First blog entry for Tales of the Undigested, enjoy and digest the contents.....
Pub on the Park, London Fields, Hackney E8 3PE
We choose an Argentinian 2006 Norton Privada Merlot-based red to drink, it was an excellent match to the strong beef flavours, elsewhere it would have seemed extremely heavy but with the steak and ox tongue the liquorice undertones pushed there way through and worked well, would buy again but only if eating beef and maybe venison.
Sitting in the top right corner of London Fields its an ideally situated pub for the Hackney locals but seems to be missing the point a little, no real atmosphere, staff bit un-bothered and just doesn't really seem to offer much without summer opening up the big terrace leading to the park. Most interesting thing was slightly wired drummer talking to me in bogs after he'd put Enya followed by The Who on jukebox - interesting choice...
Buen Ayre, Broadway Market, Hackney E8 4QJ
Buen Ayre is in the middle of the narrow streets of Broadway Market in Hackney, its an Argentina Grill restaurant that's had terrific reviews especially from Time Out.
Only small (25-30 covers) they use two sittings per table so should be pulling 50 covers on a weekend night if they fill the early slots, but the chance of getting a table without booking on weekend are slim, we luckily managed to book table earlier the same day.
The atmosphere is busy but relaxed, suiting the narrow room with tables very close to each other, this didn't seem intrusive though because of the bustle of the place.
We weren't going to have starters (knowing the amount of main course we'd be faced with) but two starters really sung to me so I thought what hell its my first blog food night (good excuse eh?) and both only £4.50.
Lengua a la vinagreta - Sliced marinated ox tongue
Really wanted to try the Argentinian take on ox tongue, it was served sliced and covered with the marinade. The vinegar marinade was superbly sharp and cut straight through the strong taste of the tongue, which just simply melted in you mouth much more than I thought it possibly could. Wouldn't have thought about a strong vinegar marinade much before but it hit the spot amazingly well.
Jamón con palmitos y salsa golf - Serrano ham with palm hearts and mayo sauce
It was the palm hearts that got me interested in this dish. The hearts seemed from a tin but the blandish taste of them kinda worked with the dark Serrano and the sharp homemade mayo, good but other starter blew it away for me.
Had bit of issue with ordering main course, first there wasn't any rib-eye steak left (my favourite beef steak cut) and after changing that to sweetbreads we were told that had run out too. Fair play though because our Brazilian waitress was very apologetic and offered to upgrade main platter to 2 140z sirloins for no extra charge as replacement for rib-eye, eventually decided to go with this.
Parrillada Deluxe - 14oz prime Argentine Sirloin steak + 11oz grilled Argentine Rib-eye steak, 2 Argentine-style pork sausages + black pudding + provolone cheese
Yep that's a hell of a lot of meat to share between two! The sirloin was thickly cut and cooked medium-rare absolutely perfectly on the grill, possibly nicest steak I've ever eaten but couldn't help think of extra flavour the rib-eye would've had. Black pudding didn't have the same powerful taste of the British made but probably more approachable for the 'ergh blood' people. I feel you'd eat a steak or sausage with little else but a black pudding needs to be a part of lots of different layers of flavours to really shine. Good meaty sausages, quite a course cut but tender meat inside - they were good but not same wow as the steaks, they did work with cheese. The provolone cheese is served on the platter hot plate, although a hard cheese it melts in superb mozzarella style but produces such a deeper more mature flavour. As you could expect we struggled to finish it all especially after we'd munched on the fantastic thick cut chips served with a garlic and parsley butter as a frivolous side order - I was little annoyed that I was so full of meat I couldn't finish the chips.
A doggy bag was offered and gladly excepted, likely a regular occurrence for non-Argentinian carnivorous customers.
We choose an Argentinian 2006 Norton Privada Merlot-based red to drink, it was an excellent match to the strong beef flavours, elsewhere it would have seemed extremely heavy but with the steak and ox tongue the liquorice undertones pushed there way through and worked well, would buy again but only if eating beef and maybe venison.
My only slight annoyance was the fact that most of the tables seemed to get an after dinner shot of some type of Argentinian liqueur and we didn't! Small thing really but these things stick in your mind and suppose added to my slight doubts about the possibly overly relaxed service.
Overall it was a fantastic meal which delivered on what you'd expect - quality thick steaks, robust wine and bit of a buzz. Could have easily eaten and drank for less than the £100 we spent - actually I recommend just getting a steak and the delectable chips and a cheap bottle of Malbec - you'd enjoy it nearly as much for a lot less. Saying that... as good as the steaks were; it was the ox tongue which stood out and what I think I'd like to see elsewhere with a bit of a twist, whether other people would order it is another thing.
I'd love to hear your opinions of this blog entry, if you've been to any of places I talk about let me know if you agree/disagree with things I've written.
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