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| - I went here with a friend on a Friday night and was ironically disappointed with the quality of the food. From the 4-star review on yelp, as well as the appetizing pictures available, I expected something fantastic. I know good ethnic cuisine, especially Latin, has been a challenge to find in the city of Pittsburgh, but I initially had high hopes for this place.
We made a reservation because, calling ahead, we were told the place would be busy. However, upon arrival, we found ourselves surrounded by a geriatric crowd and the place was half empty. We each ordered some sangria and the empanadas del dia to start. After tasting the sangria, something wasn't quite right, but i couldn't put my finger on it until my friend said that it tasted like Dole canned pineapple juice...this was exactly what it tasted like. After the empanadas arrived, my hopes for good latin food were crushed. Each one of the 4 was weirdly a different size and shape. The menu describes them as "traditional pastries stuffed with our daily selection on top of tomatillo salsa". If the daily selection was 10-year-old, mushy beef, alma was spot on!! The empanadas were completely bland and there was hardly any filling. They tasted like eating raw pillsbury dough.
For my meal, I ordered the pescado del dia, the fresh fish of the day, which was described as fresh scallops on a bed of rice with pineapple, a side of grilled zucchini, topped with pickled radish. My friend ordered the bife steak chimichurri con gallo pinto, a flank steak served with black beans and rice. The first thing I noticed was the portion size. They were extremely small for the price of the meals. The flank steak was cut into like three pieces, was extremely rare with no seasoning whatsoever, and looked like something my dog would spit out. My scallops were well cooked but the dish just didn't go together at all. Pineapple with pickled radish was an odd combination. The annoying thing about this dish was the crunchy bites of salt and pepper with every mouthful. Lastly, the rice was terribly overlooked, tasteless and mushy. The best thing about either of these dishes was the crunchy, grilled zucchini on the side of my plate.
I will not be returning anytime soon.
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