CityLife

Charango

Charango
Chorlton
March 2010

Cuisine: South American
Average three-course cost: £20

Overall: 3/5
Decor: 3/5, Service: 3/5, Food: 3/5

Chorlton's diners responded frostily to modern British eatery Ostara, which opened in the south Manchester suburb last year.

Poor sales firmly told owner Lee Janda that Chorlton was not willing to pay more than £15 for a steak, even if he could guarantee organic quality.

With suggestions that it would have worked better in Didsbury, and after six months serving local organic food in perhaps too stark surroundings, Ostara shut its doors.

But Lee would not be beaten and has opened the all-the-more upbeat, characterful and casual South American bar and restaurant Charango.

Perhaps looking to follow the success of his busy folk bar Dulcimer round the corner, he named the place after another obscure stringed instrument, this time a small South American lute traditionally made from an armadillo.

Well, whatever works for you...

Charango is in a bleaker, less obvious spot on Barlow Moor Road than its folk friend, opposite the back of the sad-looking shopping precinct and away from the through-flow of revellers on the Wilbraham Road strip.

But it really is central enough to do well once it gets people through the door.

And it had certainly done that on the busy Saturday night when we stepped inside.

The atmosphere was instantly buzzy, with funky samba beats bouncing off the brightly painted walls.

The place feels more bar than restaurant when you walk in and drinkers outnumbered diners in the downstairs section.

Hip beardy quaffers, much the same as Dulcimer’s folky crowd, seemed to be starting a night of it there, and groomed girls were hanging out at the bar.

Upstairs felt more like a restaurant and if food is what you are after then I recommend booking ahead.

We were lucky to get a table and were squeezed on the end of another, and that was fine, Charango is a sociable place where you can order food at your leisure at the bar throughout the night.

And the food is tapas-style so lends itself to sharing and ordering more.

We checked out the menu of light bites and sides, homemade soups, small plates and desserts.

The nibbly menu is accompanied by good-value wines from Chile and Argentina.

Disrupted

They do breakfast, too, served in the form of the Mexican classic huevos rancheros – an egg-based start to the day which packs a punch – and fish fans are catered for with some inventive dishes.

We filled our table with plates, including marinated Spanish olives (£2.50), quite literally the biggest I have ever seen, sesame seed crispy battered vegetables (£3.75) which included suitably-dippable courgette and less likely cauliflower, with wonderfully light batter.

The South American tradition for maize-based snacks appeared in the broad bean, garden mint and feta cheese quesadilla (£4) and the chipotle chicken and chorizo quesadilla (£4.50).

The chicken mixture had a full-flavoured fiery bite against the blander broad bean version.

We also had cochinita pibil pork (£4.95) served with refried beans, pickled pink onions and tortillas.

This had a rustic feel with the pork slow roasted as this dish dictates and was beautifully tender.

The intense, citrusy taste of the pork was calmed by the stodge of the beans, a good example of the South American trick of balancing food with a kick with a mellow partner.

We also had homemade chilli chips (£2.50), which were a little limp but a welcome alternative to tortillas; and the Four Dip Selection (£8), which included a garlic and jalapeno hummus option – which lacked the flavour it suggested – a cumin yogurt dip, which was again too subtle, and a great salsa that had a delayed kick.

But our Charango experience did feel more disrupted the more the place filled up.

As food and drinks orders flow through the same small bar, there were delays and staff crowded the one till as customers took time ordering small plates.

And then they started to run out of things.

They didn’t have the Sauvignon Blanc I wanted, there had to be a dash for a clean wine glass from the bar and there was no guacamole for our dip selection, which I had to remind our waitress to bring. It all felt as though the place couldn’t quite keep up.

But staff were smiley throughout and the healthy numbers are obviously good news for the venue.

With the decks firing up for the night, one of the weekend DJs playing Latin music, the place was only set to get livelier into the early hours. So a good start for what is establishing itself as a bit of a nightspot.

Perhaps Chorlton isn’t willing to pay for a posh steak, but this laid-back alternative with a bit of colour and Latin energy is apparently much more palatable.

Charango, 456 Barlow Moor Road, Chorlton, Manchester, M21 0BQ (0161 881 8596, charango-chorlton.co.uk).

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