La Boca Bar and Grill Sydney — Restaurant in Sydney

There is Argentinian Asado in Sydney. This can be found at La Boca Restaurant inside the Airport Stamford Hotel, Sydney.
This provided us with fond memories of our visit to Argentina last year, which was a culinary highlight for us and Asado became our favourite food. This is where the meats are cooked on the Asado or Parilla grill (meat mounted on a rack, cooked over an open flame) by the Asador (BBQ Chef/meat master) and this stuff is next level. Whilst we’re not all going to Argentina for this, we can experience it in Australia, through the Stamford Hotel and at their Hotel Restaurant, La Boca.
La Boca is named after the suburb in Buenos Aires, the area filled with colourful houses which has inspired the decor of this restaurant. The walls are draped in a vibrant print reflecting the colours of La Boca. However, the big draw card and main attraction is the Asado, with flames roaring and the meat neatly sitting above cooking and taking on flavour from the method of cooking, it is impressive and something to behold.
The restaurant also has a fully stocked bar, with the bar staff preparing a range of cocktails and they also have a range of wine and craft beer on offer.
We have been to this restaurant on a number of occasions but returned for a dining event with some fellow foodies. We sampled Argentinian wine - Malbec, paired with the traditional Argentinian cuisine.
Empanadas are common fare throughout South America and the La Boca version have a nice crisp doughy outer casing and have a tasty filling of corn, beef and lamb. The only problem, we were left wanting more, but knew the feast had only just begun.
We have already mentioned the Asadors are meat masters and this technique was on show and translated into seafood too, with their amazing squid. Beautifully tender and marinated in a lime dressing, with capers and chives.
The Traditional sausage sampler is another insight into the Argentinian passion for preparing and cooking carnivorous delights. The sausages are juicy and have plenty of flavour. The last of our entrees was the delicious Provolone Croquette.
The mains we shared were all mouthwatering quality meat based dishes. They use locally sourced 100% grass-fed, choice Australian meats. The use of Asado and Parilla based cooking Is designed to enhance the flavours of the meat through the grill over Australian redgum and Argentinean charcoal.
To sample a bit of everything the La Boca Signature Fire Grill is a good option. A mixed share platter of meat lovingly cooked over open flame for 8 hours, including the free range pork belly and lamb asador. This also comes with skirt steak, pork sausage, salt bush lamb sausage and chicken.
Cooked on the Parilla Grill was the Entrana skirt steak, which was a favourite (and the favourite of all other diners too). It was a thin cut, which was super succulent and served with a chimichurri sauce. This also features on the Laboca $15 express lunch menu, well worth stopping in for.
A higher grade steak on the menu was the 42 day dry aged steak sirloin. A lovely cut of meat with plenty of flavour, also grilled on the Parilla and cooked to order.
We also got an Argentinian corn cake - traditional corn and pumpkin hot cake with grilled mushrooms and salad.
The group finished off with dessert which included a soft flan type dish - the Pear clafoutis (red wine and poached pear almond cake), a slice of the chocolatey and coffee flavoured traditional espresso caramel cake which was rich and decadent. A must order is their Churros with caramel fondue, another Argentinian Specialty. These light and fluffy doughy sticks of goodness add freshly fried and perfect to dip in a pot of dulce de leche (caramel).
The meal here is unreal and we absolutely loved it. We would highly recommend coming to try their Adado and authentic...

A very disappointing experience, I would not recommend this place to anyone. Service: The wait staff where friendly enough however they were extremely slow at taking our orders and table service for drinks was non-existent to the point we had to go to the bar in order to get our drinks. Our cutlery was only delivered to our table after our meals had been on the table for around 5 minutes, despite trying to gain the wait staffs attention for this.

Food: OMG this was the biggest let down. All 10 of the adults in the group opted to have the Easter Sunday Feast that was only accessible through a QR code to a web page that listed the menu..... Nothing special just a set menu that included a little bit of everything, Whilst the kids had the standard chicken nuggets as the waitstaff had told us that the kids eat free as part of the set menu. We had a few dietary restrictions (food allergies) that we had let the wait staff know about and they assured us that these could be accommodated.

The entrees started to arrive and we confirmed with the wait staff that they accounted for the dietary restrictions, They replied the chef had forgot, Lucky we checked!!!! The wait staff then offered up something else in its place. When we asked to have the item remade to accommodate the restriction it was like we were asking for him to hand over his first born child. But eventually agreed to go and get the chef to remake the dish. Half of the items listed on the menu as part of the feast didn't show up when we asked the wait staff about this they told us it wasn't part of the menu and argued the point when we brought their web page back up and showed them.

Next up was the main course...... We were all looking forward to this until it started to arrive. The assorted slow cooked meats over the charcoals sounded amazing...... Sadly most of the meat wasn't cooked correctly with the meat for example the lamb shoulder that was served was red and still bleeding not even pink, The chicken drumstick was also on the pink side the pieces that were cooked correctly had no flavour and could of easily been mistaken for cardboard. It was at this point we asked to see the chef, when fronted with the raw meat and our disappointment in the quality he became combative telling us that the meat is supposed to be like that and he had been cooking it since 1pm. That we didn't know what we were talking about..... Like I have never eaten a piece of meat before in my life. The rest of the meal that came out about 10-15 minutes later were supposed to be charcoal roasted vegetables, these had clearly been microwaved and then finished off for a minute or two on the grill all of which had no flavour. again they had failed to take into account the dietary restrictions. and had to go back and make a separate dish again. The dessert was average a few over cooked churros and two small cakes.

When trying to pay at the end of the night we noticed they had added the kids meals to the bill along with a few other items that we never ordered or had, then proceeded to argue with us when we challenged the the kids meals and additional items.

For $80 plus a head I expect a chef to be able to cook a meal correctly. Don't eat here, not worth the time. There are a lot of other South American style BBQ's to go too that...

The brilliant colour & cuisine of Argentina has been brought to life in Sydney, with Stamford Plaza’s La Boca Bar & Grill.

The eclectic & vibrant decor is definitely the first thing that catches your eye – with bold colours striking out from across the restaurant’s every corner. A far cry from the subtle and styled interior of most hotel restaurants, this easy brilliance is a welcoming change of pace. The flaming Asado grill. That most iconic of Argentinian culinary spectacles, the flaming Asado grill, is in prominent view from any point in the restaurant – the glistening cuts and barbequing sides of meat a tantalizing reminder of what Argentinian cuisine is here to offer.

‘La Boca’ is Spanish for “The Mouth” – and that’s exactly what this restaurant is about. That may seem a little unsurprising, given the usual role of restaurants, however this Argentinian bar & grill is taking this to the next level. With a packed menu containing staples such as empanadas, churros & chorizo, the real standouts are the variety of barbequed meats. Between the flame-grilled Asado meat and the traditional Parrilla (gaucho) grill, there is nothing for the meat-lover to find wanting.

I can’t breeze past the Parrilla without mentioning the Entraña skirt steak – phenomenally tender, beautifully seasoned & grilled to perfection – it’s rare to find a steak so unbelievably well-handled. All the meat used by La Boca is sourced from within Australia, and head chef Nicolas informs us that the kitchen follows the philosophy of ‘Nose to Tail’ where the cuts of meat not grilled and served are used to season the restaurants’ stocks and broths. The dessert menu is similarly impressive, with the Espresso Caramel Cake a true standout, as visually impressive as it is bursting with flavour.

The cocktails on offer are many and varied, each bringing their own unique twist to the institution of Argentinian dining, as well as a wide selection of classics. The wine list is designed to go hand-in-hand with the menu, with special mention going to the selection of malbec, bringing that fine Argentine tradition to Australia in dazzling style.

La Boca is located in Sydney Airports’ Stamford Plaza, at 241 O’Riordan St Mascot – opening from 5am for breakfast (and bringing out the famed Asado grill at noon) and open till late. With Christmas just around the corner, there’s no shame in starting the holiday eating early – so get in and find out what the...