Porteno

Porteno has been one of those places that's been on our list of "must try" but we never got around to it. Finally someone organised an event and it was the perfect reason to go and sample what the fuss is all about.

I left the food decision power to the people on the table. I was just happy to try a nice repertoire of their foods.

We started with their House Baked Bread & Olive Oil with Chicken Liver & Ham Pâté and a side serving of Marinated Olives. Starters like this are simple and starts off meals with a bang.

Their Grilled Mushrooms with Burrata and Asparagus was silky smooth. It offers a nice contrast of flavours that appealed to the majority at the table. I for one wasn't a fan but mushrooms have a hit and miss effect on me. Sometimes the earthiness is too pungent.

The only thing that stood out about their BBQ Veal Sweetbreads was it's name. It was quite underwhelming and forgettable.

I'm glad they introduced the Chilli Chimichurri to the table with a reminder that it's for their meats. A quick whiff of excitement arose and we knew things were getting real....

A popular dish here has to be their Crispy Fried Brussel Sprouts with Lentils & Mint. Very well charred... but slightly too bitter for my liking.

A dish to help give a break to their meats would be the Grilled Corn with Radish, Lime, Butter & Manchego Cheese.

The piece de resistance were the deceivingly small (but considerably large) servings of 8 hour Woodfired Lamb and Pig. Most of the meat in both dishes were so tender it literally melted in your mouth.... and drizzled with that chilli chimichurri... you're left salivating for more.

The Marinated Eggplant with Grilled Peppers was a simple and well cooked dish that would please any eggplant lover.

For dessert we sampled their Tarta Negra - Black Tart with Mint Julep Ice Cream. The mint julep alcoholic presence dominated the dish but I still thoroughly enjoyed that dark chocolate tart.

Next we had the Postre Chaja - South American Style Pavlova with poaches Green Apples and Hazelnuts. It was more a crowd pleaser than most.

To finish off we shared the Flan De Leche Quemada - Burnt Milk Custard with Coconut Cream, Pineapple and Caramelised Coconut. The Filipino Leche Flan has got to be one of the most indulgent and decadent desserts I enjoy and I was thoroughly looking forward to this. Though the weird combination of what tasted like canned pineapple and an overpowering burnt sensation just threw me off and I never did recovered enough to enjoy it.

One slight gripe on the night was the waiter. He was too eager to take our dishes away and usually before we have even finished. Though in saying that the wait staff in general were professional and very attentive throughout the night.

Overall all the dishes were well prepared and beautifully plated but the meal still felt a bit too disjointed for me. I for one probably stood alone in that opinion... as many of the other diners nodded their heads in agreement to how great Porteno is. 

I guess it's just one of those places I thought I was going to be blown out of the water and I let my high expectation possibly destroy what might have been a above average dining experience. Recommendations would be to go as a group and avoid their set menu... we managed to fit a tonne of food in our bellies and our total bill still came in under the cost of their set menu.