La Patagonia
31 Camden High St, London NW1 7JE
Book here.
The first time I came to this restaurant was thanks to an Argentinian friend of mine and now I am a total fan. Humberto had assured me this was the best Argentinian in town. And Humberto had two things going for him: he was a foodie that knew London inside out, and he was Argentinian.
I don’t mess around when locals know their foods so we booked a table at La Patagonia (which is advisable as it’s always full) and headed off to Camden, unaware of the feast I was about to enjoy.
This restaurant is right on the main road in Camden and it’s very cosy and authentic on the inside, full of paintings and all sorts of nick-nacks from Argentina. You can tell the owners have been here for ages and they consider this place as their home away from home.
Now if you are a meat lover, this is your place. Seriously. You will find a menu full of proper Argentinian sweet meats cooked the traditional way on a big charcoal grill in the open kitchen. You can order individual main courses but the real banger here is the mouth-watering meat selection (including steak , black pudding and chorizo sausage) to share on table top mini grills. Sooo gooood! Go for the Provoleta, Argentine cow’s milk cheese that is eaten barbecued. For starters, it’s the classic empanadas with chimichurri sauce.
The meat is sensational and they import it every week fresh off the boat from Argentina. Everything is proper here. The law in the UK doesn’t allow to import some of the meats though, and yet they don’t replace it with anything else bought here. If they can’t get their hands on what they are after, they simply don’t serve it. Everything they offer has to be from Argentina, including all their staff. I respect that.
It’s just a shame that this can’t be a 10 out of 10. While it is true that I have come across some very nice and chatty waiters here some times, this doesn’t seem to be a consistent occurrence and you can be unlucky enough to end up with a waiter as dry as a cookie sandwich. Everyone knows that some guidance and enthusiasm from the waiters for first-time visitors always makes your soiree.
Anyhoo, the food is so finger-lickin’ good it will keep me coming back for more.
