A night to remember: PORTENO

4 days before I go back to my hometown, me and a bunch of friends headed off to this Argentinian Restaurant, Porteno! If you haven't gone there, you better be because they have an awesome 8hours wood-fired suckling pig. Well, for a carnivore like me, that would have been the highlight of the night but, no its not. I was mostly taken back by their BBQ Eggplant, Tahini, Pearl Barley and Preserved Lemon. So, enough said!

BBQ Eggplant, Tahini, Pearl Barley, and Preserved Lemon! YUMSS

Ah wait! That appetiser excites me that I forgot to talk about how awesome their house made bread was. Well, first of all, it was warm bread (and so thats a BIG TICK), but also, it had dips to go with it. Im sorry people, I can barely remember the name of all the dips but I know olive oil and Pork pate were there. But the other two (which are the best dips), seriously slips my mind. But anyway, here is that bucket of breads:

House Baked Bread with Olive Oil & Pork Pate

Moving on to the mains. ah btw, the food there are seriously HUGE! I mean portion wise. There were 4 of us and we only ordered two mains but we can barely finished everything when we were even on hungry stomach! so seriously, there was a lot on the plate. Our waiter recommended us the 8 hours wood-fired suckling pig, O’Connor Grass Fed Angus Sirloin 350gm,  8 hour Woodfired Free Range Lamb. We ordered the suckling pig and free range lamb because anything that has been cooked for that long must be worth eating. 

8 hours wood-fired suckling pig

Don't judge by how it looks, yes it doesn't look like the suckling pig you would have eaten at other restaurant but hey, this dish seriously suit the place. AND omg! this is a dammmnnnn good suckling pig. Let me tell you, I have eaten so many disappointing suckling pig and this one is good.... which means its good! Well, the meats are so tender and the skins are so crispy, with proper seasonings. Would you ask anything more from a suckling pig? I guess no =D

The roast lamb was a bit of a turn off for me though. Well, perhaps because I'm not a big fan of any lamb but I have eaten better lamb that doesn't smell or taste like lamb so that was prolly just my fuzzy nature eating that lamb. My friends, however, chose that lamb over the pig, which I happily offered to eat the pork dish instead of the lamb. But anyone who enjoys lamb and its smell, the lamb smell so good.. i mean Lamb-y kind of good (if thats even a word). 

8 hours roast lamb

How forgetful of me that I (again) forgot to mention their side dish, which is also the highlight of that night: Polenta with Provolone Cheese. It was cheesy and soft and best of all, It balances the meat after taste. SO for me, those side dish was the saviour!

Polenta with Provolone Cheese (Yeah, I know it looks good, it tastes damn good too!)

Ehm. I know I said we couldn't finish our main dish but that was probably because we tried to safe our stomach on the Argentinian dessert. So, what do they have to offer??!

The dessert choice was not exactly very broad. They only have 4 desserts on the menu (well, the rest of the menu consisted of dessert wine which is not what we were after, not after a bottle of wine). The choice was 

LECHE QUEMADA: Burnt Milk Custard with Orange Jam & Chocolate Ice Cream
CHOCOLATE FILLED DOUGHNUT HEART : With Fig Jam and Pinenut Gelato
POSTRE CHAJA: South American Style Pavlova
PIÑA COLADA SPIDER: Pineapple Soda & Coconut Rum Ice Cream 

    We decided to order the first two on the menu.

CHOCOLATE FILLED DOUGHNUT HEART 

The first dessert is not exactly my cup of tea, I found the fig jam on the top was a bit bitter and doesn't go too well with the chocolate. On the other hand, the coffee ice cream on the sides was really good. For me this dessert is 6/10. 

LECHE QUEMADA

The second dessert is so much better for me. The burnt caramel tastes almost like creme brûlée with a strong caramel tastes. The ice cream on the side is the chocolate ice cream, which is just so-so in my opinion. This dessert is 7.5/10. 

All in all, this restaurant really worth the visit. The cozy place and friendly staffs with unique-tasting foods are definitely something you would want to try once in your life. 

Till next time!! =D

P.S.: at the request of one of my beloved friend, Tim Chan. Here is the pic of us eating at Porteno!