San Telmo – 14 Meyers Place Melbourne www.santelmo.com.au

I really did put off a visit to San Telmo, purely because I know and love Argentinian food, and have eaten myself silly at many a parrilla in Buenos Aires. I’m also a proud Melburnian, so if this place was no good – I’d rather not know about it!

I should say then, that I thoroughly enjoyed dining at this CBD newcomer – these locals have nailed it.

THE ASADO

The restaurant is large, and obviously Argentinian – if a little fancier than some of your run of the mill equivalents in South America. We’re talking cowhides on the wall, leather placemats, and leather seats.
The term “Asado” pretty much translates as barbecue – whether it’s the thing you cook it on, or the event at which you eat; the parrilla is the grill itself, and at San Telmo it’s a 2.5 metre custom-made beast. There’s entertainment itself just watching grill in action – as meat is piled on, embers stoked and grill plates rotated.
And at an Argentine asado, it’s very much a marathon rather than a sprint. It’s all about sharing, and slowly devouring whichever beast it is you’ve sacrificed to the fire. Often in a local home, meat will come out in “parts”, a plate of ribs, then maybe a bowl of sweetbreads half an hour later, pieces of steak some time after that. It’s about socialising, and the food is almost there to sustain the rest of the frivolities through the night.

THE MENU

And so the menu at San Telmo is also meant to be shared. The first page lists some smaller dishes that could generally be classed as starters, then the salads and vegetables that are better to accompany to carnivorous part of the meal. Page two is exclusively about the animal.

From the starters, empanadas are authentic versions of the traditional pastries. These ones are fried (they are sometimes baked), with an option between the more common beef, currant and almond or a cheese potato and cauliflower version.

Ceviche is surely Peruvian, but nevertheless eaten throughout the continent – and here there’s a fine version with slices of white fish, chilli and cubes of sweet potato.

MEAT

Asados are all about cooking the whole beast, and San Telmo are admirable in their willingness to follow tradition here. One of my most memorable dishes in Buenos Aires was a plate of mollejas. I had deliberately asked not to be told what I was eating until the end of the meal, aware that there would be plenty of cuts I’d never tasted before, nor might possibly choose to. And so it was quite the surprise when I pointed to my favourite and was told they were sweetbreads – which usually (and certainly in this case) are glands. San Telmo somehow did it even better, these mollejas were larger, and the flavour from the grill permeated every inch of the creamy, fatty centre.

Chorizo was smoky and chunky, and impossible to enjoy without the mandatory chimichurri sauce; morcilla (black pudding) was tasty and generous in size.

It wasn’t all innards however, given the amount we’d ordered, we went for the smaller vacio (flank) steak, which was cooked to perfection – possibly pricey at $26 for a piece of meat on a plate – but in terms of the meal as a whole the value was pretty good.

To appease the nutritionists, we topped it all off with a palmheart, pear, jamon & mozzarella salad and some green beans with grilled capsicum and boiled egg.

VALUE

For its CBD location, authenticity, and quality of produce, San Telmo’s prices are certainly fair. There was far more food that we could possibly polish off, and that was $60 per person, you could easily dine for under $50; and you’re looking at generally around $40-80 for a bottle of wine from the exclusively Argentinian list.

WORTH KNOWING

San Telmo challenged me to consider which was the lesser of two evils – the much-maligned no-bookings policy, or the sometimes frustrating two sittings. Here it’s two sittings, and of course we turned up for our 8.15pm booking to find that the previous occupants must have really been savouring their desserts. It was a further 15 minutes before we were in, luckily it was a beautiful night, and we sat at a bar across the road and had a drink.

For the record – I’d rather book a second sitting and risk waiting 15 minutes for my table, than head to a place that doesn’t take bookings and sends me away for an hour and a half!

FINALLY

Argentina is known for its icecream, and while we couldn’t fit in dessert here, I was very excited to know that a new Argentinian icecream shop has JUST opened in Carlton. Helados Jauja is an offshoot of the original artisan icecream shop in Bariloche, in the stunning lakes district of Argentina - if you have the time and inclination, go down and try the Dulce de Leche. (254 Lygon St Carlton)

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