Meal #70 - Argentinian

El Gaucho 450 Nicholson Street, Fitzroy North.

For our latest culinary adventure, we delved into the mysteries of Argentinian food. With Rami, Paul, Deb, Helen and Sai in tow, we visited El Gaucho, a restaurant located in North Fitzroy. The décor of this place strikes you immediately. Full of deep, rich colours and eye-catching artwork, it creates a warm and inviting atmosphere. Another thing that was instantly apparent was the powerful aroma of sizzling meats. For some in our group, this was very enticing indeed. For the vegetarians in our mufti, this had the opposite effect.

The service was cheerful and informative, which was especially helpful in determining which meals appropriate for those in our group with kosher or vegetarian needs.

The meals we ordered were as follows:

Entrée:

Empanadas Criolla - Traditional oven-baked pastry filled with minced meat, chopped olives, eggs and capsicum.

Mains:

Pinchos - Chicken, beef, chorizo pieces with capsicum and onions and a serve of potato salad.

Asado Completo - An all-you-can-(m)eat meal, consisting of servings of asado, matambre, morcilla, and chorizo, served with potato salad.

Nachos - Similar to most traditional nachos, with corn chips, cheese, guacamole, sour cream and taco sauce.

Blue Chicken - Chicken breast filled and coated with blue cheese sauce, served with season vegetables and rice.

Side Dish:

Repello - South American style coleslaw with lemon dressing.

The response to the meals was very favourable. Sai, who along with Helen, threw himself into the Asado Completo, described it as having some of the best beef he'd had in a long time. The Blue Chicken, enjoyed by Paul was especially impressive, with a wonderfully rich sauce. Whilst the nachos were perhaps too cheese-laden for Deb's taste, she nonetheless found them remarkably filling for what appeared to be a small serving. Rami praised the tenderness of the meat, and regarded the vegetables as "magnificent".

Argentinan wines such as Trivento and Malbec were also enjoyed by members of our group. Whilst the meals were a tad pricey for their size, their quality was very high indeed. With boisterous atmosphere and friendly service, this was an excellent stop on our 80 Meals odyssey.