Previous SlideNext Slide

When I was 19, my family took a trip to Mexico – the first of many trips to what has become my favourite travel destination. I had a number of culinary awakenings during those weeks that we drove around the Yucatan, many of them thanks to the kinds of foods you’d expect – stews and moles and tacos.

But the most unexpected revelation came in the form of a hearts of palm salad in a trendy cafe in Mexico City. The dish was simple – all the better to show off the lightly pickled palm vegetable, which has an artichoke-adjacent flavour at the same time as being its own thing entirely. It was the first time I’d ever had hearts of palm and it was a moment of magical newness, like discovering a colour you’ve never seen before.

I was brought back to this memory recently at Pancho in Ballarat, a South American restaurant that my mother and sister raved about after a recent trip. Pancho’s hearts of palm salad ($13) was just like the one I’d tasted in Mexico City all those years ago, the hearts, dressed lightly with crunchy lettuce and creamy avocado, taking centre stage.

It wasn’t the only thing at Pancho that transported me to another time and place. The kingfish ceviche ($27), cured with lime and served with hunks of sweet potato, took me back to La Mar, my favourite restaurant in Lima, Peru, where, perched at a bar, I ate a dish just like it.

A special of lamb birria tacos ($19), served with a rich lamb consomme for dipping, reminded me of a little shack in Playa Del Carmen on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula where I dipped and slurped birria tacos only last June.

With this food and these drinks, I’d be eating here every week if it were in Melbourne.

Pancho, which is owned by Simone Baur-Schmid and Jose Fernandez, opened in Ballarat in 2019. Fernandez – born in Spain, raised in Venezuela and the owner of Ballarat Spanish restaurant Meigas – has employed chefs from all over Central and South America, as well as Mexico.

Many have left their mark on the menu, resulting in an offering that’s incredibly varied but also true to each individual cuisine. There’s no fusion here, just classic dishes presented exactly as they would be in their home countries.

That’s no small feat, especially considering how hard it is to locate decent Mexican food in Australia, let alone Colombian or Peruvian.

At Pancho, you can find fantastic arepas ($13 each), the cheese-and-meat-stuffed pocket of fried maize that’s been served in Colombia and Venezuela since the Pre-Columbian era; fish tacos ($17) that taste like the ones you get on Mexico’s Baja coastline, and Peruvian caramel custard ($12) that’s topped with puffs of meringue.

A recent special of Brazilian prawn curry ($28) tasted exactly like the mellow, lightly sweet, home-style curries I’ve had in casual restaurants around Sao Paulo.

Pork tostadas ($19) see juicy pork, flavoured with the peppery, earthy spice achiote, piled high on crisp tortillas and topped with pickled onions. It’s the closest thing I’ve had to a real cochinita pibil – the traditional pork dish from Yucatan state – in Australia.

The drinks menu, too, meanders through that part of the world, with well-made pisco sours ($19), margaritas ($18), Mexican beers and a short wine list highlighting bottles from Chile and Argentina.

The passionfruit caipirinha ($17) is gloriously tropical without being too sweet, and there’s a mean pina colada on offer ($20), too.

The room is colourful, its walls decorated with Mexican folk art and vintage travel posters from throughout South America. Servers are friendly and well-versed in the food and specials and happily walk customers – many of whom have never had South American food – through the menu.

On weekends, the place is jam-packed: don’t make the mistake of thinking you can waltz in for lunch without a booking.

Pancho’s popularity is anything but surprising. With this food and these drinks, I’d be eating here every week if it were in Melbourne. As it is, I’ll be planning more trips to Ballarat in order to bask in the tumble of delicious memories this restaurant inspires.

This review was originally published in Good Weekend magazine