I CAN’T really remember what food I ate when I spent nearly a year travelling in South America 42 years ago – except for the huge steaks in Argentina or the amazing seafood on the coast in Chile.

But I found nothing like the inspired and exhuberant modern cooking that we experience again and again at Sabor, featuring many traditional South American ingredients put together in a style that they call “nuevo Latino” cooking.

On a recent visit, our party of four ordered a respectably diverse series of dishes from across the menu. Starters included my Chief Culinary Adviser’s Colombian chorizo sausage, homemade with saffron-flavoured pork, which is grilled and served with a yucca, corn and spinach hash – and a coriander salsa. 

Other starters included empanadas paisas – traditional cornmeal patties the Colombian way, scallops fried in passion fruit butter with a mango salsa and a jalapeño basil – all on some arepas (corn bread), and some sweetcorn fritters with an avocado salsa and an avocado and lime dressing. 

Two of us wisely opted for moqueca as a main course. This is a classic dish from Brazil’s coastal area, a wonderful stew of red snapper, swordfish, prawns, mussels, tomatoes and coconut milk, seasoned with chilli and coriander and served with rice. A spectacular dish, that I should have had as well. I will next time.

Not that I didn’t enjoy my generously-sized pan-roasted duck breast served with an exotic potato and plantain mash and a passion fruit sauce.

We were all too full for desserts – which include things like chocolate sponge soaked in three kinds of milk, cheesecake made with caramelised milk, classic Peruvian and Argentinian alfajores biscuits and a dolce de leche crème brûlée.

Our bill, including a bottle of wine and service, came to just over £25 a head (benefiting from a 25 per cent off special offer that was running at the time).

Treat yourself to something different at Sabor, and if you like cocktails, you’ll love the exotica they have to offer.

SUMMARY: Terrific, unusual, authentic South American food from across the continent. Open for dinner Tuesday to Sunday. Expect to spend around £24 for three courses, before drinks and service.

Rating: 3 1/2 Out Of 4 Stars

SABOR
108 Essex Road, N1
020 7226 5551 
info@sabor.co.uk
www.sabor.co.uk 

Published: 14 July, 2011
by MATTHEW LEWIN