Restaurant: El Rincon Quiteno
Location: 235 Holloway Road, London, N7 8HG
Date of visit: 4 September 2014
Time of visit: 8pm
Finally, an opportunity to visit one of London's fine international restaurants once again, for that is the reason for the existance of this blog! I was fairly certain I'd find a restaurant that served Bolivian cuisine, if not exclusively.
After some research, it seems that perhaps the only exclusively Bolivian restaurant in London recently closed down. But that left two or three pan-regional restaurants that also specialised in food from Ecuador and Colombia.
In this case, we opted for an Ecuadorian-Bolivian restaurant in North London. Helpfully, despite not having an actual website, their menu was listed on Just Eat so I was able to make sure that there was a decent choice of Bolivian fair. The selection in this respect wasn't extensive, but it was a selection nonetheless.
I called ahead on the Thursday afternoon to ask if we needed to book a table for two in advance, but this wasn't necessary.
On arrival we were greeted straight away and taken to a table. The restaurant was fairly quiet but there was still a nice little buzz to it. Almost as soon as we sat down we were presented with the menus. Clearly we both had pretty much made up our mind before we arrived, not just because of the menu availability on Just Eat but also because there was one standout main dish.
I ordered a Club Colombia lager, but unfortunately they had none so I had to settle for a bottle of Cusquena. Elle asked for a glass of "house white" wine, which wasn't actually listed on the drinks menu despite a "house red" being listed.
For food, we decided on a small starter and a main. We went for the only Bolivian starter listed - Saltenas Boliviana (a chicken and peas pattie) but unfortunately they were also out of those. Instead we went for the very similar Empanadas Colombianas - one chicken and one beef, which we shared between us.
As for the main, it was clear as soon as we spotted it on the menu that we were both going to go for the pique macho. Not only is this traditionally Bolivian, but it sounded amazing - diced beef, sausage, garlic, chips, onion salad topped with mayo. Even just typing that makes me feel excited all over again! (And proof reading this before publishing is exciting me all over again!)
The starter came out very quickly. Nothing amazing, but the sauce it came with was definitely something to note. It was a small bowl of fairly watery spicy salsa. It added a lovely kick to patties when dashed on top. Elle isn't a big fan of salsa, but she really liked this stuff. It turned a fairly unremarkable, familiar starter into something much more memorable.
While waiting for the mains I took in some of the atmosphere of the restaurant. It was pretty much smack bang between being a restaurant and a cafe. To be honest, the service was too. That isn't to say the service wasn't good. It was excellent, but it was also informal and relaxed. This was a good thing.
When the mains arrived, we were both taken aback. From the description, we both expected something special. And my god did it look special. So much so that, for the first time, we were both moved to take a picture of the meal. Something we've never done on this blog. That isn't what the blog is about, and I've always hated the idea of pulling a camera out in the middle of a restaurant and taking picture of the meal before eating it. Not least because we don't want to give the impression that we're professional food bloggers and we're testing them out. We're not, but in any case we gave the game away this time.
Maybe not everyone's cup of tea, but this looked like heaven to us. And it tasted better. The beef was ample and very tender - not tough at all, despite the waitress arming us with steak knives. The sausage was a cross between saveloy and hot dog - not quality meat, but absolutely fine by us. The mix of garlic, onion and mayo was perfect with all this. And the crowning glory was the chippy-style chips soaked in the copious amount of spicy gravy that settled in the bottom of this slightly bowl-shaped plate. Not many words were spoken as we dug into this concoction.
Almost absurdly, however, halfway through the meal the head waiter marched to our table, confiscated Elle's half full wine glass proclaiming "that wine is warm" and replaced it instantly with a new, full, ice cold glass of white wine. Wine, by the way, that was exceptionally good. Elle knows her wine. She was hugely impressed. Even I could also tell this was the real deal.
It was nice to just finally get out to a restaurant again, but this experience exceeded expectations - both in the service and especially in the food. A fantastic restaurant to visit, and I can only imagine what the other delights on the menu would be like. Maybe we'll come back if we ever reach the letter E....
