Friday night we stopped in again, last minute, to see if we could get a table. Apparently we arrived before the crowd and were able to get right in. The restaurant was still busy, but had a few 2 person tables available.
The tables in the bar area were slightly cramped, but had a nice view of the main street outside.
We started with two appetizers, the Tuna Tartare and the Empanadas.
The tuna was served raw, on sticky rice with diced mango between the rice and tuna. The glaze that was on the plate was amazing-a mango, orange and chili sauce with a sweet balsamic reduction drizzled through. The mix of spice and citrus was a great compliment to the sweetness of the reduced balsamic. The green onion that topped it off was tempura battered.
The empanada was perfectly done. I don't have a photo of it. It was stuffed with spicy beef, a little mozzarella, and served with guacamole. Some empanada can be greasy but this one had a light flaky outside. A lime cilantro cabbage slaw was served on the side.
For our main course we shared the Butter Poached Salmon. It was served on leek risotto, which was creamy and had just the right amount of leek flavor. We had asked about the doneness of the salmon before ordering, and it came just as advertised. We don't typically order salmon at restaurants because it is frequently overdone. This was a perfect medium on the spectrum of rare to well done. We may have startled the waitress a little when we asked, she said it could be done more if we wanted and we answered simultaneously "NO, medium is perfect!" Keep in mind, this is coming from a couple that loves sashimi. The salmon was topped with green olives, capers, tomatoes in a buttery rosemary infused sauce.
To finish off the night, we selected the almond cake. We hadn't seen a written description of it, so were a little surprised that it had more of a coconut flavor than almond. The frosting was creamy with grated coconut and chopped almonds. The cake was slightly dry, but that was offset a little by the creaminess of the frosting. We chose a 20 year port, but this cake would also be great with coffee.
As far as ambiance, it was a little loud for conversation. Although, we did need to lean in closer to hear each other, which is never a bad thing! I would recommend it for a date night-I can see it being a great place to get a few glasses of wine and appetizers. Portion sizes were large so sharing was easy. With 2 apps, 1 entree and a dessert, we had plenty to share. For us, 1 app, 1 entree and a dessert would have been plenty.
Kudos to my husband for the awesome photos!
