Venta El Curro — Restaurant in Árchez

Amazing Argentine BBQ in a beautiful valley setting. A hidden gem in the small mountain village of Archez.

We’ve eaten here a few times in recent months, as we have a house in a nearby village. We use Venta El Curro as the end point of a mountain hike, and whilst some of the trails can be quite challenging, the thought of tucking into the amazing food here is the best motivation.

As I suggested earlier, the location is amazing. Just across a small bridge, in a mountain valley, it feels almost Alpine… although the weather is much warmer. There is an outdoor seating area, that is especially popular, so it’s best to book your table in advance, particularly if you’re in a group.

You’ll be welcomed by the friendly staff, who don’t speak great English, so a bit of basic Spanish language will stand you in good stead here.

Once seated, you’ll be given a bowl of bread to dip in local olive oil and sherry vinegar, whilst you look at the menu. Don’t be afraid to catch the attention of the staff to order, as they can get very busy.

The food is fantastic! It’s predominantly bbq’d meat, cooked in the traditional Argentinian style, so cuts of beef, pork, chicken and lamb, as well as traditional Spanish sausage, chorizo and morcilla (blood sausage). If you order the mixed grill (minimum 2 people), you get a huge mixed plate of all the meats, and I can highly recommend this.

They have a full menu that includes a range of starters, salads, chicken and fish dishes, and some vegetarian options too, I believe. There’s also a selection of desserts. However, I’ve been quite content sharing the mixed grill and don’t see that changing anytime soon!

The beer is great here too, and after a long walk, a large beer or tanque (pronounced “tan-kay”) in a frosty glass goes down like nectar.

Price-wise, the Venta El Curro is amazing value, for the amount and quality of food on offer. Honestly, I don’t know of anywhere else on earth where you can eat and drink so well for such a reasonable price.

It’s fair to say, I...

I'll begin with the positive feedback.

Good wine if you choose some of the best in the wine list. Terrible taste of mushrooms 🍄 sauce. They totally misunderstood the concept of a delicious texture of a mushroom sauce. The delicious part of it is the mushrooms. Venta El Curro grinds the mushrooms so much that only people without teeth will be thrilled about it. Frankly they don't cook it on the base of a fond instead it's add made with a lot of cream which make the colour too creamy like a hollandaise and overrules the little taste of mushroom sauce even more.

Indeed it wasn't a great experience unfortunately. The steak was too red and had to be cooked more. I think a steak house should be able to prepare a steak and make a sauce. A baked potato would be a good idea to offer costumers who are fed...

Brilliant experience at this charming little restaurant. Great value food and drink (glasses of wine 2.50 euros and beer 1.70 euros) with a large range of Argentinian style meat and fish dishes. Being English we turned up for an evening meal at 7:30pm to find an empty restaurant just opening! By half past 8 the place was completely full so probably worth reserving a table if you want to eat later. Waitress loli was an absolute superstar keeping all the tables well fed and watered but also taking the time to let our children try their ordering etc in Spanish and adjusting her responses accordingly so they could understand (whilst speaking perfect English to other customers if they needed her to). Definitely...