I haven’t queued for a restaurant in the longest time until this last month. I just find that I prefer to wait until the enthusiasm dies down to try a restaurant (and practically speaking, I’m often wearing queue unsuitable shoes). One of the few times I recall queuing was for Bodega, Ben Milgate’s and Elvis Abrahanowicz’s tapas restaurant in Surry Hills so when I heard that they were opening up an Argentinian restaurant on Cleveland Street I was curious. The thing with queuing is that the food has to be good to make up for the sore feet and legs.
The asado grill
Gina, Teena and I are stationed outside Porteño at 11:45 am one Sunday for lunch (update: Porteño no longer do Sunday lunch) and we smell the first enticing aroma of charcoal and grilled meat. Having driven past here on a Tuesday night at around 9pm we witnessed a swarm of people gathered in the courtyard outside waiting for a table and we wanted to avoid a similar fate. Bookings can only be taken for groups of five or more with a maximum of twelve and some have complained that there is an allocation for tables of two which runs out early. At 12 noon the doors swing open and everyone gets a table to sit at in a civilised version of musical chairs.
Porteno is a much bigger number than Bodega and seats 120. There’s an upper floor bar as well as a multi tiered dining space with white washed walls and black wrought iron and alternating areas of shade and light. The Argentinian details carry on through to all aspects even to the South American cigarette ads in the bathrooms. And at the front, the two tattooed rockabilly styled owners and chefs Ben Milgate and Elvis Abrahanowicz are tending to the giant open hot coal oven whilst other food is created in the kitchen.
Tending to the asado grill
The stars of the show are the roast suckling pig and the roast lamb. We had heard grumbles about these two signature dishes running out and so curious, I ask Ben about how many lambs and pigs they go through a day and he says that it’s always two pigs and two lambs-they simply can’t do fit more on the grill and each beast is cooked for between six and eight hours. Yep even on a Saturday! So put in your order as soon as possible or line up early to avoid disappointment 
Elvis Abrahanowicz on left and Ben Milgate on right
Outfitted authentically as an Argentinian restaurant the wait staff are staff are picture perfect and straight from central casting, so much so that I wonder how long it takes them to get ready! It’s Rockabilly meets Argentina, if there were ever such a thing (and we suspect it might have just been started here).
Elvis tends to the food like a surgeon bent over a patient while Ben tends to the parilla grill (another way to grill meat flat over coals) and rings the bell. We watch as Abrahanowicz’s father pairs up with his son and plays the role of asador turning the butterflied spread eagled pigs and lambs with a metal pitchfork on the slightly ritualistic looking coal grill. The Argentinians know about grilling steak and have seven different ways, asado being just one.
Pane di Casa bread and pate $2 per person
The menu is of course meat heavy-there’s no use pretending that Argentinian cuisine is anything but. We start with the pane di casa which are warm, soft white bread rolls served with a pork liver pate which has an smooth spreadable texture with coarse ground meat dotted throughout it.
Empanada de Carne $4 each
I sometimes find empanadas can be dry from the filling or the pastry or a combination thereof. These aren’t dry at all, they’re freshly fried, prettily pleated and slightly blistered from the hot oil but importantly they’re not oily. They are filled with a slightly saucey beef mince mixture and of course a single whole olive.
Morcilla blood sausage$10
I do like blood sausage but find that I can only eat a little bit of it usually. This morcilla aka the Argentinian blood sausage with roasted red peppers and thin garlic slices is an exception. So soft it is spilling out of it’s casing it is dotted with little cubes of fat and has a slightly spicy aftertaste right at the very end. It doesn’t have that metallic taste that some blood sausages do from the iron in the blood. The morcilla and the rest of the meats apart from the pork and lamb are cooked on the parilla grill over hot coals.
Chanchito a la cruz suckling pig $46
Ahh the lovely eight hour suckling pig is brought out and we crack at it with the steak knife like a meaty savoury version of ice magic. The pork has a deliciously thick layer of soft fat between the hard crackling and the meat. I prefer my crackling a bit more blistered so that it crunches easily but I do like the unctuousness of the fat and the meat together and I’m secretly quite glad that I am not addicted to the crackling (aka my version of crack). And when we couldn’t finish it our waiter offers to pack some up for a tasty sandwich the next day.
We were given two sauces, a very garlicky chimichurri and a criolla sauce which has red chilli, onion and oil which is very mild and actually not very spicy at all.
Cordera a la Cruz Lamb $46
The 8 hour suckling suffolk lamb comes out in a very large serve (and it even has Saltbush lamb still visibly printed on the skin!). I love the flavour of saltbush lamb and the meat is tender and excellent together with the chimichurri which gives it a herby goodness and contrast to the richness of the lamb. Value is an aspect where Porteno has been criticised but even with the three of us, there is a lot of meat leftover as the serves are substantial. We see large plates of ribs and chicken being brought to the other tables.
Repollitos de Brusela Frito Brussel Sprouts $14
We asked for advice from our waiter as to which side order to get and he suggested the brussell sprouts. I’m not normally a huge lover of them, they usually have to be generously served with bacon for me to enjoy them but these babies are delicious. They’re halved, deep fried and served with lentils and torn pieces of enormous mint leaves with a slight crunch and deep fried goodness to them.
Postra Chaja Pavlova $14
Now if you have eaten South American sweets, you’ll know that they a) love dulce de leche and b) they love their sweets very sweet. So whilst pairing dulce de leche with meringue may seem overly sweetly ambitious, it is very South American. Their postra chaja is an interpretation the Uruguayan meringue cake with peaches and whipped invented in the 1920s by Orlando Castellano who named it after a bird called el chajá.
This dessert has large pieces of crunchy topped meringue with a soft layer underneath it, lashings of thick dulce de leche milk caramel, crunchy toasted peanut and mango pieces that are soft and sweet from being cooked sous vide with sugar syrup. It’s sweet – I didn’t have to tell you that but the textures are lovely with the soft mango, crunchy meringue and peanuts and fluffy meringue underside.
Pina Colada Spider $14
The pina colada spider is filled with pineapple soda, diced pineapple pieces, clear pineapple jelly, coconut meat and a silky smooth coconut cream ice cream and a few pieces of coriander (which jarred a little for me). It’s refreshing and sitting under the skylight has heated us a little so we spoon the fizzy sweet liquid and fruit into our waiting mouths before popping around the corner to do some shopping. Yup Rockabilly meets Argentina is delicious indeed.
So tell me Dear Reader, do you like very sweet desserts or do you order the cheese plate?
Porteño
358 Cleveland Street, Surry Hills, NSW
Tel: +61 (02) 8399 1440
Dinner: Tuesday to Saturday from 6pm
Bar: 6pm – late Tuesday – Saturday 2pm – late Sundays
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59 Comments | Add your own
the blood sausage (boudin in french) looks very tempting !!Pierre
After visitng Argentia in 2004 I was smitten with the culture, people and the food. It sounds like these two unlikely Argentinian food restaurant owners have done an outstanding job of bringing authentic food to Sydney…well done!
The meat looks delicious, and that brussel sprout dish is different indeed. Might attempt to make it, because I’m like you not a big fan of plain sprouts.
Always sweets – could never finish on a cheese platter!!
Looks like a great place to put on the list!
mmm I love pork crackling too – but I like it like you all blistered!
I have really been wanting to check this place out, searching for a good parilla as when I was in Argentina I was vego!
oh that suckling pig brought back memories of our trip to Spain a few years ago
That is truely an amazing restaurant, I have never seen something so authentic. The suckling pig over charcoal is amazing. I can’t imagine how divine the aroma would have been!
I have to say, I can’t get the blood sausage image out of my head though! This is one food that although I haven’t tried, I really struggle to even contemplate taking one little tiny mouthful.
Oh I’m so dying to go…! Everything looks amazing..! Perhaps Sunday lunch is the way to go…
What a fabulous experience – I love it! I always go the sweet dessert
Looks fab. This place is on my wishlist & I really can’t wait to get there!
Oh wow! This place looks incredible. I love the empanada and the suckling pig especially! I AM SO HUNGRY!
ohhh Lorraine – you got the suckling pig! Hope the sandwiches were just as tasty the next day
This post makes we want to re-visit Porteno again – and will wear sensible shoes for the wait!
As for cheese platter vs sweet dessert, i’m for team sweet dessert. Only because i can easily “assemble” a platter up of my favorite cheeses but I doubt I could come close to making the Postra Chaja Pavlova at home. at all. ever.
This is the only place I have ever enjoyed waiting 2 hours for a table at – the upstairs bar is just about worth another review in its own right. About an hour in to our wait, the second round of bar snacks and cocktails had us thinking that missing out on a table downstairs might not be that bad a thing at all…
That lamb is worth the wait and hype though.
I tend to go for the cheese plate these days … or nothing at all.
The meat looks amazing. And I love crackling too!
Bodega is one of my favourite restaurants ever! The banana split is to die for!
I cannot wait to try Porteno when I get back to Sydney!
I am salivating at the sight of that lamb!!! sigh….the porridge just hasn’t cut it for me this morning.
Sweeet Sweet for me! That Pineapple coconut concoction sounds brilliant!
I like the idea of cheese platters and think that one day I’ll be so terribly refined that I will order one, but it’s sweet desserts for me everytime.
That looks great – except for the blood sausages. I love dessert, I rarely go for the cheese.
I have heard quite a bit about this restaurant. It will most certainly be on my list the next time we are in Sydney!
There’s not too many posts of yours that make me interested in travelling to Sydney just for the restaurant, but this one might be one.
Now to convince the family it’s a good idea
OMG I want to go THERE. The suckling pig and the meat empanadas had me but the scenery – fabulous. Drooling now.
I’d go just for the suckling pig & lamb.It’s my husbands favorite
dish.This restaurant will go down as a must go to.
This place looks impressive!? You always know that if you have to queue for places, it’s usually going to be good
One of my buddies has spent some serious time in Argentina & raves about the food, the people but mostly the food, he keeps sending me pictures like these mouth watering meals you’ve posted, so I’ve been really curious to try this type of food, I think I’d love it. I often just can’t find room for sweets, but would usually choose sweets over cheese to finish with.
Thanks for this post Lorraine, Elvis & Ben are onto something amazing here it seems & I can’t wait to go there.
Oh that suckling pig, mmm looks amazing!
The pavlova looks v. appealing too – although I am more of a cheese plate gal….
The NSW tourist office should place you on their permanent payroll, Lorraine! I love Melbourne, but your posts are soooo enticing!
I like savoury-ish desserts – those desserts would probably move me closer to a cheese plate option, but at the same time I do love my proper desserts. I think that’s why I love salt, chilli, peanuts, and herbs in my desserts so much – they cut down the sweetness.
Also… that poor, poor pig. I wonder where its dignity went?
I just had some amazing roast suckling pig in Quebec. But I don’t think they roasted it on a grill the likes of that one. Mighty impressive looking. And the skin sure came out crackling crisp.
That lamb just looks amazing! It would be worth the wait. I love my cheeses but whenever we are out for dinner, it has to be dessert for me.
Ohhh that pina colada spider sounds yummy! We’ve always ordered dessert but recently we’ve both fallen for the cheese plates too but I am always torn between the two and always go for dessert. Usually I try to convince the other half to share so we can have the best of both worlds =)
Wow! I am salivating looking at the photos. What a shame I and my 6 girlfriends didn’t go there last night instead of Bar Brasilia, newly opened Churasco restaurant in Brighton-Le-Sands. How bad was it? Let me count the ways…we arrived at 8.00pm and were quickly ushered upstairs; greeted by a waitress who asked if we had a reservation. We said yes, gave her the name..not once, not twice,not even thrice until she decided to look up the booking. She came back with a scrap of paper which had our name completely wrong – that’s ok. She didn’t seem to trust us so went to a table in the corner, counted the chairs, came back and asked us how many was the reservation for (at this stage, only 3 out of 7 of us had arrived). Finally, we were taken to our table. She brought the menus to us and went away. No explanations as to how to order. 10 or so minutes go by and she returns to ask if we would like any drinks. A very simple order was given: 1 diet coke, 1 regular coke, 1 lemon squash. Again, quite some time later, a different waitress arrives with the drinks, however, she does not know which coke is which. The taste test occurs, only to find that both the cokes are regular ones. After some quizzical looks from the waitress, she says she will return with the other drink request. It is now approximately 8.45pm and we are still waiting for someone to take our food order. We had decided on the $45 p/p meal which was meats, seafood (on their menu it should be spelt SEE FOOD, as we didn’t see any). The first waitress arrives with 1 bowl of salad leaves, 1 tiny plate of potato salad, the same of salsa for the 7 of us. We comment that this is not sufficient and ask for more. Again, the poor English speaking waitress doesn’t seem to comprehend that there are 7 people who want to EAT. Meanwhile, we see the waiters with their meat skewers walking from table to table but not to ours. We waived at one of them, who finally came over and plonked a minute piece of fish on one of the plates. He didn’t have enough for all of us. There was a gentleman sitting on his own opposite our table who was feasting on everything. Finally, the last straw when we mentioned that one of the girls was gluten intolerant, she told us that everything was gluten free and proceeded to place a basked of deep fried banana, polenta, and chips coated in something. It is now 9.20pm and we have had enough – not food of course. We called the waitress over and said we were leaving. Within seconds, a male came over to our table, called himself Mr Fixit. We explained the situation and he said not problem, he would fix it and have our food on the table within minutes. Sorry Mr Fixit, it’s a little too late. He continued arguing with us (yes, arguing) that the food was already cooked for us and that we couldn’e leave. More arguing and we got up to go. We said we would pay for our drinks and that’s it. Our Mr Fixit went to the register and came back to tell us we didn’t have to pay anything. Gee, thanks. His customer service skills really need a bit more polish, nay, a lot more polish. He was blaming his new staff, the newness of the restaurant, the teething problems and that they did not expect so many “walk ins”. Well Mr Fixit, a few suggestions for you: plan, plan, plan. The restaurant is not designed for this type of food service – there is not much room for the waiters to get to every table, consequently, by the time they get to the ones in the corner, they run out. When we finally left the restaurant, we couldn’t help but hear one of the tables downstairs saying to the waiter “oh, no more please” – we should have said “we’ll have it”!!!
PS the noise factor of Bay St is ridiculous – it’s like eating on a Formula 1 racetrack.
I’d be very interested to hear if anyone has been to this place and what their experience was like.
I can so see myself lining up for Porteno, and I normally hate queues. The crackling certainly looks like it could be ‘dealt’ on a street corner in Kings Cross! Wonderful pics
Porteno sounds fantastic, the photos of the lamb and suckling pig look amazing. We had plans to visit Bodega soon but might head here instead I think!
Glad the food was a hit! Now I have three excuses to visit.
1. See if they are doing my heritage justice, 2. To EAT!! and 3. To soak in the eye candy that is Elvis!
Oh God those cupcakes are so adorably cute ,love them!!
These pics are so absoultely fantastic, i love how u put these posts together!!!
Also so need ur help for some votes if u can , i have enterd my cookie ,
the snicker doodle and badly need votes !!
Pleaseee do vote for me on this page ,
http://www.goodlifeeats.com/2010/11/vanilla-salted-caramel-hot-chocolate.html , im number 21 , blushin vanilla snicker doodles!!
amazing pictures and a great all round enticement to visit. ( next time in sydney!) cheers kari
They need to make room for another grill so they can cook 4 pigs and 4 lambs!!! Looks AMAZING, and I love suckling pig.. *drool*
I can only finish with cheese when it comes with a sweet dessert wine!
No queueing for me! I understand that restaurants are guarding against no-shows but most patrons are responsible and mobile phones these days guarantees contact up till the last minute. A shame really as the food looks really good.
Oh and I’d go the cheese, that sugar upon sugar upon sugar thing would have made me catatonic before I left the restaurant!
Always go for a dessert over the cheese platter .
I’m glad it was worth the aching feet, Lorraine. Super foodie photos. I’m like you, I tend to wait until the hoohaa dies down a little before I try a new restaurant.
Cheese plate when anything with dulce de leche is available? Oh no.
Uhm you had me at the roasting pig! Sounds like you had a great time! We something very similar on New Year’s but in a “caja china” — look it up. I think you’d be tickled.
I was pretty excited looking at those meats, but then got super excited at the brussel sprouts!!! Yes, I am admitting the sprouts excited me more than suckling pig. What the hell is wrong with me?
Oh and seriously.. a Pina Colada spider? That rocks.
Oh my goodness- it looks amazing. Very sad to be on the other side of the world from it. That suckling pig looks insanely good. As for me? I get the cheese and The Hungry One goes for sweets. And then we share. Awh.
I don’t know much about Argentinian cuisine so this was a really lovely read for me! I have to say, the suckling pig looks really fantastic and if I ate pork I would absolutely be all over that dish.
Cheese plate or dessert is such a tough call! Can I skip the appetizer and have both, lol? 
You can never go wrong with pork!
If I go as far as desserts (i tend to fill up before this point!), I’d order a sweet over the cheese plate. most of the time
that suckling pig looks amazing!!
Heidi xo
carve it up right, ye painted men!
pina colada spider? i’m completely fascinated.
Porteno has been at the top of my list to visit since it opened! I can’t wait – it looks amazing.
I’m all for super sweet desserts – but I love cheese as well!
Looks finger-licking good! But I’m waiting until the Sydney trendoids move somewhere else.
Yeah Uruguayan Postre Chaja is the best for me. It is sweet therefore really suited for people with a good sweet tooth. And dulce de leche is sublime in anything – A little goes a long way, says me who eats it by the spoonful, he, he!! But as much as I also enjoy Greek sweets, I find theirs to be much much sweeter. Yes we South Americans love our meat, I’ll eat it at any time of the day the taste is so addictive – The coals give it a divine smokey flavour.
Predictable me – it’s the dessert that has me intrigued, in particular that pina colada spider. Have never heard of anything like this, but it sounds delicious!
Also, I’m heading to Australia for 2 weeks in December and hoping to stop by Sydney for 2 nights. Is there anything at all you want me to smuggle in in the way of foodstuffs (I know how horribly strict Aus Post/Customs are when trying to get things by mail)? It would be my pleasure to hunt it down for you!
Briony xx
That pig looks delicious! It would be awesome in a sandwich the next day too. Definitely dessert over cheese. I love my cheese, but I like to eat it before a meal.
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[...] V knew about Porteño before I did. And I must be a terrible blogger because I went there before NQN and minibites, but here I am, telling you all about what an awesome time I had, well after they [...]
[...] V knew about Porteño before I did. And I must be a terrible blogger because I went there before NQN and minibites, but here I am, telling you all about what an awesome time I had, well after they [...]
[...] them. Nourishing Quarter is on Cleveland Street and sits diagonally opposite meat lover heaven Porteno and has been open for five months now. An enquiry about whether taking photos are ok is met with a [...]
[...] much as I love barbeque, I sure as hell ain’t camping out to get a feed. I won’t even queue for Porteno. Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. This entry was posted [...]
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