Sabor : Islington

If you want to travel round the world eating every cuisine known to man but don't necessarily have the time nor the budget, then Islington is a fair compromise. The choice of restaurants is amazing and to date I have yet to be disappointed by any of them. One genre of food which I feel is under stated in the UK is South American. Most of us have probably sampled the delights of the wonderful wines on offer but may not be too familiar with the food.

Sabor http://www.sabor.co.uk/ which is on Essex Road, just to the east of Upper Street is discretely set between some pretty indistinctive shops, but in a culinary sense shines like a beacon. The layout is sleek and narrow, a bit like Chile and quite minimalist in design. The menu however is just packed full of dishes that tantalise the taste buds even before the delicious home made bread arrives.

A good test of many a restaurant is to opt for one of the classics. In this case, sea bass ceviche to start followed by a good old fashioned piece of prime Argentinian steak. The ceviche, pronounced Seveachey was sublime and would not have looked out of place in a Michelin one star restaurant. The little cubes of sea bass still retained a little bite and were blended perfectly well with the chili, tomato and citrus dressing. However, to lift the dish to even higher levels was an amazing tomato and chili sorbet which cleansed the palate between mouthfuls and left you salivating for more. After virtually dancing The Tango on top of our table, our waitress Esther who was totally adorable and worthy of threee michelin stars brought out some more sorbet. To compliment the food fiesta happening in our mouths, we opted for an Argentinian Viognier which was perfect

The steaks that followed enhanced my philosophy that if you stick to good basic ingredients, you can't go wrong.  They were served with a cheeky chimichurri, a green salad and again some beautifully spiced potatoes. Nothing too fancy, but ingredients that just brought out the best in each other. A robust Chilean Carmenere accompanied the main which just rocked.

Unfortunately, dessert was just a step too far but everything looked delicious and I'd be surprised if I didn't return there within the next 25 minutes to sample more ceviche and this time leave room for something sweet. Two courses with two glasses of wine each and tip came to around £80 which is far cheaper than a plane ride to Buenos Aires!