La Sirena Clandestina

For the latest meeting of the GFC, Nick and I decided to check out La Sirena Clandenista on Fulton Market in the West Loop. I'd read a lot about John Manion's new South American hot spot and was excited to check it out. With Next, Aviary,  Moto, iNG,  and Publican right down the block, LSC was going to have to be pretty exceptional to fit in with its fine dining neighbors,

From what I've been hearing, the cocktaills are suppossed to be just as good as the food. I started our with a pisco sour. Pisco, a type of brandy, is the national liquor of Peru. I've never seen this on a menu before so I had to try it.  It was a real treat just to watch the bartender make the drink. She clearly knew what she was doing. I noticed she was using some unfamiliar ingredients, I've never had a cocktail prepared with egg whites. The drink was one of the best cocktails I've ever had. The egg whites created a tasty foam at the top of the drink. This was definitely the best cocktail I've had in a long time.

Pisco Sour

Having been blown away by the pisco sour, I decided to continue my tour of South America with a stopover in Brazil. I ordered a caipirinha, Brazil's national cocktail. Caipirinhas are actually a really simple drink to make. Its only ingredients are cachaça, simple sugar, and lime juice. Side note: cachaça is the most popular liquor in Brazil, very similar to rum, The main difference is that rum is distilled from molasses while cachaça is distilled from raw sugar cane. I've only had a few caipirinhas in my life but this one was my favorite. A very refreshing drink.

Caipirinha

With a couple fantastic cocktails under my belt, it was time for the food. We started out with a charred baby octopus salad. The salad was pleasant and light but not particularly memorable. I could have used a little more octopus and a stronger char flavor.


Octopus Salad

Next came out two empanadas, one meat and one vegetarian. The chicken empanada was great but the gorgonzola vegetarian version was out of this world. I've only had fried empanadas in the past so I was a little skeptical about a baked version. I actually prefer the baked version having tried both. The outside was light and flaky without being greasy. Served with chimichurri sauce, these empanadas were the highlight of the meal.


Empanadas

I've heard really good things about their fries. Supposedly they are among the best in the city, up there with the likes of Publican and Hopleaf. The fries themselves were very good but the the aioli was really amazing. It looked like a pretty standard aioli but it had a surprising amount of heat. I ended up using it on everything.

Frites w/ Aioli

We decided to split the pork loin Milanese as an entree. This was a very good dish. The pork itself was juicy and tender. The crust was fried to perfection. The meat came covered with a mushroom sauce and a fried egg. My only complaint was that such a large piece of meat could have used another egg. There just wasn't enough yolk to go around.

Pork Loin Milanesa

We also ordered a few side dishes. One turned out to be great and the other turned out to be downright offensive. The pao de queijo was really good. These are smalls balls of brazilian cheese bread. I immediately recognized these as something I've had at Brazilian steakhouses like Fogo de Chao. These were much better. They are light and airy with a great texture. The other side we got was farofa. Farofa, ground cassava root, is normally used as a stuffing in Brazilian cuisine. While it might be a great stuffing, eating it on its own is like eating sand. With a truly dreadful texture and very little flavor of its own, I'm not entirely sure why this is even on the menu.

Pao de Queijo and Farofa

I really enjoyed my experience at La Sirena Clandestina. Cocktails were phenominal, service was excellent and food was interesting. I would definitely recommend stopping by for a few cocktails and empanadas. LSC is a great addition to the already lively West Loop dining scene.