First published on 16 Jan 2012. Updated on 8 Feb 2012.
El Capo's Tres Leches
Brazil
Boteco
One of the best places to get a taste of Brazil is at this ‘Bar de Petisco’, or Brazilian-style bar selling tasty morsels alongside well-executed cocktails. The team are ready to offer you a finely balanced Pisco Sour, a sea-salt encrusted Margarita or a Hemingway Daiquiri, while fruitier options include a Acai Amazonico Batida (all $16). Boteco is one of Cleveland Street’s best options for a civilised drink – reserve a table and spend an evening working your way through the cocktail list.
Braza
Braza is good value, if you play it right. All the meat you can eat as well as all sorts of sides is just $42. But this is where you need to be careful - the sides, for the most part, are all quite starchy and filling, like crisp and fluffy cassava chips, potato salad and sticky banana fritters. The flagship restaurant in Leichhardt has done so well, there’s now a branch at Sydney new Darling Quarter – the eating strip down by Darling Harbour. Braza features the city's first Cachaca (sugarcane liquor) bar.
CafeCito
Cafecito is hidden under Town Hall, in the middle of what we at
Time Out refer to as the camping district. You might not even cotton onto this café being Brazilian unless you took a close look at the menu. But persevere: every day of the week features a different Brazilian special. There's nothing fancy about this little caff but it's a bit of a secret treasure in the middle of the city.
Churrasco
All you can eat Brazilian style meat on swords for $38. What more can we tell you? Don't fill up on bread or salad, stick to the meat and don't settle for the first round, either – ask to see other cuts/pieces cooked the way you like them.
Churras the Brazilian Barbecue
A churrascaria is a restaurant that serves different cuts of roasted meats. ‘Rodizio’ is the method of continuous service by which the cuts are presented to customers. In traditional Brazilian churrascarias, the gauchos presented the meats still on the skewer. Churras the Brazilian Barbecue preserves this tradition. Twenty different types of skewers are served and cut on the table accompanied by side dishes and salads for $39.50 per person.
Argentina
Boca
Boca is a great addition to Darlinghurst, offering solid fare, great service and reasonable prices. Choose from one of the ten different platters, with the likes of thin skirt steak; rump; sirloin; inside skirt and chicken. If you're into it, there are also veal chitterlings, blood sausage and tongue. Wash it all down with a Fernet and Coke.
Café Bariloce
It’s all about the empanadas here, but you’ll want to pack an extra serve of patience. They’ll often be sold out, or only just put a batch in the oven, or any number of reasons you can’t eat one there and then. Persevere, though, because these half moons of flaky pastry are filled with a mix of spicy mince, green olive and boiled egg.
Gardel's Bar and Porteño
Picture this, if you will: at 5.30pm on a Saturday night, a line of thirsty punters curls its way down Cleveland Street for a venue that doesn’t open till 6pm. This is Porteño and Gardel’s Bar on a Saturday night. Suffice to say, you’ll find us at the city’s hottest Argentinean bar and grill mid-week. Either stand at the bar and chat to the crack team making your drinks or take a seat in the huge, opulent lounge area including - wait for it - an antique foosball table. Then head downstairs and smash the snacks.
Sugarloaf Patisserie
The best churros (a kind of long Spanish doughnut) in town are here. Dipped in either chocolate or dulce de leche (that's the South American milk caramel that's becoming quite popular in Sydney dessert circles), they're the great white hope of deep-fried pastry. There's also empanadas filled with beef or vegetables - and dance behind the bench to South American music while they serve you.
Colombia
Café con Leche
This little espresso bar staffed by beautiful Colombian women serves all-organic Colombian coffee and authentic snacks including arepas (puck-like ground corn cakes with guacamole, chilli and tomato salsa, $8), or South American eggs (scrambled eggs and chorizo ($14). You can also get regular café favourites such as Sonoma muesli.
El Capo
El Capo, which means ‘the boss of bosses,’ is a whole lot of fun. A local artist was commissioned to decorate the walls with bling, guns and girls. The menu is all about ceviche, rum and beer and you can even play dominoes at the table. Deep-fried school prawns ($10) with ribbons of jamon are an absolute winner, side by side with a crisp Pacifico beer. Finish with the tres leches – a cake of three milks – topped with little pieces of cherry and layered with caramel ($10).
Peru
La Cocina Peruana
Walking into La Cocina Peruana is like walking into someone’s house. It’s casual and full of old friends wandering in and out of the 'Peruvian Kitchen' and babbling noisily in Spanglish. Not a bad thing if you’re after homey fare with an authentic South American flavour. For the best value, go for the mixed platters piled high with fried chorizo, sweet potato, deep-fried chicken and steak, with pickled onions and spiced mayonnaise on the side. Leave room for the chilli-tainted corn tamales.
Misky Cravings
‘Misky’ means delicious in Quechua, the language spoken by the Incas in ancient Peru. The restaurant can be difficult to find – hidden within the depths of a non-descript arcade – but keep an eye out for the red and white laminated menus stuck to the glass doors on the street. The all-Spanish-language menu can be a little daunting at first, but staff will happily take their time to translate and explain each dish. Try the refreshing ceviche de pescado - raw chunks of John Dory fillet marinated in lemon juice, coriander and chilli – and skip the usual soft drinks and try the Inca Cola instead.
Morena
The South American revolution rolls on with this new Surry Hills restaurant from former Salon Blanc chef Alejandro Saravia. Expect Peruvian fare, cocktails and a bit of fun thrown into the mix. Keep reading Time Out for a full review, coming soon.
Chile
La Paula
Step through the nondescript shopfront and you'll find a festive interior strewn with Chilean flags and giant crepe-paper rosettes and streamers in patriotic red, white and blue. Empanadas are the specialty: empanada de pino is the most traditional, filled with beef mince, onion, olive and boiled egg, but you'll also find tuna, chicken, ham and seafood. Empanada de queso is particularly good, deep-fried until its special blend of cheeses is deliciously gooey. Wash it all down with mote con huesillo, a summer drink of sugar and cinnamon served with cooked barley and a rehydrated whole dried peach.
Kitchenary!
Empanada A folded pastry filled with anything from meat or cheese to fruit or vegetables.
Dulce de Leche A thick creamy caramel made condensed milk
Parilla A style of grill used for cooking barbecue. Also, a style of torture, named for the grill
Chimichurri A tangy, acidic sauce used on grilled meats usually made with vinegar, chilli, and herbs
Tamale A traditional dish of a corn-based dough steamed and boiled in a leaf wrapper
Queso Cheese
Tres leche A sponge cake soaked in three different milks – evaporated, condensed, and cream
Ceviche Slices of raw fish marinated in citrus (usually lemon or lime) and chilli
Asado A good old fashioned barbecue. The asador is the person doing the barbecuing
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