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| - Its been about a week into DeSoto Central Market's opening as I write this. When I came in on opening day the previous Saturday, this place was a madhouse. Long lines, slow service, glitchy registers, pretty typical opening day bugs basically. That said, the burger I had at DCM Burger was excellent. Coming off of that, I decided to take a shot at trying another one of DeSoto's incarnations on a late Friday afternoon. I was sure I'd find another long line waiting for me when I arrived. But shockingly this time, it was basically dead. Score for me. Adobo Dragon caught my attention when I was here on opening day, but the line was so long I didn't bother. Today, straight to the register I went.
There were a number of dishes on their menu I found intriguing so deciding between them was a chore. The prices here are very reasonable which made me wonder whether I'd be getting kid sized portions of their different dishes. So to play it safe I ordered three different items to go. I got a small fish ceviche, a chicken bento box, and a bao platter with one chicken and one beef bao. Total cost for all the food plus tax was about $28. Food came out in about 5 minutes. That whole thing about being worried about the portions? Yeah, never mind. There was no way I could finish all this food in one sitting. So I dabbled into each as best I could before finishing them for lunch the next day.
For starters, the fish ceviche was pretty decent though WAY to tart in my opinion. There were nice big chunks of fish along with peppers and fruit all coated with lime. No problem with the fish or the accompanying fruit and veggies plus I like a little dousing of lime as much as anyone. But they need to dial back on the lime as it was a little overwhelming. Otherwise, a decent starter dish. Next I tried the chicken bento box. This chicken was grilled and shredded and cooked with caramelized onions, peppers and a chimichurri sauce. Also came with a side of white rice as well as small sides of strawberries and greens. This one was spot on and surprisingly it wasn't spicy at all. The chicken was super tender and the chimichurri sauce gave the chicken and rice a great flavor contrast. The fruit and greens were also both very fresh complimentary sides. Lastly I dove into the bao platter (which also comes with fresh fruit and greens as well). This my friends was a home run. I've had asian steamed buns before once at Nobuo (also in Downtown Phoenix) and loved them, but Nobuo's skimps a little on the meat. Not here. Both buns were stuffed full of meat. The chicken bao comes with mango salsa and a chimichurri sauce while the beef bao comes with a slaw and a light coat of sesame. Both were ridiculously awesome and the buns were steamed to absolute perfection. I did the right thing this time around by saving the best for last.
Overall, an impressive early impression from this new upstart concept at DeSoto. While the meal I had wasn't perfect, each dish was full of interesting flavor combinations and the portions are quite generous. Most of their dishes are $10 or less and are a great value for the price you pay. Without question the bao platters are what I'll be coming back for. Chef Allan Inocencio has created a fun innovative menu mixing Asian and Latin American favorites in a way that I haven't seen anyone else try thus far. Here's hoping he continues to experiment with more innovative, tasty combinations.
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