As my wife Diane and I left our Camden flat on a wet
Wednesday night for our visit La Patagonia I did feel a little
trepidations. Argentinian cuisine is best known for being carnivorous
in nature, and as we are both vegetarians I wasn't sure if our meal
would be to our taste. I was also worried as nothing spoils a
veggie's meal than eating through the fog of the smell of cooking
meat. I didn't know yet but all of my worries would soon be proved
very unfounded.
We had booked our table for seven pm, but even this
early on the aforementioned wet Wednesday the place was packed. The staff
met us with a friendly smile and were totally fine with my placing my
wheelchair next to my seat at our table. Even in the 21st century I
still find that some restaurants are unhappy when I turn up on
wheels, so this set the tone for the rest of the evening in a good
way. We placed our order, after being impressed at the choice for us
non-meat eaters. As we waited for our order to arrive, we were
brought a plate of bread and some pickled Aubergine that was lovely.
We were joined by one of the owners Noah, and we chatted about how
well things were going with his plans to bring a rustic Argentinian
menu to the streets of Camden. The restaurant is a warm and friendly place furnished in
a designer rustic style. It's filled with all manner of memorabilia
from the country, collected by the owners over the years, and the
whole experience is most enjoyable. But let's get down to the food
shall we?
As soon as a flash our meal arrived, and Noah left us to
watch the football on TV (another Argentinian passion). We had both
ordered the same thing, Calabaza con Humita which is a Butternut
Squash filled with a corn and béchamel sauce filling served
with a nice side salad. Even though I have been a veggie for over 20
years, I have never tried butternut squash and neither had my wife.
On our first mouthful we stopped and stared at each other.... yummy!
It was gorgeous. The squash itself was done to perfection, soft,
sweet and tender and in combination with the corn filling it was a
treat. I may have wolfed mine down a little too quickly, but that is
usual when I am enjoying my food.
Next up was desert. Normally I would have stopped at my
main meal, but I had heard that the desert menu at La Patagonia had
to be tried to be believed. Boy had I heard right! Yet again my wife
and I had matching orders, the La Patagonia Tiramisu. I freely admit
to having a rather developed sweet tooth, and as the huge half pint
(0.35L actually - I'm showing my age using Imperial) Kilner style
glass jars filled with chocolately yumminess were presented my heart
skipped a beat.
Even though there was easily enough in each serving
for us to have shared, I was so glad we had ordered one each... I
would hated sharing this desert lovers paradise. The latte we ordered
to accompany this gooey, chocolately, caramelly heaven was equally as
tasty and as I put down my spoon and slurped my last mouthful of
coffee I felt wonderful. Full, happy and a little drunk on sugar. The
bill arrived and we were both very impressed that such a great meal
could be so reasonably priced.
Both
of my wife and I laughed as we wondered home through the streets of
Camden at what a great night we'd had. It had also occurred to me
that if you do eat meat I would imagine that your meal would be as
amazing as ours, if not more so. I can't recommend La Patagonia
highly enough, and I do know that it has been added to our list of
favourite restaurants. I know we're going to become regulars and I
think you should too. Whether it's for a romantic night out, a night
out with friends or for a party La Patagonia won't let you down. Una
gran noche fuera!
No comments:
Post a Comment