El Capo, Surry Hills
Trying to decide where to eat in Surry Hills can be a little daunting and confusing sometimes. There are so many restaurants and cafes that it is hard to pick which one. El Capo has been on my list for a while now, ‘The Mother’ and I were supposed to go for dinner, but when we rocked up on a Friday night at about 7.30pm, they said we had to wait for 45 minutes that we both walked away and said next time.
El Capo can be found on Waterloo Street, ‘sandwiched’ between Orto Trading Co and Izakaya Fujiyama. El Capo serves Latin Amerian food, it is all about ‘latin flavours’ and the menu focuses on pickles, chili and smoke.
The restaurant is quite small, about six communal tables with mismatched chairs. My favourite would have to be this stool made out of US100 dollar bills! Uber cool!
I love the decoration inside, the box of dominoes, the different types of tin of utensils.
Whilst waiting for the lovely S, I ordered a glass of tamarind juice. Deliciously refreshing with a slight tang.
The Lunch menu is well priced, albeit limited, four lunch options all for just $10. Grits, pork and salad ($10) – it really had me at pork. Pork, puffed white corn and cabbage salad was delightful.
Different flavours and textures, it had a nice spicy kick at the end. The pork shredded into pieces and the salad a wonderful complement. It was light and frigging tasty! A definite winner for me.
S on the other hand opted for arroz con pollo – Caribbean chicken rice. Risotto like, it was nice but it was extremely creamy and left a very strong sour aftertaste. If you like the cream and tang then this is the dish for you as it would be perfect for winter. Apparently it is one of their best sellers, however, not for me.
I don’t think S enjoyed his dish as much as I did. The portions for each servings were definitely generous. More options for dinner, I’m definitely keen to try the pork cheeks, smoked passionfruit, congo potatoes! The fish ceviche sounds divine too.
Decor simple, service very friendly and atmosphere great.
GA’s ratings: 7 / 10
El Capo
G08/52 Waterloo Street
Surry Hills 2010
Ph: +61 2 9699 2518
This looks funky & cool. Haven’t heard of it before — need to go!! love my latin food.
hello shaun loves ramen! thanks for dropping by – its a bit of a hit and miss but my dish was definitely a hit! definitely keen to hear your thoughts – definitely check it out and lunch is pretty good value!
Cute fitout 🙂 The tamarind juice isn’t the prettiest, but the other dishes look great. And you can’t complain about that pricing!
hey tina 🙂 not wrong there, pretty good value for lunch!
I’ve heard both good & bad things about the food here, but I’d go along as I’m keen to try “grits”…always hear about them on American TV shows..but what ARE they?
hey miss piggy – definitely worth trying! but it is a bit of a hit and miss.. grits – ground popcorn – so it was a little crunchy like!
ooh puffed white corn sounds interesting! like popcorn?
hey chocolatesuze! yup – a little like popcorn… tasty though!
$10 lunch specials. I’ll have to try this place out when I’m off next Monday!
definitely worth going! keen to hear your thoughts 🙂
looks like a fun place to visit. i like the quirky decor 🙂
hey simon, it sure it! definitely worth a visit
Love the whole vibe of the place. So gangsta!
Would be interested to see how the other dishes are like, not just the lunch specials.
ya i am keen to try their dinner one evening too… definitely love the vibe 🙂