Buenos Aires' culinary gems

Her name is Christina Sunae and she is the woman behind Concina Sunae, a 'puertas cerradas' (closed door) restaurant on the outskirts of Belgrano.  I'm a lover of good wine, but also of good food, so I just had to blog this one. Another local recommendation, we thought we'd stumbled over a little unknown. It seems, however, these restaurants are quite the scene in Buenos Aires. The list of them is extensive and their concept simple. They're run by people who love food, know a thing or two about cooking and whose passion leads them to open their homes as 'restaurants' once or twice a week.

Christina - or Sunae as she prefers - is of American-Korean descent. The first 'pan-asian' restaruant of its kind, its website describes her food as luring. Well we were lured before we'd even tried her delicious creations. Coming from Asian-influenced Sydney, we've craved many dishes since being away, particularly big bowls of Vietnamese Pho. Unfortunately, quality Asian restaurants are far and few between in South America and, since now, we haven't found one that meets the Sydney standards. Enter Christina Sunae.

Open on Fridays and Saturdays, we booked for Saturday February 13th. Via email we were told that we were welcome in her home at 9pm, starters to be served at 9.30pm. We arrived promptly and were led into her candle-lit home. The place was set up just like a restaurant, with table settings for the capacity 20 guests, but with personal touches also, such as family photos, wall artwork and colourful couch pillows - we were in her living room after all!

We started by treating ourselves to the cocktails on offer that evening. For Bec who hadn't enjoyed lychees in a long time, this was a lychee and lavender blend, for me, it was lemon and ginger. Things were off to a good start. We followed this with a bottle of Mendoza Chardonnay. Next to come were the starters: Vietnamese Crispy springrolls served with Nuoc Mam sauce and lettuce leaves, which we were instructed by the waiter to use as wrappers for the rolls. Verdict? Delicious. This course was followed by an equally appetising mango and avocado salad.

Along came the mains. The no-seafood eating Bec was served Khao Soi - chicken in thai yellow curry served over egg noodles which kind of tasted like laksa without the soup component. I got Tamarind prawns which had a beautiful sweet and sour taste. The presentation of the food was superb and only added to its lure. And what would a culinary experience such as this be without dessert? The banana puff served with sticky rice and green tea icecream definitely hit the spot.

To top off the evening, the charming Christina took time out of the kitchen and spoke to each of her guests and even showed us both out at the end. This was a nice touch as we were able to tell her in person just how much we enjoyed her cooking and that we were sure we wouldn't be eating a meal like this until our arrival back home in November. I suspect this is true, at least in the pan-asian department. I just wish I'd discovered Christina Sunae sooner!