It has been a long time between catch ups for me and M and her boys and when she suggested a meet up before they left for the gorgeousness of a Tasmanian holiday I suggest La Cumbia, a South American restaurant in Kingsford. M is Austrian but her boys are half Peruvian and she takes great care to ensure that they are aware of their heritage on both sides.

We arrive at 6pm for an early dinner. Inside it looks markedly better than perhaps the outside. There are wrought iron chandeliers with glowing candles inside and large comfortable seats that look like they belong in the dining room of someone’s home. M has Colombian friends who frequent La Cumbia and indeed apart from another table and we gringos, the rest of the patrons are South American. M also comes armed with a list of must eats. One item that they recommended the Bandeja Paisa which is said to be big enough for people to share. We start with the array of drinks as they have a lot of South American drinks here and we choose a Manzana and a Pony Malta . The menu is divided into Mexican, Colombian and Spanish cuisine but since this is a predominantly Colombian place, we go for the Colombian choices.

While we are waiting M and I have a look at the shelves of the small shop they have towards the back of the restaurant. There are all sorts of goodies there including an array of tinned beans, chilli sauces, chocolate to make Mexican hot chocolate, brown sugar cane which is mixed with water and lime juice to make a version of lemonade, guava pastes and tinned as well as fresh dulce de leche in the fridge.

Arepa Choclo $4.50

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Next door to a funeral parlour lies one of Sydney’s best kept secrets. Doing a relentlessly constant trade, La Paula specialises in Empanadas, Steak Sandwiches South American style and plenty of thick caramel laden sweets in all shapes and forms ensconced under a gladwrapped cover. The signage is subtle, you could drive past there every day and never even notice it, in fact I only know of it as a Chilean friend of mine from university would wax lyrical about the heady caramel goodness of the sweets so we feel its only fair to revisit it several years later. And as we’re there around lunchtime, partake in the empanadas.

A quick glance at the well worn single menu lying on the front counter and we are pleasantly surprised, it looks like prices haven’t changed in a long time with steak sandwiches and hot dogs starting at $4.50 and empanadas all $3 (beef, chicken and spinach & cheese). As beef is the traditional filling, we order one of these as well as a spinach & cheese, one of my favourite fillings. We sit at the warmly stained and varnished wooden tables and look around at the decorations, it has certainly improved since my visit several years ago and there are some charming touches on the walls.

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