El Gaucho Market
discussons in the past 3 months.
2715 Manhattan Beach Blvd, Redondo Beach, CA 90278
(310) 297-2617
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Have a tasting party with as many dishes you’d find at a Chinese wedding banquet!!
One would not think that a place called El Gaucho Meat Market would have a place to sit down to eat, but it does. In the back of the store there are tables and chairs and a large plasma TV where one can order the sandwiches and their renown empanadas and play the lottery.
Don’t let the name scare off the vegans and vegetarians, this place has a large assortment of South American packaged products, mate teas, probably as many as you find at a Cost Plus or Pier One at a lower price and fresh bakery goods .
The reason that I went and what makes this place so special, is that you can arrange to have a tasting party IN THE MARKET with the owner’s wife, Nancy. Not only do you get to try a large variety of Latin American dishes (not Chinese if my first line confused people!) though most are from Argentina (and yes, they are mostly meat based,) down to even mate teas (where you drink as they do in Argentina and NOT for the squeamish) and desserts, she also tells you about the history and customs of the foods and culture.
Although she may not charge for the food (however if this becomes a popular option, that could be subject to change) as I think her main purpose for holding this is to share her love of the foods of her native culture (and perhaps to give you ideas if you wish to use them for at home catering) however if she does not, then it would only be right and appropriate to give her a generous tip, as our group did, which was about $10 a person; she even packaged the leftovers to take home and gave us a jar of their sauce Chimichurri, which retails at $2.29 It was a wonderful experience and although I live close by, I’m sure that others from our group who came from as far as Northridge, Monterey Park and Burbank felt it well worth the trip.
If interested in arranging a tasting party, gather your own group together and contact Nancy at her email glabena@yahoo.com or call her at 310 413 1901;
quick reviews (1 Review)
»El Gaucho Market - the first stop in the Fried Dough excursion
This was sort of a bait-and-switch. Coming down to Los Angeles, I asked the friend with whom I was staying to come up with some fried dough offerings for dinner. We had a grand night of it (six stops in all!), but one of the immediate suggestions which came to mind were empanadas. And fortunately, the South Bay has a wide variety of Central and South American offerings against which we were going...+READ
This was sort of a bait-and-switch. Coming down to Los Angeles, I asked the friend with whom I was staying to come up with some fried dough offerings for dinner. We had a grand night of it (six stops in all!), but one of the immediate suggestions which came to mind were empanadas. And fortunately, the South Bay has a wide variety of Central and South American offerings against which we were going to compare.
To start the evening, my friend brought me to El Gaucho Meat Market, a perfectly delightful Argentine market in Redondo Beach. It really is an exceptionally well-stocked store and it seems, a well-stocked meat market. That was rather impressive and if you walk all the way to the back of the crowded space, it opens up to display a fairly large seating area and a small food service counter. Shame on me for not being cognizant of what other foods were being offered, because I knew we were here for empanadas.
For $1.65 each, we tried two of their three flavors; spinach and beef (chicken is also available). The bait-and-switch is that Argentine empanadas are baked and not fried. I am slightly upset with myself for wasting the calories on it, but I can appreciate the comparison check next to what was to come that evening; Colombian and Salvadorean empanadas which were fried.
When I lived in SoCal, I really loved Empanadas Place but those that are offered here at El Gaucho are not nearly as good, although for the price they were not that bad. Too wishy-washy? Well, I used to live in Redondo Beach and a decade ago, Empanadas Place had a branch there on Artesia Boulevard, so it was close by, inexpensive, and incredibly tasty. And fried. El Gaucho’s were gummy and heavy. The spinach filling was decent enough and tasted so much like spanikopita I wondered if they included cheese. The beef was spiced nicely but I found the binding ingredient to be a tad pasty. This all makes it sound like I wasn’t enjoying myself which is not the case. Again, for the price they were perfectly acceptable. But unfortunately, it mostly made me long for those which I knew to be better.
Pictures on Fried Dough Ho: http://frieddoughho.com/el-gaucho-meat-market-argentine-empanadas/-COLLAPSE
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