve liked more.

3.5/5 (guava empanada 5/5)

Más Tinto
43 Bridge Rd, Stanmore NSW 2048
(02) 8541 6258

Categories
Latin American

Pochito – Mascot NSW Restaurant Review

Having to drive my previously-slightly-inebriated partner to work following a night out meant that I had an excuse to try one of our local cafes on the way back home. Pochito, one of Sydney’s few homes of empanadas and other Chilean cuisine, was next on my hit list.

Pochito, as the story is told by its owners, means the feeling of sleepiness induced by a meal. While I can’t find such a translation online from Spanish, what I can find is that pochito means kidnapping in Russian. Something to think about.

Chicken and mushroom, Four cheese empanadas.

After having a seat at a table of my choice (all tables were free), I indulged in three of Pochito’s specialty empanadas.

Four cheese empanada (left), chicken and mushroom empanada (right)

The four cheese empanada ($5) was too cheesy for me. It’s a stupid thought to put down on paper, but I’m sticking to my guns. Apart from the cheesiness there was not much other flavour. The chicken and mushroom empanada ($6) was quite creamy, not bad, but not as good as our third contestant. My partner thought that both the four cheese and chicken and mushroom empanadas were missable.

Beef empanada

The traditional beef empanada ($6) was by far my. It had a tasty filling of beef, egg, and onion, as well as some olive and sultana that I wasn’t quite able to appreciate. This was served with a dish of coriander salsa, which was delicious.

Lomito Sandwich

The Lomito Sandwich ($12) is a Chilean specialty, and really delicious. Included within its milk bun was a generous serving of marinated pork loin mixed with smashed avocado, a tasty, juicy slice of tomato, and a lot of mayonnaise. I actually ordered the lomito after I had finished my half of the empanadas, as they had not quite hit the spot. I’m glad that I did. The lomito sandwich really is special.

DISCUSSION

Pochito is a family run business, and during my visit I interacted with multiple family members, who were all quite nice and welcoming. At one point during my meal the owner of the restaurant came by and asked me if I was a foodie. I must admit that I was too embarrassed to say that was, and basically lied through my teeth and told her no. She said something along the lines of “I guess everyone needs to eat to stay alive though.”

Sorry Paulina.

4.5/5, mostly for lomito. (Empanadas alone 3.5/5)

Pochito
1021 Botany Rd, Mascot NSW 2020
0402 432 920

Categories
Middle Eastern

Camy’s Chargrill Chicken – Mascot, NSW Restaurant Review

This is a takeaway review of Camy’s Chargrill Chicken in Mascot. It could also be a takeaway review of Camy’s Charcoal Chicken in Mascot. At this point I’m not sure what they’re called.

The Lebanese Wrap with chicken, tabouli, garlic sauce and lettuce and tomato was really good. Freshly cooked chicken, fresh salads and a generous amount of garlic. Quality was not dissimilar to any Western Sydney charcoal chicken restaurant. A slight shame that tomato was $1 extra but for $12 all up it makes for a reasonably healthy and yummy lunch.

The Hail Caesar Burger was also not bad. I misread the menu and thought that it would be beef but it came with chicken instead. I guess it makes a lot more sense for it to have come with chicken. I’ve never seen a Caesar salad with beef before. The egg in the burger was quite good. Not fully cooked, with a runny yolk. The lettuce, egg, cheese, chicken schnitzel and Caesar dressing came together well, like a salty meaty greasy salad. Yum.

The Charcoal Chicken, however, is where Camy gets into trouble. I have no pictures to show you, but basically we found Camy’s charcoal chicken to be very middle of the road. It was not as moist or as flavourful as the charcoal chicken I’ve come to expect after living in Western Sydney, but certainly not the worst I’ve had either. The fact that Camy offers toum (garlic sauce) as an addon but doesn’t bundle the chicken with any at all is very disappointing.

The 3 Empanadas and Salsa Verde ($14.90) I thought was a bit disappointing and overpriced. It’s really not a lot of food for $15. The salsa verde was yummy.

Overall I can recommend the wrap and burger, but can’t recommend the stock standard charcoal chicken. If charcoal chicken is what you’re after, you’d be better off going to El Jannah.

Camy’s Chargrill Chicken
Shop 16/11 Etherden Walk, Mascot NSW 2020
02) 8319 4021