Sur Argentinian Steakhouse review
A rack of New Zealand lamb in red-wine sauce is a main course at Sur Argentinian Steakhouse in Huntington. Credit: Daniel Brennan
The distance between the pubs of England and the pampas of Argentina is about 7,000 miles. Sur Argentinian Steakhouse made it fast.
Sur took over the old address of Canterbury Ales, home of Scotch eggs and Cornish pasties for almost four decades. The heraldry has exited along with the ploughman's lunch; the whiff of beer replaced by the scent of sizzling meat.
And the competition is a lot tougher.
Café Buenos Aires brought the vivid flavors of Argentina, plus top tapas, to Huntington in 2007 and earned a three-star rating. Now, a few chorizos away, comes a second Argentine spot on an island that has comparatively few. It's situated near Mac's Steakhouse, too, heightening the village's cholesterol quarter.
Sur is the generous, easygoing offspring of Tango Argentinian Steakhouse, the 16-year staple in Central Islip. Some of its popular dishes are available here.
Try chef Juan Reartes' shrimps sauteed with garlic, white wine and Spanish paprika for a tasty, dependable appetizer. The best opener, however, is sliced chorizo sausage with caramelized Spanish onions and rosemary. You could finish a bread basket with it. Matambre, two thick slices of cool, rolled veal breast stuffed with hard-boiled eggs, peppers, carrots, spinach and ham, divided by a wall of cubed potato salad, is husky enough to be a warm-weather lunch.
But skip the dry empanadas, whether spinach and feta or chicken or corn, ham and cheese. Bacon-wrapped dates: some crisp, some underdone. Baked provolone, with olives, ham and roasted red peppers, is showered with so much dried oregano that the sharp cheese is nearly hidden. Avoid the bland spinach ravioli. More crab would boost the crabcakes.
You'll find a crabcake co-starring in the otherwise solid surf-and-turf combo of lush filet mignon in black pepper sauce and fine shrimp with lobster sauce. There's also a respectable paella alla Valenciana. But chicken cordon bleu is a too-sweet, layered affair, undone by honey-mustard sauce.
Dull wine sauce mars the tender rack of lamb. Pork chops are better, on house-made applesauce. And the glistening, juicy, 32-ounce porterhouse leads the steaks. The mixed grill for two, however, will test your capacity: short ribs, skirt steak, shell steak, blood sausage, sweet sausage, sweetbreads. Bring on extra chimichurri to cut it.
Dulce de leche dominates desserts, which also include slightly charred crepes. But stick with the reliable flan.
Enjoy sangria. Or, for old time's sake, Quilmes, the Argentine beer.
