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| - I have pretty fond memories of Gallo Blanco, a modern Mexican food concept restaurant that adorned the trendy Clarendon Hotel in central Phoenix for many years. It was a fun eclectic take on the usual Mexican fare, but affordable enough to attract a diehard loyal following. I'd gone there a number of times for dinner and happy hour with groups of all different kinds. So it was obviously quite a shock to find out the Clarendon effectively gave Gallo Blanco the boot despite the restaurant's runaway success. Otro Café was basically Gallo Blanco's 2nd location serving many of the same items in a similarly modern restaurant setup over on 7th Street just north of Bethany Home. Now, Otro is chef Doug Robson's one and only. I'd actually never ventured here before but my date loves this place. So a little Tuesday night dinner get together it was.
The one thing my date loves more than anything else about Otro is their guacamole. I don't remember Gallo Blanco's guacamole being that distinctive, but I will admit Otro's was quite delicious. I'm not ready to say it was better than Barrio Café's guacamole, but as traditional guacamoles go Otro's can more than hold its own. I think it's the Cotija cheese that really sets it apart.
For our main dishes, she went with a pair of Carne Asada tacos while I ventured into the unknown with a Paella Mexicana. Paellas are more of a Spanish concoction than a Mexican one, but I've had really good paellas at Tapas Papa Frita in Scottsdale as well as a couple of places in Las Vegas so I was curious to see how this one stacked up. Otro's version includes chicken, pork, chorizo, rice, and a garden of different veggies all mixed in. It's also served with tortillas on the side if you want to make soft tacos out of it. The paella came out very hot (scalding hot even), though not too spicy. The flavor profile was quite impressive though I have to admit this paella was mostly rice and veggies moreso than the meats. The portion size is more than big enough to feed two and I get that paellas are almost always dominated by the rice, but I guess I would've liked the meat and veggie proportions to be a little more equal. My date gave me a sample of her Carne Asada taco and it was excellent. She especially loves dousing her tacos with (what I believe was) the green tomatillo and lime sauce mix that they provide at the table. You could pretty much put that sauce on anything. Its that good.
No dessert this time as we were more than satisfied with the food we had. The place was busy pretty much throughout the dinner hour (despite being a Tuesday in the middle of summer). Our server was fast and friendly and environment was nice and relaxed. Based on first impressions I would say Otro doesn't have quite the charm of Gallo Blanco, though the overall setup and menu are fairly similar. There's no shortage of Mexican food choices (even in CenPho), but Otro has certainly earned its place as a neighborhood joint. Otro has plenty of unique and unusual dishes to choose from, but I'd recommend sticking with Otro's traditional Mexican fare. That's what Otro does best.
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