Porteno, Surry Hills

Yahooo... I finally got to visit Porteno on my Bdayyy this year.. :) Thanks for arranging siblings <3 We had an amazing feast there and yep, now I have experienced myself the meaty goodness of the 8 hours cooked pork and lamb!

Arrived there at 6PM sharp cause they have a seating policy of 6 - 8:30 PM and then 8:30 PM onwards. I've passed through Cleveland st many times but never realized the location of Porteno. The place is quite dark from the outside, its almost invisible ;p

After choosing our red wine, we immediately ordered the foods cause I have been eyeing of what to order since last year! So to start with, we had the Pan De Casa - Home made bread with Olive oil, Chicken liver & Ham pate. The crusty bread with fluffy inside is a good one to start the meal. I don't usually eat Pate but I don't mind it this time.. 

Pan De Casa - $3 per person

The Beef Empanadas is the second starter that I chose. We just bought one cause it is pretty exxy for a single serve and we just really curious on the taste and besides we ordered a lot of other foods anyway.. The fillings are mince beef, some veggies and boiled egg. It taste almost similar to the one we have back in Indo.

Empanadas De Carne $7

Next is Porteno Chorizo - Pork Sausage with white wine, Garlic and Spanish Paprika. Big fan of Chorizo and this one I tell ya is sooooo delishh! It came in 5 huge chunks, meaty and oily ;) Full of flavour and I can really taste the garlic :)

Chorizo Porteno $15

Now.. the mains that we've been waiting forr!! The fancy name is Chanchito A La Cruz - 8 Hours Woodfire Pig. I cannot describe it any further besides juicy tender meat and crispyyyy salty crackling!! There's a bit of sour note in the ribs area, not sure what's that but it's still so tasty!

Chanchito A La Cruz $50

Entrana - Kobe Cuisine Wagyu Beef Outside Skirt grilled over Charcoal...  It is a perfect match to the leafy earthy chimichurri sauce provided there. I'm not a fan of this one cause there's a fat layer covering the meat ;p But bebski on the other hand looked for the fat layer instead ;p

Entrana - $44

One of my favourite of the night, after the slow cooked lamb ;p Bife Ancho - Range Valley Sirloin 350gm girlled over Charcoal. It melts, literally melts in the mouth, that salty meaty savoury meat is just perfect and tender and juicyyyyy ^^.. not sure whether this is the wagyu or the sirloin instead. But this one below here is a mustttt order!!

Bife Ancho $44

The star of the night and most of us agreed. Cordero A La Cruz - 8 Hours Woodfired Lamb! Same as the pork, tender and juicy meat but not sure what makes this dish more special than the pork ;P The crackling is not as tasty as pork but the meat itself is justttt yummooo ~~

Cordero A La Cruz $50

And for the sidess.. we order the Famous Repollitos De Brusela A K A the Crispy Fried Brussel Sprout with Lentils and Mint. Charred crispy Brussel sprouts, it did not taste like we're eating veggies at all ;P One bowl is not enough, literally!! It's so goodd..

Crispy Brussel Sprout $16

The second side that we got was Polenta Agridulce - White Polenta with Sweet & Sour Radicchio. The polenta is sooo creamy but a bit gritty.

Polenta Agridulce $16

Now after all the meatssssss and fatsss.. we move on to the desserts. There are four dessert on the menu and we're getting 3 of them. 

First is the Rice pudding with caramelised poached pear. It is not as sweet and the rice pudding got a mushy creamy texture. I think I'm the only one who actually liked it ;p

Rice Pudding $16

Bread/Custard pudding is the next one A warm custardy puddings serve with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Nothing special on this one, it tasted like creme brulee with ice cream :)

Bread Butter Pudding $15

They call it Chocolate "Bahibe" - Chocolate Brownie with passionfruit and Pear Sorbet. Everyone were reluctant when I decided to order this one. They said it's just plain brownies and I can even bake them at home. But! It proved them wrong haha. The brownie was moist and oozing gooey chocolate came out from the middle, with gelatinised chocolate mousse (I guess) and the crunch chocolate crisp provided a complementary texture to the dessert. The passionfruit is not too profound but the pear sorbet however is delicious! I think the quenelle was too small ;P The dessert of the night for us!

Chocolate "Bahibe" $16

Nothing can makes me happier than yummy foods and good company. Lamb, Beef Sirloin, Sprouts and Brownies were the highlight of the night for me. I posted some pictures up on Fb and even my mom was drooling over it and asked me to bring her there next month when she's in town. I will gladly accompanied her here!

Thanks Porteno, My bday Dinner was a blast! :)