Coco and I checked out the eagerly awaited Ponsonby Central yesterday. It was busy and happening with a good number of people enjoy the sunshine and foodie mecca. With butchery, fresh produce, fish, bakery, cafes and many street food style, Ponsonby Central is foodie heaven. They have office space upstairs too and I swear, if I win a substantial prize in the lottery, I’m buying office space here to freelance in and preparing to get fat.
Hands down the most popular place in the street food lane is El Sizzling Chorizo who specialise in Argentinian BBQ. The big hunks of smokey marinaded meat cooking in their open kitchen looked fantastic. We had a day of moseying planned so were not quite in the mood for a meat feast (one should have a lie-down/siesta booked immediately after). Judging from the happy eaters, this is the place to get a meat fix.
We started at the furtherest end of the eating lane at Maldito Mendez. This place is all about the fresh and punchy flavours of South American streetfood.
We weren’t super hungry so three dishes between two people was a good amount. If you have hungry boys, they may prefer two or even three dishes each. Expect to spend between $30 to $40 per person including drinks. Not bad for the quality of food.
Sharing plates is fun and one way to try dishes that you might not normally order on your own. Coco picked out the watermelon and tomatillo salad. I’d never have picked this on my own but it was fresh tasting and the queso – a fresh, creamy goats cheese – complimented the watermelon and tomatillo perfectly. Easily the favourite dish of the day.
The service is excellent and the staff friendly and efficient. While they were busy, we were never hurried or made to feel like we should vacate the table. The sangria is really good and the stemless wine glasses a casual touch.
We also ordered:
- Watermelon, tomatillo and queso
- Coconut prawns with herb salad
- Refried bean and wild mushroom taco which came with an oozey runny fried egg
I hope to return soon with The Koala to try El Sizzling Chorizo’s brand of Argentian BBQ.
Maldito Mendez’s website can be found at www.mendez.co.nz and their facebook page here.
At time of writing Ponsonby Central’s website is still in construction but it can be found here: www.ponsonbycentral.co.nz.
Bunny Eats Design 
Yum. Am I related to Coco?!
Hey Mama Mich, yes, I believe you are related to Coco Bean 🙂
Looks like you had an incredible meal! I spent a month traveling in Argentina. It was fabulous, but my entire diet consisted of steak, Malbec, and deep-fried empanadas stuffed with cheese.
Ha! I had 2 glasses of Malbec. I felt very good after that 🙂 We didn’t have any meat this time, because we’d had a bit too much meat in the last 24 hours but next time for sure.
Over the course of the month we spent traveling, you can actually see us expand in photos. My old boyfriend got pretty jowly, like a prize-winner at the state fair. Now that might sound mean, but we had so much fun fattening ourselves up. So much so that it is a shame that you can’t really share those photos anymore once the relationship is over.
Haha. Prize-winner at the state fair. As in “Best in Show”?
He was very well-marbled. I felt proud. That’s wrong, right? 🙂
lol. I like the word “plump”.
Me too. It rhymes with part of my favorite word in English: dumpling. And I always thought that the word plumpling should exist, but it doesn’t.
Plumpling? Oh I looooove eeeet. Since a duckling is a tiny duck, could a plumpling be a tiny plump person? Like a fat baby? A fat asian baby?
Haha! Yes, a fat Asian baby! Dressed like a duck! In a blanket that looks like a tortilla 🙂 That is now the official definition!
I may have sent that to Urban Dictionary. The world needs to know!
Yum!! What a great place to have on your doorstep! x
Super jealous. Both of those dishes look super packed with flavour.
Awesome, food looks great. I’m keen to try the fish tacos.
Me too!