139 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Phone 03 9669 8349
It was the música criolla that picqued my interest as we walked past what used to be an uninspiring franchise coffee shop on Lonsdale Street. Having spent some time in Latin America back in 2004, I had developed a penchant for the jiggy yet soulful sounds of the charango and siku (panpipes). So we stopped and looked inside, and noted it still looked like the ol’ coffee place. But the sign said El Gran Café, and the menu near the doorway declared dishes suchs as lomo saltado, arroz con pollo and aji de gallina. We were intrigued.
We decided on a dish called Bandeja Paisa ($16.40) – a homestyle assortment of cooked black beans, rice, spiced beef mince, plantain (in this case, banana), chicharon (fried pork rind), avocado, sunny side up egg and an arepita, a small unleavened bread made from corn meal. It was an interesting dish, though perhaps some of it a little clumsily plated, such as unmoulding the heated up rice straight from the take-away container, the avocado being cut up long before service, and the beef being a little dry. But, there is potential – the beans, arepita and chicharon were great, and I reckon with a higher customer turnover, perhaps the Chef will be encouraged to do things more a la minute, or perhaps slow-cooking/braising more tender cuts of meat (mince just loses all it’s juices/flavour).
But I will certainly go back, as there are a few other dishes I would love to try (I adored lomo saltado when I was in Peru). Also, they are spruiking a lunchtime arepa (which is a larger version of the arepita), stuffed with meat – kind of like a hamburger. Sounds intriguing.
Ah arroz con pollo. Ate so much of it in Central America last year. Great on it’s own, but after 3 weeks of subtle variations of the same dish, it almost made me cry. Funny how time makes memories fonder – reading your post almost makes me want it again. What’s lomo saltado? I’m off to Peru in under a month..
I was curious about that too, Forager. Apparently lomo saltado is a dish of marinated steak, vegetables and fried potatoes, usually served over white rice (well, according to Wiki). Sounds tasty to me!
Hiya Forager – uh huh, I know *exactly* what you mean
The lomo saltado I had in Peru was strips of beef (spiced/marinated), usually stirfried with sliced onions, fresh tomato segments and sliced green chilli. Then it is served over chips, and sometimes rice. Uh huh…yeah (you can check me out eating lomo saltado in Bolivia here). The lomo saltado at El Gran Cafe is only served with rice though – which IMHO is travesty. You need the greasy potato chips underneath it as well. Oooh..I am so jealous that you are heading to Peru. I had such an awesome time there.
Hey Miss A – oh yes, it is tasty indeed!
“Bandeja paisa”, this is a Colombian typical plate, and been from Colombia I am very curious, and soon I will go and try it. According to Australian standards, yes I think the presentation and the whole plate might look not very good, and they will have to think a way to served it in a different way for the Autralian taste. But now, since the Colombian population in Melbourne has increased a lot with lots of students around, they will have to keep the one you tried also, because that is the way we like it, the mince meat in fact has to be cooked with onion, be minced again and fried again so it will have a powdery dry texture that goes perfectly with the beans, the plantain is very ripe plantain that is why it taste sweet as a banana (but we can recognize the difference), and the plate could be bigger but in that case more food has to be put on it so it looks “full” and we can cut the egg over the rice, beans and mince meat, and mix all to eat it. The rice is another story but too long to explain. I hope when I go there it won’t disappoint me with a not Colombian flavor.
Hey there Adry – thanks for your enlightening comment! I guess I’m not familiar with the typical dishes, so you’ve really helped me understand “how it should be”. Would be interested to hear your thoughts of El Gran once you visit. I’ve noticed over the last week or so that they are becoming busier.
Lomo Saltado:
Is a marinated and spiced beef chucks that we stir-fried in veggie oil, vinager and soy sauce in the flame with sliced onions, tomatoes and “ají amarillo” (yellow pepper, please NO green pepper … that’s sound mexican) for about 5 minutes. Add at the end chopped fresh cilantro.
We served always with french fries and white rice. Try to get a peruvian “Pisco sour” or a Inka Kola and you will be in heaven.
Bye.
Hi there Percy!
When I was in Peru and Bolivia, they served lomo saltado with sliced long green/yellow peppers (not like the capsicums we get here, more like the sweet skinny Italian peppers), with fat chips. Sometimes with rice, sometimes without.
But I concur with the Pisco Sour! I actually went to Pisco and had one in its home town! The Inka Kola on the other hand is a little sweet for my tastebuds