Eccentric South American eats

Rhapsody is a charming, albeit rather eccentric, little restaurant that stubbornly goes its own way. A couple of examples: it serves South American food, but on the long list of starters you'll find Reindeer paté - no matter that it has been crossed out as unavailable. And despite being sited in an affluent nest of houses, at Rhapsody a two-course dinner including a majestic steak costs just £14 - how can the kitchen ever cover its costs?

Order up a bottle of decent Argentinian white wine (another bargain, £11) and check out the menu. Among nearly a dozen options, including non-South American interlopers, such as Provençal ratatouille, you'll find some good, very simple dishes. There's a pumpkin gateau, which is a sweet, veggie dish that comes with a cream-and-chive sauce. There's a stunning lamb and herb terrine - it's hard to remember anyone else making a successful terrine with lamb. There's an aubergine pudding, which is like a large pancake but with a layer of mozzarella through the centre. There are empanadas (crisp-pastried pasties filled with beef, fish or sweetcorn - the sweetcorn version wins by a short head from the beef). Somewhat surprisingly, the star of the show is braised cabbage with tarragon, which is made from slow-cooked red cabbage heavy with the aniseedy tang of tarragon and topped with a poached egg. Very simple and jolly good.

There's a long list of main courses, including fish and veggie choices, but stick to the hardcore South American dishes. Grilled beef steak is proudly proclaimed to be Argentine beef and it is well-aged, well-cooked meat and comes with chimichurri --a delicious herbal salsa made with oil, vinegar, oregano and 'some herbs I bring in specially from Argentina'. The lamb chops are large and chunky. And then there is the feijoada, the classic blackbean stew from Brazil, it comes with rice and some crisp green cabbage. It is amazing, rich and shot through with chunks of cured sausage, bits of pork and goodness knows what else. With it you get a small bowl of fariofa (a mixture of grated manioc - cassava - fried up with some slivers of bacon and chorizo until it resembles crisp and savoury breadcrumbs) - you sprinkle it on to vary the texture - and another small bowl full of chilli sauce (not very hot), and a third containing sliced pink grapefruit, the perfect palate-cleanser after the mighty bean stew.

Puds are dangerous. The pancake, filled with dulce de leche (a toffee-like substance made from slow cooking condensed milk) may be the sweetest thing on the planet.

In October Rhapsody will have been open for a year, but the menu still straggles all over the place, the prices are implausibly low and service is friendly. Visit soon and stick to the genuine South American dishes. Places as engaging as this deserve your support.

Rhapsody
25 Richmond Way, W14