10 months ago
Where Counter Culture once stood is now an empanada empire: Chango Empanadas have moved in and they’re going to change your lunch game.
After quite a few years of emptiness, No. 16 The Pavement finally has a new resident. Chango Empanadas have moved in and they are serving some of the best empanadas we’ve ever tasted. You might already be familiar with the brand, who have a couple of locations over town- Wimbledon, Richmond, Highgate, Wandsworth, Parsons Green and Mayfair all boast a branch, plus you’ll often spot them (swamped with queues) at weekend markets. Now they’re bringing their famous Argentinian bites to a permanent Clapham location and we couldn’t be happier.
They’ve got a pleasingly simple menu. It’s empanadas or… well. Empanadas. So if you’re visiting Chango then you’re going for one thing only. But the flavour variations they have are enough to keep it interesting and what they do, they do well. The menu is a range of 8 different flavours; the traditional beef, ham and cheese, spicy chicken, spinach and ricotta, tomato and mozzarella, olives and mozzarella, pumpkin and goat cheese and a vegan friendly sweet corn number. Trying to choose 3 for our lunch was a tough task and we ended up going for the deeply savoury beef, the creamy tomato and mozzarella and the deliciously oozy pumpkin and goat cheese. It’s impossible to pick a winner from the line up; all were flavourful, comforting and warm and the pastry was perfectly crisp and flakey. The trio came with a dinky pot of parsley-heavy, zingy chimichurri which was a delicious flavour-bomb addition to each nibble- we could have put that sauce on anything. Luckily they sell bigger jars if you’re as much of a fan as we are…
The Clapham site is the perfect takeaway joint- each empanada is heated to order so you can hop to the Common to tuck in to a few piping hot pastries. If the weather isn’t playing ball then they’ve got a couple of seats inside too, which makes for the perfect opportunity to chat to the extremely friendly team (big shout out to them- incredible service!). There’s also an option to get a box of unheated empanadas that you can save for later and warm at home. A lovely lunch/dinner/breakfast/snack/midnight feast for when you need something quick, easy and most importantly: delicious.
