I and the girl went here after photographer's night at the aquarium. My experience was mixed. I liked the ambience of this place; we walked in hearing the Spanish guitarist which always hits the spot. The crowd was light so we were seated right away. The waiter came over, introduced himself and took our drink order. I was driving so nothing hard for me this late. The girl had a margarita. The menu has a little bit of everything, from Cuban to Argentinian.
We started with chicken empanadas, they came out within a reasonable amount of time and hot. Right away I noticed that the crust was not real flaky and burnt on the edges. But once I cut into them, the aroma won me over. They were good but not great, better than many places I have tried but not the best. The waiter explained that they had taken them off the menu but brought them back due to prep time. Eureka moment that means the crust is now store bought and not fresh. People, if you watched Top Chef this season, you know that one cheftestant was sent home for using store bought pastry and another was almost sent home. No wonder the crust was not flaky. Would I order them again, sure. The chicken filling was very flavorful.
The main entrees were for the girl, fillet minion and I had the chicken mole (Mo-Lay).
I will start with my dish: The presentation was good, served in a shallow bowl on a bed of white rice; the chicken cut is a breast. I was impressed with the aroma of the mole, spot on compared to other places. The consistence was also good, thick with some fluidity but not watery. So many places make crap mole that is like a sauce as in watery. They sprinkled the top with sesame seeds, nice touch. Again many places don't bother. The flavor of the mole was very good but not as spicy as my mom's. Hers is also made with chocolate; some interpretations do not use chocolate. Many places use canned mole and just either thicken it or add some spice. The waiter explained theirs is made there. I appreciate that and really enjoyed the mole itself. The chicken was dry on the edges, soft in the middle and did not have any flavor. The mole really helped here. My thought was that the chicken was reheated, that is why it was dry on the edges. Not good people. It really needed its own seasoning. The rice was also a disappointment, hard.....under cooked with some bite and others OK. Luckily they gave me plenty of mole to mix in with the rice. We ordered a side of bread, it took a while but it was hot, soft and good. The fresh bread and mole.......yum! Next time I will try the mole enchiladas.
My girl's order was somewhat of a different experience. She asked for the cinnamon sauce on the side, good call baby!! The presentation was average but also very aromatic. The beef was flavorful and tender, delicious! It melted in my mouth; a nice size portion. The cinnamon sauce was watery and really did not add anything. I did not try the spinach but my girl said it was very good. The potato cake was also very good; I would have loved just that as a tapa. Next time I am ordering this the same way my girl did, sauce on the side. When I was a kid my mom would cook with cinnamon and when I would eat at other homes, no one else ever did. Now I see it all over Latin menus, I know others did but I was lucky that my mom was a fabulous cook and she did have a restaurant.
For dessert we had the flan, I liked it as it was a different take than traditional flan. It was served in a shell with some fruit on top. I would also order this again.
Our waiter Joe was great. He took the time to explain the dishes and make suggestions. The manger did come to our table to ask us if we needed anything, good since there was not a lot of people that night. He could have just blown off the greeting.
Had I not been with my girl, I would have sent my dish back but I didn't want her to have to wait. Had they screwed up her meal, I would have sent it back. No one gives my girl a less than satisfactory dish. Except me, when I cook. But I make up for it with fantastic wine. They have events and live music. I will be returning for some of the live music to dance, drink and snack. read more