Piqueos

Pisco? Si!
I came here for a special event so I was able to sample a wide range of pisco and dishes.
Let’s start with the food. Ceviche: Satisfying. Fresh fish in citrus marinade with corn and well-​paired flavours. Empanada: Excellent. Perfectly cooked round pockets of beef with garlic, olive and raisin. Chicharon: Charming. Crispy pork belly in a bed of greens with corn and salsa. Grilled beef heart: Heart-​warming. The tender cuts of meat blended well with the onion and pepper. This chef has talent and will share.
Pisco tasting was definitely interesting and not for the timid. They offer a wide range of pisco, perhaps the best in the city, and they are importing new stuff all the time. Staff are knowledgeable about the history, making of and food pairing of pisco. Personally, I enjoyed the pisco sour, a beautifully crafted tribute to the country of Peru.
I’ll be back to sample more from the drink and food menu very soon! :)

Visiting on a warm evening, I asked if we could snag a table outside. There was a good crowd inside but no diners outside. I know some waiters can be peeved at coming in and out for one table only. However Piqueos was more than happy to oblige. Gave us the same attention they would have every other table and spending time to chat about the menu to help us decide. And answering the100th time they’ve been asked the question «is tiger’s milk really from tigers?»
Not having spotted any non meat option from the main selection, my date and I decided to stay with appetisers, raciones, and sides and we were happy to do so. oysters, fried cheese, scallops, chorizo, cauliflower and ceviches!!!
They were all packed with punch and flavour. Their Tiger’s milk is a punch and we love it.
We left with satisfied tastebuds and feeling looked after. Being just off the beaten track Piqueos doesn’t get too crowded and give off just the right vibe of cool and friendliness.

This is the one restaurant that left the deepest impression during my stay here in Melbourne.
I went to Piqueos with no expectation to begin with as I’ve never had Argentinean food before. But wow, the food is seriously amazing. Every dishes that we ordered were absolute delight to our palate.
I’ll definitely go back again when i’m in Melbourne again.

This place is something else!
We were treated to 3 tasty dishes at Piqueos as well as a pisco sour to start. Bam! That thing packed a punch. To begin with we tried Tiradito — cured fish. This is not something I would ever pick off a menu myself but the flavours were so delicate and worked so well that I’d definitely do it again. Next up was Matambre — beef short rib, slow cooked for 48 hours with a delicious capsicum salsa style sauce. A moment of silence fell on the room when everyone took their first bite and I wanted to cry when it was over. You’ll regret life if you don’t try this!!! To top off the night we had Suspiro Limeno for dessert. It’s like a dulce de leche with meringue on top. It looks beautiful and it tastes like marshmallow fluff! It was absolutely to die for.
The staff were great, well informed, on the ball and new everything about everything when it comes to Peruvian and Argentinian cuisine. I think the only small downfall is that you expect the place to be earthy and warm but they’ve chosen to go with industrial style décor. But as I said, SMALL downfall. The food far outweighs this and your life could only benefit from a meal at Piqueos.

Oh what a night.
Attended here for the Unilocal CM event organised by Mel.
It was a great delight to be apart of this event mixed with some of my favourite Elites and some new faces around. Great times we had whilst we sat at the bar conversed over a lovely pisco sour cocktail, and food brought to our tables and explained.
First course was a pisco infused salmon, great flavour and really effective on the pallet. We then tried the slow cooked beef, that was well presented with some great toppings. The mean was nice and juicy. Then for dessert, well this was just incredible, such an outstanding piece, not quiet sure what it consisted off under the meringue but it was delicious and I need to have this more often in my life.
We then finished it off with a sake/​pisco and cucumber refresher cocktail.
All in all it was a wonderful night, beautiful spot, which is elegant with that twist of cool. Need to come out and enjoy more of their dinner options.

Love, its a word that gets thrown around a fair bit here. Sometimes people mean it and some times people are very excited. I can honestly say. I. Love. This. Place. I have been here countless times and worked my way through the summer and winter menu.
Every single time i fall in love all over again. For me there are two things you can not leave with out trying.
First up. Pisco sour. You may have had them before in other places and watched the bar tender shake his arm off trying to make them a thick, almost cream like texture. Here the key to their pisco sour is an old school milkshake maker. It whips up all the ingredients into a consistency that is heaven. Shaun the owner wants to own the largest pisco collection in Melbourne, and he is on the way.
Secondly is the Beef Heart. I can already hear you gasp as you read this. Leave your opinion at the door and order it. You will thank me, It tastes better than any steak you can get and the chilli kick is amazing!
On my most recent visit, the dessert selection was divine. The standout — Meringue, dulce de leche and plum pisco. This ticked all the boxes and was the perfect way to round out lunch.
I would recommend all meal periods to go (if they did breakfast I would most likely live there) The staff are knowledge and super friendly and the owner is on the floor most nights. They will be able to match your meal with anything from an excellent Chardonnay right through to Sake (lots of Peruvian food has sublte Japanese influences)
As the rating suggests– This is a good as it gets!

Delicious food. I will definitely be back. The staff are excellent and know their menu and wine list well. The food and wine, and the whole experience was an absolute pleasure.

I took a couple of friends here for their first taste of Argentinian (and Peruvian) food.
Overall we were happy with the experience, although I thought that the small plates were better than the main dishes. The empanadas were excellent, and everyone like the quinoa salad. (The combination of quinoa, beans, peas, fennel, mint, and dressing worked really well.) I also thought the beef heart dish was great; the meat was still a little rare and the spices really brought out the flavour. My friends however weren’t quite so keen on the hearts.
The dishes that we were a little less impressed with were the Peruvian spring chicken, the churrasco (sirloin steak), and the hand-​cut chips. They were all okay, but not as good as the dishes mentioned earlier.
I’m a big fan of Malbecs, and I wasn’t disappointed by the Malbec they sold by the glass.
The restaurant itself had a pleasant rustic feel with wood floors, an exposed brick wall, a few Argentinian-​related prints on another wall, and clean white linen on the tables.

We had the 9 course degustation menu.
1. Ceviche with sake. Excellent combo. This was Peruvian not Argentine. But I continued to quaff my Quilmes.
2. Tuna tartare with Chardonnay.
3. Chargrilled scallops and Chardonnay. The red chili on top was very hot but overall tasty.
4. Empanadas and Malbec.
5. Quinoa and beef heart with red wine. Uhhhh beef heart is good!
6. Baby chicken and sweet potato. With Chardonnay.
7. Freaking mystery biscuit! Great! Dolce de leche etc!
8. Wow

You know when someone starts telling you a story for the second time and there’s that moment when you have the option to either a) say «oh yeah you told me about this!» b) internally roll your eyes and think they’re an idiot or c) go along for the ride again because it’s a bloody good story?
Well I’ve heard the story about a friends visit to Piqueos three times and every time I listen intently, excited to hear about the details. Each and every time we get to the end of the story I exclaim «I have to get myself there!» but somehow it just doesn’t seem to happen.
Well last night I finally got my chance to see what all the fuss was about. Seriously seriously good. And seriously seriously kicking myself that it had taken me about sic months to make my first visit.
Service was amazing — friendly and informative, attentive without being pushy and super switched on. Glasses were kept full, dishes were well placed, chatty banter inserted where appropriate and privacy allowed when it was needed. A grade.
My pisco sour on arrival was terrific, and I imagine if I was a pisco fiend I’d be excited by the fact they have a long list to try. The wine list was great — lots of new things to get my mouth around, though I would have liked more option by the glass.
Stand out dishes included the tuna tiradito, the corn humita, morcilla (squeeze liberally with lime and throw on loads of the addictive chimmichurri sauce), the blackened carrots. My dining companion and I had both eaten grandly at lunchtime so didn’t opt for any of the larger dishes from the Parilla. Had I the stomach space I would have loved to have eaten the slow braised short ribs.
Of course, even when you’re full there’s room in the dessert stomach. And trust me, this is a place you want to squeeze something sweet in. They’re small but these babies were big on flavour and had interesting textures.
I left Piqueos seriously happy and looking forward to telling (and re-​telling) stories about my visit.

It seemed fitting to visit a restaurant in Carlton before going to the MCG to see the hapless Blues clash with the mighty Magpies. Although I was effectively in the territory of the enemy, Piqueos on Rathdowne Street opened their doors to four rowdy and enthusiastic blokes who demanded some alcohol but more importantly the literal translation of the restaurants name, small bites of food but with a huge amount of taste influenced by the cuisine from South America.
Whilst the various warm bodies arrived on their own time, bottles of the locally produced 3 Ravens ($ 9) quenched our thirst as we conveniently languished in between the front corner of the bar and the table nearest the window and told tall tales. When we finally were all together and seated like gentlemen, service was happy to explain the menu, which interestingly also includes a degustation option for $ 60 for ten items. Being mindful that we really only had two hours to enjoy the hospitality of this eatery, we instead quickly moved from beer to the 2009 Terrazas de los Andes Cabernet Sauvignon ($ 69), a bold red that hails from the shadows of the Andes mountains in the Mendoza wine region of Argentina.
Before the red arrived, we finished our beer by complimenting it with two orders of Piqueos (small things) being the Viera — grilled scallop with aji rocoto ($ 5.50/each) and Tiradito — locally caught Kingfish with lime, red onion and aji amarillo ($ 7.00/each) both items being full of flavour and soothing to the palate. The scallops were plump and with the addition of the rocoto, a South American red pepper that grows on the slopes of the Andes, certainly made for a great taste sensation and pairing. Sourcing the amarillo, a yellow pepper that also is from the Andes, and adding it in moderation to the Kingfish gave it a kick and certainly another welcome explosion of flavour.
Empanadas (baked pastries) arrived with the 2009 Terrazas. There were three different types (all $ 4.50/each) on offer and we sampled the whole gamut. The Pollo — chicken and char-​grilled corn was perhaps my favourite, but that is not to discount the flavours in the Queso — cheese potato and char-​grilled onion or the Carne — beef, olive and egg which matched very nicely with the wine.
Raciones (a form of tapas) followed. I had earmarked the wine to be matched with the Mollejas ($ 15) being char-​grilled beef sweetbreads and the Anticucho de Corizon ($ 15) the bold grilled beef heart with red onion and aji rocoto mayonnaise. Why people are not more adventurous with cuisine is beyond me and once one mate overcame his fear of eating the heart, he agreed with me that it was brilliant. A suitable match for the wine, as were the sweetbreads although I was left with the lion share of these tasty morsels of organ meat as the texture is not something that agrees with everyone. Personally, I loved them.
Two menu items were ordered from the Parrilla (grill) which is also curiously translated as a method of torture. I was experiencing a self-​imposed period of flagellation as my dining comrades greedily ate the Pescado ($ 27) — the locally caught fresh fish with chimmichurri and lime. I was not left with any since I enjoyed the bulk of the sweetbreads. Thanks guys.
The Cordero ($ 25) — 250g of Poon Boon lamb rump, I did have the opportunity to enjoy though. It was very nicely grilled on the outside and suitably red in the middle which once again went well with the wine and was another one of the highlights of this eclectic meal. The Ensalada (salad) de Quinoa ($ 14) — red and black quinoa, pomegranate and radicchio accompanied the lamb and provided a suitable yet tasty filler to finalise our journey around South America.
Throughout our two hour adventure, service remained cheery and attentive. Presenting a South American Churrasqueria-​like ambiance where strangely the lights leave the biggest impression on the overall design, the place is relaxed and given the professionalism of the staff, time absolutely flew and despite getting a taxi on the street almost immediately after leaving, we were a few minutes late to the big game. Sacrificing a few minutes of live sport for Piqueos is certainly a worth-​while trade off and overall this was a memorable experience for all of the right reasons.

This place is good… the flavors are very good. The reason for the 3* rating is as follows:
1. I went for the ceviche. The ceviche was so acidic, it caused the creases of my lips to burn off. Literally. I’ve been walking around like I’ve had cold sores for over a week and it is due to the acid. Yes, I know this for certain.
2. The server (who was very nice and knowledgeable) would only fill my water glass up ¹⁄₃ of the way. I drink a lot of water and I don’t understand why he was making more work for himself.
3. The octopus was cooked «oddly». I guess they do sous vide for a number of hours and then finish it in the wood oven/​grill. When it came out, the octopus was very chewy… after a few more minutes on the grill; perfection. Ask for the octopus to be cooked for a little longer.
4. The «degustation» menu is per person. On the menu it states «enough to share», which implies that if you order one, everyone shares it. This is not the case. I am a fine diner and I understand the concept of «degustation»; it’s just that the description on the menu is misleading and we *specifically* asked the server and he said it is fine to share. «Share» implies that you order one and share. We were charged for two. This was a surprise after both the description on the menu and the description from the server. That said, enough food came out for two.
All in all, the flavors were excellent and I would return (and not order the ceviche).

Sharky’s Best New Restaurants
BY SHARKING FOR CHIPS AND DRINKS
The restaurant industry is a fickle beast and survival isn’t always easy. Places come and go, concepts change, chefs depart — but the very best in the business demonstrate they are on the money from day one. These places opened their doors to the public in the last 18 months and clearly have staying power. We have no doubt they will leave an indelible mark on their respective dining landscapes over the coming years.
Melbourne’s answer to London’s Lima and Ceviche (both currently storming the UK’s restaurant scene) is finally here, having opened in an unassuming spot on Carlton North’s Rathdowne Street. Once a milk bar, the exposed brick dining room is now home to an Argentine café — think empanadas, pisco sour, ceviche, malbec. The team has great South American food heritage having worked in Gaucho and Floridita back in London and this place is bound to get a cult following once the word gets out. Check out our full review here.

I get pretty excited over food. Despite frequenting restaurants on a weekly basis, it’s not every day that you find a place that truly blows you away.
Lunch at Piqueos blew me away.
Every dish is packed full of delicate flavour combinations that leave the perfect amount of lingering spice. I LOVE hot food and have been known to over indulge on the hot sauce/​chilli, but this food packs the most subtle punch that you enjoy long after the last bite. An Argentinian flavour party for your mouth.
The wine list features plenty of great Argentinian wines and they use the milkshake maker inherited from the old café to make super frothy Pisco Sours. We were also surprised with some delicious sake to match with the ceviche.
Food standouts? The kingfish tiradito will leave you wanting more. The beef heart… swoon. Do not be afraid of eating organs — this is just succulent and delicious. The cheese to finish — best I’ve ever had.
We were left so impressed that we went back again for dinner. Seriously. It won’t be the last.