griffin's wife wrote:More in south american explorations and comparisons:
there were interesting differences between it and our usual Argentinian Nandu meals which I am not sure whether they are cultural, or restaurant specific.

Las Tablas
2965 N. Lincoln Ave

Thanks for the report. It's been some time since anyone updated us on this very popular place.

Las Tablas is Colombian, and serves (in my opinion) unremarkable Colombian food. Colombia is a Caribbean country a continent away from Argentina, with much more native American and African influence. Thus the emphasis on maize in things such as the empanadas, for example. More interesting Colombian abounds in Chicago and has been noted on the board.

The chorizo is very similar to most of what is called chorizo in South America, including in Argentina. The Mexican variant, which itself comes in infinite varieties, is not particularly breakfast food -- though it is eaten at breakfast, certainly. If you liked the more "Iberian" chorizo, El Mercado on Southport is a good place to get it fresh.

PS, how are the sweetbreads prepared at Nandu?

For further exploration of the similar, but different, versions of South American dishes, including empanadas, arepas, and steaks, you might try Venezolano (Caracas Grill); Peruano (several), Ecuadorano (Mi Ciudad, e.g.), etc.

JeffB wrote:Las Tablas is Colombian, and serves (in my opinion) unremarkable Colombian food.

I've had some very good steaks there, particularly the rib steak. It's not David Burke's Primehouse, but it'll do for an inexpensive meateria.

JeffB wrote:PS, how are the sweetbreads prepared at Nandu?

They're fairly simply grilled and quite nice.

I really wish El Nandu had more than the empanada to offer. I was disappointed in both the entree and sangria I ordered. Disappointed enough that I have not yet returned from the original post. They do a killer empanada, though the prices have risen per piece, I see.

I liked Las Tables the first and only time I went. First, it is a reasonable meal for two if you get the combination. Second, it's BYOB. Third, I like the rustic, laid back atmosphere. Fourth, the cheese/corn cake is tasty, unlike I've had or can replicate at home.

Las Tables is nowhere near the quality of a high class Chicago steak place (South American or American), but really, is that what one is expecting for that price? It's something I can afford.

Las Tablas, El Nandu, perfection? NO. Worthy, yes, though I'd choose Las Tablas over El Nandu due to meat quality and BYO.

LAZ wrote:

JeffB wrote:PS, how are the sweetbreads prepared at Nandu?

They're fairly simply grilled and quite nice.

I remember liking the thymus, which was crispy and veal-like. Once of the best glands I ever ate.

Hammond

To clarify, I wasn't trying to compare Las Tablas to a high end restaurant of any kind; the comparison was to other Colombian places in Chicago, none of which are expensive, as far as I know. I also wanted to address the tendency to lump all South American restaurants together. Almost as helpful as categorizing restaurants as "European" or "African."

Food Nut wrote:I really wish El Nandu had more than the empanada to offer.

I highly reccommend the following at Nandu:

Short Ribs cooked medium rare, and the Sweet Breads.

The Short Ribs a perfect thickness for their high heat grilling which gives a char while retaining true med-rare doneness. They come out tasting like an excellent T-bone. The Chimchurri and the other rather spicy bright green "salsa" (does anyone know what's in that) are excellent on either the ribs or as a dip for the steak fries.

The Sweet Breads are very nicely and simply grilled with a little lemon juice on them I think. They have an appetizer portion and a dinner portion. My wife and I find that a couple empanadas, an appetizer portion of sweet breads and the Short Ribs entree is more than enough for our hearty appetites. Oh, and reheating some short ribs quickly on a hot cast Iron goes great with a fried egg the next morning.

Oh, another option is the combo platter. It comes with Short Ribs, Sweet breads, and a Argentinian sausage. The sausage is a bit dry for my taste, but its a good option if your alone and a great deal at $17

IMO Nandu does a better job at grilling their meats than Tablas, whose steaks are overly wet from the marinade and fail to get a good char.
I don't stray from the formula above at Nandu, so I can't speak to their other items, but that combo is far more satisfying to me than anything I've had so far at Tablas. Nandu's fries may not be traditional, but I like them better than Yucca, which I just don't really get.

JeffB, I know Tablas is not Argentinian, but if your craving empanadas, chimchurri, and thin grilled beef, then the two places are likely to come to mind, thus it makes sense to compare them.

griffin wrote:

Food Nut wrote:I really wish El Nandu had more than the empanada to offer.

I highly reccommend the following at Nandu:

Short Ribs cooked medium rare, and the Sweet Breads.

The Short Ribs a perfect thickness for their high heat grilling which gives a char while retaining true med-rare doneness. They come out tasting like an excellent T-bone.

Griffin,
Thanks for the suggestion. Now I have a reason to return. I had a cheese covered steak as an entree, Churrasco Con Queso Y Cebollas. Many parts of the steak were inedible, something I did not find at Las Tablas. I will try the ribs soon. Apparently, I was wrong on the increase in price on the empanadas, they are still $2.25, right?

I have no problem comparing the food at a specific Colombian restaurant with the food at a specific Argentine restaurant. I would do that if I were trying to decide between the two for a given meal. I just wanted to point out that Las Tablas is Colombian, which was not mentioned previously, and that Colombian food is not necessarily the same as Argentine food. Indeed, certain dishes that have the same name and basic form can be very different. Again, I responded to this comment, which I quoted up front:

"there were interesting differences between it and our usual Argentinian Nandu meals which I am not sure whether they are cultural..."

In a word, mostly.

My wife recently went with several employees from her office to eat at Nandu – it was her first time. She enjoyed the empanadas so much that she took me out there yesterday just to try them. I'd never been there or heard about the place.

We ordered one each of jamon y queso (ham & cheese), espinaca (spinach), queso (cheese), and tucumana (described as being filled with steak, green onions, olives, hard-boiled eggs, and other herbs).

She's usually more partial to non-meat items and I tend to me a bit more of an omnivore, so we'd both likely be pleased with the spread we ordered.

Uncharacteristically, my favorite was the spinach, followed by the cheese. I can't say I enjoyed the other two very much. Both of the empanadas with meat were rather bland. The steak was not very tasty and lacked (or only had trace amounts) of the herbs and other condiments that were supposed to be inside. Same goes for the ham and cheese. Mind you, these are only the fillings.

Undoubtedly, the star of the show was the buttery, bubbly, crispy and yielding empanada encasing – fried for just the right amount of time. I asked if they made the masa in-house, but was told that they use a commercial Argentinean masa for empanadas that you can purchase in specialty markets.

We were there for about one hour at around 6-7ish and only saw two other families walk in to have a meal. There were a few people at the bar. Our waiter was extremely cordial, if a bit slow toward the end (but to give him credit, he was the only waiter and also the bartender). He very fluidly switched between speaking to us in English or Spanish depending on what my wife and I were speaking, which was nice. His Spanish, with the incredibly charming Argentinean accent, was a pleasure to hear. When asked, he said the restaurant had been in business for over 15 years – they must be doing something right. For me however, I the experience was not special (neither in a good or bad way).

I enjoyed both chimichurri preparations that were provided, but preferred the more traditional of the two. The dark yellow one was much spicier and I found myself returning to the other one more often.

The empanadas were $2.25 each.

Maybe I'll go back if I need an inexpensive empanada fix, but I'll stick to the cheese and spinach. After reading this thread (after the fact), I wish I would have ordered the corn.

For all interested, the Peruvian green sauce thread has been re-needled over here:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=81075#81075

Geo

I finally found time to go to El Nandu with a group of Mexican friends who had recommended it - here's my take (keep in mind my basis for comparison is my son's very Argentine Abuelita's homemade...)

Interestingly, the hotter chimichurri sauce was the most familiar-tasting to me, though it lacked the texture. When I had the parsley-based one, it had a flavor I couldn't identify (basil? mint?) that wasn't like Mom's - which is much more like an onion sauce with parsley than the other way around. I asked the waiter what was in it, however, and he basically rattled off the recipe we use; I guess it's all in the proportions.

Empanadas: I had the shredded steak version because it seemed to be the most similar to my Mom's, and I also had the spinach and cheese. The steak one was generally bland; it lacked the paprika/grease/oregano seasoning that drips down your chin (and in my mind is the whole reason to eat them) However, the spinach one was delicious - fried and crunchy and goopy, you could taste fresh spinach and some kind of delicious white melting cheese - but I can't compare them to anything, because the only ones we ever had were made with ground beef. I still say the ones at Tango Sur are more authentic, but perhaps I should have ordered their empanada criolla as well.

I also had the parillada, which was basically an Italian sausage (instead of Argentine chorizo, but I thought it was a good substitution if you can't come up with the real thing) sweetbreads (which were good, if a tidge overdone) and short ribs with a HUGE meaty section. It came with a side of the type of red rice and peas you see in Mexican restaurants. It was pretty good, but I missed the blood sausage and the other organ meats that you usually find, as well as the little grill. It was all pretty good; more than I could eat - (the four of us could barely stand up afterwards) and it was all less than $100, including sangria and dessert.

Definitely a good value, a nice place with nice ambience (and less crowded seating than I remember at Tango Sur) but not somewhere that I'm going to take my Mom.

Well, its less crowded no more...

We had a hankerin for sweetbreads last Friday night and naively decided on an old neighborhood standby. A few months ago Griffin and I had noticed a slight change in the pricing -- but also an INCREASE in the quality of our favorite foods at Nandu (How often does that happen?)
We were happy to pay 50 cents more for more!

This time, we walked into a full house -- line out the door -- hour wait. And Griffin said "I smell Check Please". To make a long story short, the bartendress confirmed it.

We are very happy for Nandu -- they have cleared out the side bar to put in more tables and seem to be dealing with the increased demand well. Soon the restrooms will be in the basement to clear out even more space.

Our food was excellent (Short ribs, glands and empanadas seemed even better than before). The green sauce and chimchurri now come in even bigger bowls and are as tasty as ever, and the prices have not increased over our last visit. Perhaps now the future of our favorite sweetbreads purveyor is more certain -- but also for the forseeable future, a weekday night will be the best time to get a table!

Cheers
GW

G Wiv wrote:3-4 years ago I spent quite a bit of time backwards engineering the table sauce at Rinconcitio Sudamericano, which looks exactly like guacamole. Took a bit of experimentation, and lots of cajoling of the waitstaff, but the following recipe comes pretty damn close....

Peruvian Spicy Dip

Figmolly's notes on making this fiery dip for the LTHForum 1,000-Recipe Potluck, June 22, 2008, appear here. She also commented on her recent visit to Rinconcito Sudamericano for research purposes.

Popped in last night to grab a selections of empanadas to go, as my first visit to El Nandu. Of the four tried (Tucumana, Criolla, Espinaca and Maiz), the Maiz and Criolla were the standouts. That said, I can't say that I was wowed - perhaps I had set my expectations a bit high given the praise I had read in this thread. The two sauces were outstanding, but I didn't think the empanadas themselves that ethereal. Both the fillings and crust at Lito's get higher marks in my book (I'm no expert in the various styles of empanadas, so I'm not sure if the comparison would be considered apples-to-apples). Not disparaging El Nandu's, just not sure I'd make the trip over for empanadas - if I were in the area already I'd eat them again without hesitation.

-Dan

dansch wrote:Popped in last night to grab a selections of empanadas to go ... if I were in the area already I'd eat them again without hesitation.

If you are in the area seeking take-out empanadas, you might want to also drive a little farther north and west to Buenos Aires Liquor & Deli (3100 N. Cicero). I think theirs are better than El Nandu's, mainly because the dough is lighter, but both are good and it's nice to have options!

Or, for what I think are the hands-down best in the city: Rapa Nui (formerly Latin Sandwich Cafe)

Not to criticize at all, but just to switch viewing angles on you, a few comments:

In Chile, where an empanada is bigger than your hand and one makes a lunch, what an argentino would call an empanada, a chileno would call an empanadita.

And delightful bar snacks empanaditas are in Santiago - cheese, shrimp, and a few other kinds. A Chilean empanada is too big too qualify as a bar snack.

In Chile you can get cheese-filled empanaditas as a side at Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Chimichurri sauce is a fantastic product of Argentina, especially terrific with steak, and Chile doesn't have its own decent version of chimichurri. On the other hand, pebre is a fantastic product of Chile, especially terrific with crusty bread and butter, and Argentina doesn't have its own decent version of pebre.

Man, who knew you were all so in love with aji!. I find it painfully hot. It is the only thing in Chilean cuisine that is painfully hot, or for that matter, hot at all. Not only is a bottle of it on every table along with (what Chileans consider) ketchup and (what Chileans consider) mustard and salt and pepper, it is all too easy to get bottles of aji in grocery stores in Chile. Next time I get a chance to go I will try to remember to bring back a dozen bottles and hand them out to the first dozen LTHers I meet who are crazy for it.

Katie wrote:Man, who knew you were all so in love with aji!. I find it painfully hot. It is the only thing in Chilean cuisine that is painfully hot, or for that matter, hot at all. Not only is a bottle of it on every table along with (what Chileans consider) ketchup and (what Chileans consider) mustard and salt and pepper, it is all too easy to get bottles of aji in grocery stores in Chile. Next time I get a chance to go I will try to remember to bring back a dozen bottles and hand them out to the first dozen LTHers I meet who are crazy for it.

That's a nice offer, and I don't mean to criticize either... but that's like telling someone who fell in love with his long-gone Italian Grandmother's pasta sauce not to worry, because you'll pick up a jar of Prego at the supermarket. The bottled stuff is not the same as homemade. Also, isn't ají chileno a completely different product from the Peruvian green sauce described above? At least in the Chilean households I've been in, the bottle of Ají contains a red sauce, not a green one.

Speaking of chimichurri (as we were) does anyone have a good recipe for it? Nothing in the Recipe Forum, so far as I could see. Man, I can *still* taste that wonderful table sauce at Umberto's in Bariloche...

Geo
PS. And what's pebre?

Here you go, Geo!One of the first recipes I posted here, so it's untitled (which is probably why it didn't come up)

I only tried Nandu once, long ago, but the empanadas didn't wow me. Of course, my expectations are not only high, they're biased to a certain style.

Ahhh, Mhays, you come through again! Looks *very* good, I'll try it asap. (Is that enough garlic? : ) Tnx so much!

Geo

I was surprised, too - my mother's version is really much more of an onion sauce, much less of a garlic sauce. If you want a garlicky viniagrette, make the one that goes with lengua a la vinagreta

Kennyz wrote:

Katie wrote:Man, who knew you were all so in love with aji!. I find it painfully hot. It is the only thing in Chilean cuisine that is painfully hot, or for that matter, hot at all. Not only is a bottle of it on every table along with (what Chileans consider) ketchup and (what Chileans consider) mustard and salt and pepper, it is all too easy to get bottles of aji in grocery stores in Chile. Next time I get a chance to go I will try to remember to bring back a dozen bottles and hand them out to the first dozen LTHers I meet who are crazy for it.

That's a nice offer, and I don't mean to criticize either... but that's like telling someone who fell in love with his long-gone Italian Grandmother's pasta sauce not to worry, because you'll pick up a jar of Prego at the supermarket. The bottled stuff is not the same as homemade. Also, isn't ají chileno a completely different product from the Peruvian green sauce described above? At least in the Chilean households I've been in, the bottle of Ají contains a red sauce, not a green one.

You're right, the bottled stuff on tables in Chilean restaurants is red-orange, so it's nothing like Peruvian ají (which I've never had).

I never met a Chilean who made his or her own ají at home - I suppose some of them must, just none who I know. They all seem happy with the bottled stuff. Chilean ketchup, they told me, but after I tried it once, I didn't fall for that again. Maybe it is vile compared to a homemade batch; I just never met anyone who made it at home.

The Chileans I know do like to make pebre at home, though. It seems to be a badge of honor to be the one in the group who's known for making good pebre and shows up early before the party to whip up a batch. Likewise, it is a badge of honor to be the one who makes a good pisco sour. And if one person wears both those badges, you just can't have a party without them. (In hindsight, those would have been good social skills to develop when I lived there ... ah well, water under the bridge now.)

For the benefit of the person who asked, pebre is, if I didn't mention it before, spooned onto a piece of buttered crusty bread. It's not spicy, unless you add ají, which, see above, I personally would never do. I guess it's also good on fish and other things, but I just like a bowl of pebre with bread and butter, and another bowl of pebre when the first one's empty...

Making pebre seems pretty simple - a mix of diced onions, garlic, tomatoes, cilantro, and maybe some salt and vegetable oil? But I've searched for recipes for it on the web and find several that list both parsley and cilantro, and widely varying proportions of each. Next time I try it, I think I'll try just sticking to cilantro.

Similarly, when I've searched for chimichurri recipes, I see a big range of parsley quantities in proportion to other ingredients, and my own success rate at making chimichurri at home has been much more more miss than hit. So as soon as someone posts the reverse-engineered recipes for really good pebre and chimichurri (I'll try yours next, Mhays), I'm making it my new home page.

FWIW, Katie - there are chimichurrri recipes with cilantro as well - and with varying degrees of heat, depending on how far north you are. None of these things are set in stone; I've mentioned before that my mother and her best friend are always arguing about the "right" kind of empanada, and even my grandmother and her family couldn't agree over baked or fried.

My neighbor across the street is a Nicaraguan, and a fine cook. One way to get a long discourse from him is to ask, all innocent like, "Hey, Mundo, what's the best way to deal with empanadas?" Whooooie!

It's ALL goood!

Geo