If you like South American food then you are going to love La Puerta. Situated in the lovely suburb of Neutral Bay, La Puerta oozes character and of lots of Latin rhythm!
La Puerta caters for all seasons with a room inside that is warm and inviting but also a lovely deck out the front, perfect for al fresco dining. One thing's for sure though, no matter where you choose to sit, you'll probably see the barman mixing up some amazing Columbian cocktails.
We usually start our Friday nights with a wine and tonight is no exception. Two lovely glasses of rose which we enjoyed whilst we waited for our food.
We started our culinary journey with La Puerta's Pan Latino, a delicious warm bread which came with a creamy smoked butter. It was moorish and had us lathering it on piece after piece.
We also tried the Empanaditas which were filled with a mouth-watering mixture of beef and corn. The crispy shell they came in made them a perfect scooping agent for the creamy goats cheese Aji - which we also couldn't get enough of.
Count N tried one of La Puerta's signature cocktails too, the Chimichurri Margarita which was full of flavour, strong and had quite a punch from the Chimichurri sauce that was blended into the cocktail. If you like a strong Margarita, then you will definitely like La Puerta's Columbian version.
Time for some mains though and after much deliberation we landed on the Changua Fish and La Puerta Pollo. The kingfish was perfectly cooked, so much so, it was melting in our mouth with every bite. The Changua sauce was creamy and full of flavour. Imagine a béchamel sauce though much creamier. All this blended so well with the coconut rice it came with -the fragrant rice was the perfect accompaniment.
Now, let us tell you about the chicken because, believe us, once you try this chicken, you will be coming back for more, time after time. So tender and moist, the meat is vacuumed sealed and slow cooked for 24 hours. The chicken was literally falling apart as we were biting into it, the crispy Kale and carrots added a perfect layer of crunch and flavours. This dish is highly recommended by the restaurant and we can see why. We highly recommend it too.
We also snuck in a lovely crispy pork salad. It was fresh and was loaded with huge pieces of fig. The pomegranate dressing was sweet and tangy. This salad has such a unique mix of flavours, it's just delicious.
For dessert, we had the Cop De Merengon, La Puerta's take on a Pavlova. It's an impressive dessert, especially with the glass that it's served in. The meringue is layered with Lulo and sour sup Ice-cream, another La Puerta signature item. One of the ice cream flavours tasted a bit like an apple custard we thought - we really enjoyed it.
La Puerta is definitely a showstopper in Sydney's South American food scene. Some of the things that stood out for us were the unique flavours in each dish, flavours we really hadn't come across anywhere before. To top that off, the service is great and the atmosphere is perfect for any occasion. We certainly will be back.
La Puerta is open Tuesday to Sunday from 530pm to late. Thank you to the staff at La Puerta for their excellent service, and thank you to Chrissy for organising our visit.