La Esquina

201 Ballarat Rd, Footscray

Press PLAY to listen to Kara Monssen’s full review

Some of the most delicious meals I’ve eaten are found in the most unexpected places. Turns out this spot is five minutes from home.

Enter La Esquina, a South American food truck park on Ballarat Rd, Footscray.

It’s home to one of the most memorable dishes I’ve eaten all year: beef quesabirrias at Barrio Picante. Think fried tortillas filled to the brim with meat, cheese and chimichurri that look like they’ve been flattened by a steamroller in a cartoony sort of way. The crunchy outer shells are trying, and almost failing, to hold a drippy, cheesy, beefy mess of deliciousness within.

At $20 for two, I’ll be back in a heartbeat, and probably won’t share them with my husband next time.

Owners Cristian Calle and Cinthya Negrete smoke a mix of brisket, osso buco and chuck steak for three hours before a 16-hour slow braise until the meat falls in a heap. It’s served alongside a robust consomme, those braising juices, for dipping. Prepare to make a mess on your mouth, fingers and floor.

La Esquina was founded by Johan Ehrhardt, Eliana Munoz and Santiago Giraldo, who show off Latin America in all its glory- through food, drink, music and community. Each vendor waves the flag for a different Latin American country, including Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico.

The food isn’t expensive, but you may wait a while to eat depending on when you visit. There are six food vendors, including a bar, with a barber shop on site too. There’s a stage for dancers and music performances, overlooking an astroturfed lawn with tables and chairs. There is also a far-reaching covered hall for eating and drinking.

Maybe you’ll try something traditional: Tropicalia does a pork ceviche ($27); a tropical salad tumbling the fatty, crackling and fleshy bits of the pig with corn, capsicum and pickled onion, with twice-fried plantains on the side, and a sharp lime dressing. It’s wonderfully bright and fresh. Perhaps the crowd-pleasing empanadas will do the job- one each of cheese, chicken and beef ($21 for three). The beef is my pick.

If you’re looking for steak, Argentinian grill Sazon cooks everything over coals, including chorizo, morcilla (black pudding), pork belly and chicken, with larger cuts hauled over the fire pit for an almighty weekend spectacle. Churrasco ($35), a gnarly crisp striploin steak threaded onto a skewer and cooked over coals until blushing a wonderful pink within, whimpers of campfire smoke with every tender mouthful. Dress it up with chimichurri and pico de gallo.

Wash it all down with a beer, spicy margarita, or a non-alcoholic michelada at Candelaria by La Colombianita. The traditional soda is typically made from beer; however, the fruit-forward line-up is more syrupy and salty, with the watermelon my pick of the bunch.
For something sweet, Mercato makes a light and fluffy wafer dessert called oblea.

The most popular is the traditional Colombian Dream, which sandwiches two wafers between blackberry jam, cream, dulce de leche and soft cheese. But if that’s a little left field the ‘Australiana’ made with Nutella, banana, strawberries and cream is a winner.

Look far and wide for deliciousness, but it may be under your nose the whole time.

Images: Supplied