Boteco, Surry Hills
On Thursday night, we took our foodies on a trip into the Jungle, with a ‘Taste of the Amazon’ themed dinner at South American restaurant Boteco. Small and intimate with a bohemian vibe, the unique venue set the mood for our culinary adventure. Our Brazilian chef Fabrício Campos had prepared a dinner incorporating unique ingredients native to the Amazon Jungle in his South American cuisine.
Our first course was cassava and palm heart croquettes with house preserved lemon aioli, a twist on the traditional fried potato rolls. The cassava was fried to a satisfying crisp on the outside with delicately soft innards. The palm hearts were an unusual but well-received ingredient, tasting similar to pickled artichoke while the lemon aioli added creaminess and a bit of zing to the dish.
This was followed by the coconut and organic palm oil risotto with salt cod, a unique dish with European roots which has found itself incorporated with more tropical elements. The coconut and pam oil added a subtle creaminess, while the cod punctuated the risotto with saltiness. 2010 Rutini Trumpeter torrontes, a dry white Argentinian wine was matched to this course.
Cassava and palm heart croquettes with house preserved lemon aioli
Coconut and organic palm oil risotto with salt cod
Main course was an impressive platter of free-range wood fire grilled yerba mate marinated chicken, spicy artisanal chorizo, chickpeas, quinoa, accompanied by a bowl of taro chips. The smoky chicken held a subtle tea flavour from the maté and was grilled to a tender perfection. The spicy and succulent home-smoked chorizo had us rationing out the last piece. The taro chips were fantastically crunchy and moreishly salted, the texture was denser and starchier than your humble potato but much more fragrant. The matched wine for this dish was a 2009 De Martino 347, a red wine of Chilean’s signature carmenere grape.
Free-range wood fire grilled yerba mate marinated chicken, spicy artisanal chorizo, chickpeas, quinoa
Dessert presented us with Boteco’s house made coconut ice-cream with acai and tapioca, a sweet, creamy and slightly tart concoction which left everyone glad they didn’t have to share.
House made coconut ice cream with acai and tapioca
Head chef and owner Fabricio has a fine-dining background but has recently opened up this intimate venue with a casual atmosphere. Boteco is a tiny eatery hidden in Surry Hills with friendly service and fantastic yet unique food. I’ve definitely got my eye on their all you can eat grill on Tuesdays and Wednesdays as well as their famed cassava chips. But enough about what I think, let’s hear what our foodies had to say…
Boteco
421 Cleveland St, Surry Hills
(02) 9318 2993
Did you know we do corporate and private events at Secret Foodies? A little jealous of our event? Shoot us an email to find out how you can host your own ‘Taste Of The Amazon’ dinner for your friends or colleagues. msdarlinghurst@secretfoodies.com.au
Category: East
A small intimate environment, that is bursting with life. The cod was fantastic and the selection of wines unique. Well worth a look!
Good chicken, cracking wine
The highlight of the night was probably the ice cream followed closely by the risotto. The main had some nice touches but the quinoa and chickpeas could have done with a little less lime. Over all a really nice dinner and what a way to finish with a nice refreshing coconut icecream.
Great food. Home made ice cream yum..
Tasty restaurant, and enjoyable evening. Good selection of wines and delicious combinations. Particularly enjoyed the salt cod and palm oil risotto. Good environment for a good sized group to take over for an evening.
For starters the croquettes was fantastic, I just needed more,,,like 20!
The risotto was lovely and creamy and the salted cod really different
The main of chorizo and chicken was nice, but we made it better by adding some of the aoli from the croquettes course
And the dessert was divine, the acai and tapioca complimented the coconut ice cream perfectly- thank goodness that course was served individually as I may have stabbed my neighbor for another mouthful!!
The Croquettes were delightful – who knew palm hearts could be so tasty?! The Aioli that accompanied made the favour come together very well (also I love Aioli!) Followed by risotto which had a good balance of creaminess and salt from the cod. Best part was dessert – such a light yet delicious way to finish.
Definitely felt that the flavours were exotic and true to the theme overall.
I thought the variety of food that I hadn’t experienced before would definitely entice me back to Boteco again!
The salt cod and risotto was moorish, great comfort food in this weather.
Loved the croquettes and aioli, just needed more than 1.
The salt cod was tasty as was the risotto but couldn’t eat much as it was quite rich.
The chicken and quinoa was my favourite, would def order again. The red wine that went with it was nice too and I’m not a red wine drinker.
Desert was good but probably wouldn’t order the tapioca again.
Over all a good night but had hoped to get to chat to more poeple than we did.
i love the presentation of the chicken! that dish & the risotto looks great! the two dishes i would go here for