Yes, there is Argentinian food in Sydney. Porteño in Surry Hills runs the long-standing parrilla, Achura in Brookvale is the Argentinian butcher, and Argentum Empanadas delivers five flavours of frozen Argentinian empanadas across Sydney from a Bondi Beach kitchen. La Torre in Fairfield covers alfajores and dulce de leche.
5
Argentum empanada flavours
$85
Minimum delivery order
6 mo
Frozen shelf life at -18C
1974
La Torre Cake Shop opened
From the wood-fired parrillas of Surry Hills to the Argentinian butcher in Brookvale, the old-school bakery in Fairfield, and the empanadas made in Bondi Beach. Sydney's Argentinian food scene runs deeper than most people realise.
Argentinian food in Sydney used to be a niche. It isn't anymore. The city has quietly built one of the most complete Argentinian food ecosystems outside of Buenos Aires itself. You can have a twelve-hour asado lunch on a Saturday, pick up a kilo of dulce de leche on the way home, open a bottle of Mendoza Malbec with dinner, and finish with an alfajor. Without leaving the eastern seaboard.
This is the full guide, written by Pedro at Argentum, an Argentinian who's been cooking and hosting in Sydney for the past two and a half years. It covers where to eat out, where to shop, and what to cook at home. Every restaurant and shop mentioned is one we genuinely rate. If you want every Argentinian venue on a single map view, explore our Sydney Argentinian Food Map.
What makes Argentinian food Argentinian
Before the guide, a quick primer. Argentinian food sits on four pillars. If you don't know these, the rest of the landscape is hard to read.
Not a barbecue. A ritual. Beef, slow-cooked over wood or charcoal on a parrilla grill, taking half a day, eaten over hours.
Folded savoury pastries. Regional fillings, always baked in Argentina. The food you eat at home, at parties, on the road.
Sweetened milk caramel. In alfajores, in pastries, on toast, off a spoon. It's in everything sweet, and it's the flavour of childhood.
Argentina's signature red from Mendoza. Built to pair with grilled beef. A proper asado without Malbec is a polite dinner, not a real one.
Everything else sits around those four: chimichurri, milanesa, choripán, provoleta, facturas, yerba mate, Franuí. Now the guide.
Best Argentinian restaurants in Sydney (parrillas and steakhouses)
If you want the proper asado experience in Sydney, these are the places to go. All four cook over fire. All four take beef seriously. Each has its own personality.
Porteño
Surry HillsSydney's Argentinian institution, and deservedly so. Porteño has been doing it longer, louder, and with more conviction than anyone else. The parrilla and asador are the heart of the room. You sit, you hear the fire, you smell the ironbark, and you understand why Argentina built a whole cuisine around this technique. The meat programme is genuinely excellent. The wine list leans into Mendoza. Service is warm in the way Argentinian service is warm, unpretentious and intuitive.
Go for: A proper occasion. Anniversary. Birthday. When someone visits from overseas. Book well ahead.
El Corte
Darling HarbourThe newer entry, and a strong one. El Corte brings the wood-fired parrilla to Darling Harbour with a menu that reads like a love letter to Argentina. Bife de chorizo, Wagyu T-bone, empanadas, provoleta, Milanesa Napolitana, house-made chimichurri. Classic dishes, executed with care, in a room that has the water view going for it. A good pick if you want the full Argentinian menu without travelling to Surry Hills.
Go for: A first introduction to Argentinian dining in Sydney, or a tourist-adjacent lunch with a view.
La Boca Bar & Grill
MascotLa Boca runs locations in Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney, with the Sydney venue inside the Stamford Plaza at Mascot. Both asador and parrilla are on display. The menu is broad, the atmosphere is accessible, and the airport location makes it a genuinely practical option for a pre-flight asado or a dinner that doesn't require a drive into the CBD.
Go for: Convenience without sacrificing tradition. Good for groups and business dinners.
Pony Dining
The RocksNot strictly an Argentinian restaurant, but worth naming. Pony Dining cooks everything over an open Argentinian woodfire grill, inside a century-old sandstone building at the entrance of Kendall Lane. The technique is Argentinian. The produce is Australian. The result is a restaurant that understands what fire does to beef without pretending to be something it isn't.
Go for: Atmosphere and a dry-aged ribeye. Good cocktail bar too.
Best Argentinian empanadas in Sydney
Argentinian empanadas are not Colombian. Not Chilean. Not Spanish. They're a specific thing. Wheat dough (not corn), traditionally baked (not fried), folded with a decorative repulgue, and filled with region-specific recipes. In Sydney, a small number of people take this seriously.
We're biased, obviously. But Argentum is the only Sydney empanada producer making every empanada in Bondi Beach using traditional Argentinian technique, with five distinct flavours and a vegan option (Patagonia). Delivered frozen and ready to bake across the Eastern Suburbs, CBD, Inner West, and Northern Beaches. For catering, corporate events, and home cooking.
See the range, read Pedro's story, or see our customer reviews.
Beyond Argentum, a few other places in Sydney worth knowing about:
La Torre Cake Shop in Fairfield has been making Argentinian-style empanadas, alfajores and dulce de leche pastries since 1974. The original bakers were Argentinian. Robert and Grace ran it for decades before retirement, and the current owner has kept the recipes intact. Worth the trip if you're in western Sydney.
La Paula, also in Fairfield, is technically a Chilean bakery. Their empanadas are Chilean-style (usually larger, with beef, onion, olive, and hard-boiled egg), not Argentinian. Different thing, worth knowing if you're curious about the difference.
A few Inner West bakeries and LATAM cafes make empanadas as part of a broader menu. Quality and style varies. If you want specifically Argentinian empanadas (half-moon, baked, distinct regional flavours), the list in Sydney is short.
What to look for in a real Argentinian empanada
A quick way to tell. A proper Argentinian empanada has a thin, flaky wheat-flour dough (not a thick corn shell). The edge is sealed with a repulgue. That's the decorative fold, sometimes with a pattern that distinguishes the filling. It's baked golden, not deep-fried. And the filling is cooked before being enclosed, not raw going in. If you're getting something deep-fried with a corn-flour shell and a single generic "beef" filling, it's not Argentinian. It's probably very nice, but it's not Argentinian.
Related reading: Empanadas around the world and how Argentina compares.
Argentinian butcher for asado at home
If you want to cook the Argentinian way yourself, you need the right cuts. Australian supermarket beef is excellent but not cut the way we cut it back home. You need a butcher who understands the difference between a vacío and a matambre, a tira de asado and a short rib.
Achura Meat Market
BrookvaleThe go-to for Argentinian cuts in Sydney. Achura specialises in the Argentinian cut approach: entraña (flank), vacío (flap), matambre, tira de asado, and the traditional asado add-ons like chorizo, morcilla (black pudding) and mollejas (sweetbreads). Premium Australian beef, cut the Argentinian way. A rare and valuable combination. If you're hosting an asado, this is where you start.
Location: Brookvale on the Northern Beaches. Order ahead by phone or online, pay and collect in store.
Alfajores, dulce de leche, yerba mate and everything else
The pantry stuff. The things you miss if you've grown up with them, and the things you should try if you haven't. A handful of Sydney sources stock the real deal.
The Argentinian Market
Sydney / OnlineA Sydney-based online store with Australia-wide shipping, focused specifically on Argentinian products. Yerba mate, dulce de leche, alfajores (Havanna, Guaymanén, Jorgito and others), Malbec, Torrontés, chimichurri spice mixes, pantry basics. A good first stop if you're trying to recreate a Buenos Aires Sunday at home.
La Torre Cake Shop
FairfieldAlready mentioned for empanadas, but La Torre is a proper destination for Argentinian-style sweets. Alfajores, milhojas, dulce de leche pastries, croissants filled with quince jam. Multi-generational recipes rooted in Rosario. They even sell dulce de leche by the kilo.
Rodriguez Bros
South-West SydneyNot strictly Argentinian, but a serious Spanish and South American deli carrying Argentinian and Uruguayan asado essentials, over 50 varieties of yerba mate, alfajores, dulce de leche, chimichurri, paella kits, and hard-to-find pantry items from across Latin America and Spain. Strong wine section too.
A word on Franuí
If you haven't had Franuí, you're missing out. These are Argentinian raspberries coated in white and dark chocolate, developed in Patagonia. Dessert, petit four, post-asado ritual, all at once. Gluten-free too. We stock it as a standalone 150g tub ($12) and include two tubs in our Treat Box. Pedro wrote about the tradition here.
And about the chimichurri
We make our own. Parsley, garlic, olive oil, oregano, red wine vinegar. The proper Argentinian recipe, no shortcuts. Every Argentum baked order (Party Box Baked, Corporate Box, catering orders) comes with chimichurri included. We're getting asked about selling it on its own after market weekends, and we're working on it. In the meantime, if you want some for your asado or just to have in the fridge, email us and we'll sort you out.
Argentinian wine in Sydney
Malbec is the obvious place to start. Torrontés is the secret. Argentinian wine is broadly available in Sydney but not well-curated in most shops. A few tips.
For Malbec, Dan Murphy's and Vintage Cellars both carry the basics (Catena Zapata, Trapiche, Luigi Bosca). For a more serious selection, Prince Wine Store in Surry Hills and Different Drop stock the harder-to-find producers. Mendoza is the starting point. If you see anything from the Uco Valley, grab it.
For Torrontés (Argentina's aromatic white, floral, dry, excellent with empanadas and cheese), you'll need to look harder. Specialist shops and The Argentinian Market carry it. Pair it with our Classic triple cheese empanadas for a surprisingly perfect match.
For Fernet with Coca-Cola, the unofficial national drink of young Argentinians, you can find Fernet-Branca at most bottle shops. The ratio is 30% Fernet, 70% Coke, one ice cube. Do not let anyone convince you otherwise.
How to host an Argentinian night at home in Sydney
A rough blueprint, for six to eight people. Plan ahead, cook unhurriedly, don't skip the music.
Before dinner. Empanadas as starters, served warm, with chimichurri. Three to four per person. If you're ordering, our Chef's Box of 20 is designed for exactly this moment. Frozen, bake when guests arrive, serve straight out of the oven.
Main event. Asado, if you have the setup. Steaks, chorizo, morcilla, and a slow cut like vacío or tira de asado. From Achura if you can, your local butcher if you can't. Cook over charcoal, not gas. Start the fire an hour before you plan to eat.
Sides. Kept simple. A basic salad of tomato, onion, lettuce. Grilled provoleta if you can find provolone. Ensalada rusa if you're ambitious. Nothing fussy. The meat is the point.
Wine. Malbec, opened early. A good one. One bottle per two people minimum.
Dessert. Alfajores from La Torre, or Franuí if you've got it. Coffee. Maybe fernet if the energy is right.
Timing. Argentinian meals do not end when the plates are cleared. They end when the last person leaves. Plan for four hours. Budget six.
Frequently asked questions
Is there Argentinian food in Sydney?
Yes. Sydney has a small but complete Argentinian food scene. Porteño in Surry Hills runs a wood-fired parrilla, Achura in Brookvale is the Argentinian butcher, La Torre in Fairfield bakes alfajores and dulce de leche pastries, and Argentum Empanadas delivers five flavours of Argentinian empanadas across Sydney from a Bondi Beach kitchen.
Where can I buy Argentinian empanadas in Sydney?
Argentum Empanadas delivers frozen Argentinian empanadas across the Eastern Suburbs, CBD, Inner West, Northern Beaches, North Shore and South West Sydney, with a $85 minimum order. La Torre Cake Shop in Fairfield also sells Argentinian-style empanadas at the counter. A handful of Inner West cafes carry empanadas as part of broader menus.
What is a traditional Argentinian meal?
A traditional Argentinian meal is asado: beef slow-cooked over wood or charcoal on a parrilla grill, eaten with chimichurri, a simple tomato and onion salad, bread, and Malbec from Mendoza. The meal stretches over hours. Empanadas as a starter and dulce de leche or alfajores for dessert are typical.
What is the difference between Mexican and Argentinian empanadas?
Mexican empanadas typically use a corn or wheat dough and are often deep-fried, with fillings like chicken tinga, picadillo or pumpkin. Argentinian empanadas use a thin wheat flour dough, are traditionally baked, sealed with a decorative repulgue fold, and filled with region-specific recipes built around beef, chicken, cheese or vegetables.
What do Argentinians drink?
Malbec from Mendoza is the everyday red. Torrontés is the aromatic white that pairs with cheese and chicken. Fernet with Coca-Cola (30 percent Fernet to 70 percent Coke, one ice cube) is the unofficial drink of younger Argentinians. Yerba mate is the daily ritual, sipped through a metal straw from a shared gourd.
Can I get Argentinian food delivered in Sydney?
Yes. Argentum Empanadas delivers frozen Argentinian empanadas across Sydney with same and next-day windows. The Argentinian Market ships pantry items, alfajores, dulce de leche and yerba mate Australia-wide. Achura in Brookvale takes orders by phone for click-and-collect butchery. See the Sydney delivery guide for the full picture.
Are empanadas Argentinian?
Empanadas are eaten across Latin America, Spain and the Mediterranean, but the modern empanada is most closely associated with Argentina. Argentinian empanadas use a thin baked wheat dough, are sealed with a regional repulgue fold, and follow region-specific recipes. Read more on the origin of empanadas.
Where can I find Argentinian wine in Sydney?
Malbec from Mendoza is stocked at Dan Murphy's, Vintage Cellars and most independent bottle shops. For a more serious Argentinian list (Uco Valley reds, Torrontés from Salta, single-vineyard producers), try Prince Wine Store in Surry Hills, Different Drop, or The Argentinian Market for online delivery.
Keep reading on Argentum
More on Argentinian food, empanadas, and how Sydney eats them.
- Sydney Argentinian Food Map: every venue in one view
- Empanadas near me in Sydney: delivery, pickup and markets
- Catering for 50 people in Sydney: the practical guide
- High-protein meal prep in Sydney with empanadas
- Empanadas delivery in Sydney: everything you need to know
- From Buenos Aires to Bondi: the Argentum story
- The honest guide to the best empanadas in Sydney
- Order the Chef's Box (20 empanadas, $85)
- See catering packs from 20 to 100+
Argentinian food, delivered to your door.
Five flavours, made in Bondi Beach, delivered frozen across Sydney. The easiest way into Argentinian food is still the empanada.
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