Three Top Threes

The dining team (short some participants) went to Alma Pan Latin Kitchen to try some Latin fare.  I have driven past Alma so many times and have not noticed it sitting there...  Hello, Alma.

It is small.  We got there early and had a reservation, so our table was ready for us.  We were a smaller group this time, so not as overwhelming as we can be.  I thought the atmosphere was lacking.  There is so much more you can do with the style to capture what the food is expressing.  Its kind of dark and not quite how I expected it to feel.  I guess if you're looking for an intimate date and not to be bothered, Alma is good for that, but not quite what I was thinking for a girls night out.  I started reading other reviews after our visit, and heard about this other Cantina section with wine...  wish we would have seen that before we went.  That'll teach me - I'll read reviews before I go, not after.  I also wish I had some cute anecdote to go with this, but I don't.  So here's the breakdown...

Who: Me & the Dining Team
Where:  Alma

What: Apps - Empanadas del dia *winner, Scallops on a tostada, Papitas rellenas con salsa pimenton, Yuca frita con salsitas de alma, Plantanos maduros con salsa de habichuelas

CDO - Vaca frita con arroz y gandules (brisket),
Nonsense - Torrejitas de frijolios (bean cake)
Vegahimsa -  Vegetales al tagine (rice & veggies) *top 3
Onion-hater - Camarones al caribe con ajo (shrimp)
EasyD - Arepa de vegetales con plantanos maduros (corn cake)
Chickie - Sandwich Cubano con chancho queso y jamon (a Cuban) *top 3

Dessert - Tres Leces, Molten Chocolate cake with Cinnamon Ice Cream, Flan, Cinnamon Ice Cream

<~ I thought for sure I'd be all over my Vaca frita - heavier (not heavy, but heavier when compared) - but I wasn't, I kept bugging Nonsense & Vegahimsa for their vegetarian dishes.  Contrary to what I thought, Onion-hater and EasyD were into it.  I really enjoyed the salad on the side, it was fresh and refreshing; enjoyed the pigeon peas.  And it was a HUGE portion.  We kept picking, but felt like we weren't making a dent in it.  And to that, half of it came home, with full intentions of giving it to IPA-hole for lunch, but I ended up chowing down the next day.  And I think it was better once all the flavors were left to chill out for a day.

Nonsense, Vegahimsa, & EasyD went for the vegetarian dishes.  EasyD's arepa was bland, not for life, but on this particular stage.  All I can think of right now is 9th grade Spanish class and the "Dona Arepa" commercials we had to watch.  The arepa itself is a light corn tortilla, but brought little to the party.  The veggies around it were far more flavorful.  The combination did nothing for me, and I think for EasyD as well.  ~>

<~ Nonsense did the black bean cake, making sense for once. I enjoy black beans, in many forms.  I really enjoyed them in a cake.  It was spicy, lit up the tongue.  It looks super similar to the arepa, but with much, much more flavor.  And the plantains on the side were addicting.

Vegahimsa had the Vegetales al tangine.  This was my favorite of the night, which may have been because she was sitting next to me and I was within fork-destroying reach. This one had major flavor, sweetness in the rice with the dates.  I think the unfamiliar sweetness from the dates & tagine had our attention.  It was a fab mix of sweet with the vegetables, and the winner for me, but the table was debating.

 <~ Next up, Camarones al caribe con ajo was one of the options I was considering.  Onion-hater ordered it, and I have a hard time duplicating an order.  This is a classic case of "it-was-good-but-something-else-was-better" for the table.  The shrimp were well prepared, the lime & garlic showed up, flavor was good, but others were better. 

Now, let's talk about Chickie.  Cubano.  This is generally a crowd pleaser anywhere, at Panera, at that diner, you know it.  Alma kicked some Cuban ass!  Jarlsberg is probably the greatest cheese, then stick it on a crusty bread with slow-roasted pork & ham... delicious, delicious, delish!! If you're one of those people who is not entirely comfortable walking into a restaurant where the entire menu is in Spanish, just say "Cubano" and you're in good shape.  A bit of bitterness from the cheese, sweetness from the meat, texture from the bread, put it all together and you have a winner. ~>

<~ Winner of the apps, and another crowd pleaser - not just with us, but in the buzz around the restaurant - was the empanadas of the day.  I can't tell you what they'll be stuffed with on your day, but go for it!  Empanadas are fabulous, and these do not disappoint.

As far as the rest of the appetizers go:  Scallop tostadas were good but not fabulous. Papitas are the pictures on top - stuffed potato puffs. Traditional and good.  Yuca frita was very tasty.  Fried, the yuca is mild, and with the sauces, had some spark.  Strange to look at, lightly sweet and soft to eat. If you drench these in ketchup, you missed the point.  Plantains are always tasty - banana meets ~> potato.  Nice, crispy outside.

So the next great idea?  Let's order ALL of the desserts! And all were good.  Tres Leces is fabulous.  Onion-hater perks up every time someone mentions this particular dessert.  It was very leche, dense, sweet, yummy.  The cinnamon ice cream truly complimented the  molten chocolate cake. And Flan.  Have you ever had Flan? Its a Spanish custard dessert.  I've always been afraid to try it based on texture (I can't stand jello).  I did take a bite, and I did enjoy it.  Flan definitely reminds me of an inside-out creme brulee.

So what did we learn about Alma tonight?  I like appetizers - surprise, surprise.  Eat empanadas.  Alma could use some ambiance help, in fact, I do know some interior designers.  Dessert takes a backseat to the real food.  It is fabulously fused food!  Everything that we had was tasty and unique.  I'd say that it is worth a try, but don't go out of your way quite yet.  Maybe I need to start on the cantina side next time...

~ CDO

Flavour

I think Greensburg is underrated.  We went out to have the dogs bathed at 2pm, which turned into a day-long ordeal.  Granted, the super-motivated dog-groomer at the big pet box store screwed us all up to begin with.  Well, I'm not sure if he screwed up, or if IPA-hole wasn't listening...again.  What was initally thought to be a 1 hour process turned into 4.  And that's ok.  We rode go-carts, went to the park, drove around in circles 'cause BabyGray was sleeping.  If I'd known it was going to be 4 hours, we probably would have went home.  But that being said, we were getting kinda hungry, with another hour to kill, so we started looking around for something to eat that wasn't fast and full of grease.

This landed us at Pallantia.  I kinda forgot about this place for a bit. Its very new, in a hardly-noticed location.  And I've been dying to try it.  Pallantia claims their mission "is to bring the spirit and flavour of Spain" and do it in true traditional paella and tapas style.  The background stories that are in the menu are worth a read, actually. I love tapas, and like Tamari, its encouraging you to try everything in small plates and to share.  You are probably going to want to order more than one for yourself.  Tapas were traditionally put on top of the wine in the inns.  This was because of a royal decree that the inns were not allowed to serve wine without food to keep the Spanish peasants from just drinking and, well generally being completely drunk and unruly.  I missed the point by not ordering the sangria.

So we walk in and the place is empty, which after I ate, I have no idea why.  Its new, nice, quaint atmosphere. Our server was cool, she even brought BigBrother out some meatballs that the kitchen was trying out.  He kept calling them little meatloaf and thought they were awesome.  We weren't too hungry, so we decided that 3 plates were enough for us.  Remember that this is tapas, so these are small plates!    Here's your breakdown...

Who:  Me, IPA-hole, & the kids
Where: Pallantia
On the table:  Pan con tomate y jamon serrano *winner
Chorizo y pollo pincho moruno con salsa
Gambas al ajillo

First off, we started out with some really great bread and oil.  I had paella on the brain and really wish we would have tried some, but it takes a bit longer than everything else.  So we decided on the three above.  The winner was definitely the pan con tomate y jamon serrano (bread with tomato & serrano ham).  This brought me back to a fantastic week that IPA-hole and I spent in Barcelona before the kids came along. The presentation on this one doesn't do it justice.  Its a nice, thick slice of crusty bread with fresh tomato and serrano ham. Sweetness & freshness of the tomato with the super-thin salty ham was perfect.  Reminded me of that picnic in that Gaudi park with the gypsies and the naked running man... and that's a good thing!

Chorizo and pollo pincho maruno con salsa was good but the weakest of the three we tried.  Its skewers of chicken and chorizo with peppers.  The chorizo half was good - flavorful.  The chicken part was forgettable. 

Lastly was the classic Gambas al ajillo (shrimp in garlic).  This is a very typical tapa, and something that I think we've ordered every time we've been in an authentic tapas place.  They were very garlicy with some bite!  Really delicious and very authentic.

So after the kitchen made surprise meatballs and delicious papas (potatoes) for BigBrother, and the server kept smiling after BabyGray threw EVERYTHING he touched on the floor, and we didn't order any of the Sangria (that was looking fabulous), I think she felt we may have needed a night out and gave us a card for a free tapa on our next visit.  I will use it. I am struggling with the fact that there was no one else in there during our visit - I mean, it was better for us and the kids, we didn't disrupt somebody's hot date or anything.  Maybe some are unfamiliar with Spanish cuisine? I think this is a great place and a fabulous alternative the the growing string of chain restaurants in our neck of the woods.

Next time, I'm getting sangria, paella, and sangria.

~ CDO