El Capo

LOCATION
On Waterloo Street in Surry Hills, close to Devonshire Street.

PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIA
The walls of El Capo are emblazoned with guns, knives, dollar signs and a bikini babe with a rooster for a head, cleverly executed by aerosol-lovin’ duo Roach and Numskull. Other design flourishes include hundred-dollar bills and dominoes stacked up in boxes on large communal wooden tables and an assortment of brightly-coloured chairs (works of Josh Logue, dedicated muso/graphic designer turned restaurateur). There is a truly gangster vibe perpetuated by the blaring music and a mixed crowd on the fun side of 40 knocking back tequila and clinging together their bottled brews.

The big-gun behind the venture is Omar Andrade, a well-known personality among Sydney’s guerrilla dining scene. His underground events bought him into contact with the talented, young Joey Astorga who is now El Capo’s head chef. The menu embraces Latin American street food from the barrios of Mexico to Colombia with a focus on spice and smoke to create layers of robust flavours.

The Colombian empanadas arrived as tiny morsels of beef and potato coated in a crisp golden crust and doused in sea salt. Although the filling was a little less meaty then I would have liked (Argentine bias I guess), they were accompanied with a tasty green salad of shredded cabbage and hazelnuts, which perfectly balanced the brackishness of the pastry.
We followed up the empanadas with the twice cooked duck accompanied by a rich mole negro oaxaqueno, (a classic Mexican sauce that is surprisingly complex in its preparation), and a bed of rice. It was a little on the dry side but a comforting dish nonetheless, that would have gone down nicely with a cerveza or two.

Sami-Jo Adelman