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Carnivores rejoice! Sudestada Jakarta is now grilling
Jakarta’s new Argentinian grill, bar and café Sudestada recently opened in Menteng, Central Jakarta. Being an ‘Argentinian grill’, Sudestada is sure to please carnivores.
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Near the entrance of Argentinian restaurant Sudestada, which also has a bar and cafe in Menteng, Central Jakarta (JP/Muthi Kautsar)
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akarta’s new Argentinian grill, bar and café Sudestada recently opened in Menteng, Central Jakarta. Being an ‘Argentinian grill’, Sudestada is sure to please carnivores. During a family-style luncheon with fellow Jakartan journalists, The Jakarta Post sampled some of Sudestada’s signature dishes, among them hand-cut beef empanadas, matambre and ojo de bife.
Hand-cut beef empanadas are fried stuffed dough pockets filled with minced beef. Well-seasoned and balanced with a few types of herbs, the empanadas are said to be made with a special family recipe which is passed down from the chef owner Victor Taborda’s grandmother.
As Taborda spent his childhood helping out in his father’s steakhouse, he also loved helping his grandmother creating empanadas. Growing up, Taborda became strongly rooted in the concept of Argentinian asado, a cherished family gathering around the grill in Argentina.
The Argentine-style outdoor fire pit, the asador, can therefore be found at Sudestada. Meanwhile, the show kitchen inside the restaurant features a charcoal grill known as a parrilla, obtained from a fine producer in Argentina, La Vaca Tuerta.
The grill, as expected, produces most of the crowd-pleasers offered by Sudestada, which means “powerful wind” in Spanish. One of them is matambre, or grilled rose meat, where rose meat is explained as the thin layer of meat between the ribs and the skin. Another one is ojo de bife, or Angus rib-eye served with potato foam and grilled vegetables. All these beef dishes match well with chimichurri, dubbed Argentina’s national go-to condiment.
Chimichurri, a type of oil-based sauce made with loosely chopped parsley and garlic is apparently one of Sudestada’s prized dishes. Apart from being served at the table for dipping, it is also used to season grilled meats, giving a balanced effect to the savory, hearty and smoky meats.
Another one that comes out of Sudestada’s parilla is thick crusted pizza such as the napolitana (tomatoes, oregano and green olives), pepperoni (beef pepperoni) and fugazetta (cream based, oregano and onions).
Now questioning whether this is Argentinian or just another European restaurant? Taborda told the Post that his mother was Italian, and that Argentinian food was influenced by Italian culinary traditions.
Read also: Peter Luger, New York-style steakhouses are now storming Tokyo
The Post visited the new Argentinian restaurant in the second week of its soft opening, but many visitors have been coming in, whether for a quick lunch or coffee and remote working on weekdays.
Along with the food that suits its target market's palate, it is seemingly the homey grand Argentinian house-style that attracts customers, as well as its spacious outdoor courtyard and the invitingly quaint patio next to a reflection pool.
Those who do not eat beef shall not hesitate to dine in Sudestada, as the restaurant is also popular for its pulpo con papas y salchicha (roasted octopus), pollo asado (grilled chicken stuffed with cheese) and spinach and ricotta empanadas, for instance.
However, it will be difficult for those who plan to skip dessert, to actually skip the dessert. The ones that made me the weakest are churros con dulce de leche and alfajores, the shortbread cookies with dulce de leche filling. The latter could be served with coffee or bought at Sudestada’s coffee corner.
