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| - My wife and I decided to check Alma out after driving by it for the last year or so. We showed up a little before 6 and it was empty. They ask if you have reservations so that they can keep track of who they are still expecting, but it ends up being a little odd when there are few to no other people in the restaurant (another couple seemed confused as to why it seemed they needed reservations when there was only a couple tables full). The hostess was friendly and we were seated. Our server, while not rude, didn't seem very warm or welcoming (not a crime in and of itself, but it certainly helps to have a overtly friendly server).
My wife and I are vegetarian, and the menu was clearly marked with a few vegan options. We ordered the empenadas del dia which were blackbean and curry. They came quickly and nicely presented, but the only flavor they possessed was of slightly bitter fried oil. The filling itself had too little salt and no real flavor. I then ordered the torrejitas de frijolitos, which is the black bean patty with cliantro-lime cream sauce, collard greens, black eyed pea fritters, and some plantains. My wife ordered the vegetales al tagine, which is the apricot and date rice with tagine sauce and collard greens. I tried both dishes because the vegetales al tagine ended up being too spicy for my wife (she likes things mild, so the heat would probably be fine for others) and we ended up switching.
I tried the fritters first, which had a nice fried crunch on the outside, but again only had the flavor of slightly bitter frying oil. The plantains were about the only tasty part of my dish, but that may have been because they were fried with a good amount of sugar on them. The actual black bean patty and collard greens were fairly bland, I had to ask for salt (they don't have it at the tables), although my wife did like the sauce on top of them. The vegetales al tagine was a little too spicy for me as well. The dates and apricots had a nice sweet flavor, but otherwise it was bland.
My wife and I had the same opinion of the food. We ended up only eating a small portion of our food. Neither of us are that picky, and I don't actually ever remember disliking food enough to stop eating it at a restaurant, so I wasn't quite sure what to tell the server when she came by to ask how the food was. My wife paused, and I said it was "different" and then asked for some salt. Later when she asked whether we wanted to have it boxed up, I hesitated, mentioning the vegetales al tagine was too spicy for me, but we ended up deciding to take it home to feed our chickens if nothing else. While we were not extremely overt with our dislike of the food, we had only eaten a small portion, had switched plates, said it was "different", mentioned it was too spicy for me, and vacillated as to whether to take it home, eventually deciding we could feed it to our chickens (I'm not sure the server followed that last part thought). The server never made any indication of recognition that we didn't like the food or offer us any alternatives. Perhaps she was as unsure of what to do in this situation as we were (since I'd never been in this situation before, and from the reviews on Yelp it appears she may never have either).
So, we paid (it was a little pricey, especially for food we couldn't finish), and ended up going to Sushi FUKU to fill our still hungry stomachs. When we drove by later, Alma was packed. I'm at a loss when trying to reconcile our poor experience with the other glowing reviews. Overall, the service was quick and the presentation was well done, but that is about where the positives end. The food was unpalatable to us, a little pricey, and our server wasn't the most perceptive to our cues. I'd give it more stars if I could, but enjoying the actual food is crucial.
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