Tonight we made our second visit to Mojito, second establishment of chef Fernando Martinez of Havana Rumba, in the Holiday Manor shopping center. I'm actually amazed that it took us this long to make it back - our first visit was in mid-October of last year. On that first trip we shared about eight tapas, three sandwiches, and a vegetarian paella between six people. Every single dish was a delight, from the guacamole served with fried plantain chips to the paella prepared with walnuts and raisins (which I admit I was highly skeptical of). And the bill was an obscenely low $106 before tip, and we left horribly stuffed with a sizable portion of the paella left over.
Previously we'd made the selection of the vegetarian paella out of consideration for the actual vegetarians dining with us that night, and we promised ourselves when we returned on our own that we would try the carnivore's variety. So when our drink orders were taken, we immediately put in an order for the Paella Valenciano (order the paella immediately, it takes up to 45 minutes to prepare). Shortly thereafter we ordered a Plata de Chimichurri (grilled skirt steak with a chimichurri sauce and bits of fried onion), some sweet potato fries (served with a smoked honey), and a pair of empanadas.
The chimichurri and the sweet potato fries were carry-over favorites from the last visit and again did not disappoint, but the winner from our trio of tapas this time was clearly the empanadas. I was doubtful at first - my favorite empanadas in the past have been those filled with pork and/or chorizo, and ground beef did not sound like an appetizing option to me. But they hadn't let me down on any of the previous 12 dishes I'd tried, so I gave it a shot. Thank God I did; it was a real treat. I wouldn't have thought the blend of seasoned beef, pearl onions and raisins could have been so perfect. This one is definitely going down in our favorites for next time.
Somewhat disappointing was the meat filled paella, featuring large portions of chicken, some chorizo, fish, shrimp, and mussels. There wasn't anything wrong with any of it, though I could have done without the large pieces of chicken completely. The meats were all perfectly cooked and well seasoned. But astonishingly, I found myself missing the very non-traditional combination of walnuts and raisins found in the vegetarian version of the dish. I think we'll be going back to that on subsequent visits. This one came out to a bill of $55 plus tip, owing to a larger ratio of food ordered to diners in the party this time out - we just couldn't say no to a paella tonight (which incidentally must be ordered for two or four people, at $16 per person for the traditional version, and $14 per person for the vegetarian).
As much as we love the food at Mojito, there are some criticisms that I feel like I have to levy at the restaurant. In several places of the restaurant it is ridiculously crowded. The initial two-top where we were seated was next to a 4 top that had a gentleman placed on the end in the small aisleway between our table and his. That's not an unacceptable solution in many cases, but this gentleman's back was approximately 4 inches from our table. It was very awkward for us, and thankfully the waitress seated us at another two-top which was open only two spaces down, but she was clearly put out at having to do so; and the request was phrased very politely by Anna, so this wasn't a case of my occasionally gruff personality tainting the exchange.
A problem which unfortunately persists is the crowding around the bar during busy hours (which is most of them). The bar is placed directly along the path leading to the kitchen, which creates a severe traffic problem; it's a bad situation for both guests and servers. On our last visit, we were given the table directly next to the bar and my dad spent fifteen to twenty minutes trying to avoid another gentleman's rear end directly in his face.
Fortunately for Mojito, the food is excellent, and many are willing to put up with these at-times-ridiculous space issues. I only hope the discomfort of forced sardine impersonations won't end up overriding the pure joy we get from the food, because it's one of the tastiest spots in town, and it can be a heck of a value.
They don't take reservations but will do call-ahead seating if you call 30 minutes before arriving. I'm told this system works well, but both times we've gone it's been early enough (less than thirty minutes after dinner hours begin) that we are seated very quickly. By the time we leave though, the number of people standing by for a table is astronomical so be warned. The food is excellent and can be very reasonable if you stick to just tapas, but the paella is something special.
Previously we'd made the selection of the vegetarian paella out of consideration for the actual vegetarians dining with us that night, and we promised ourselves when we returned on our own that we would try the carnivore's variety. So when our drink orders were taken, we immediately put in an order for the Paella Valenciano (order the paella immediately, it takes up to 45 minutes to prepare). Shortly thereafter we ordered a Plata de Chimichurri (grilled skirt steak with a chimichurri sauce and bits of fried onion), some sweet potato fries (served with a smoked honey), and a pair of empanadas.
The chimichurri and the sweet potato fries were carry-over favorites from the last visit and again did not disappoint, but the winner from our trio of tapas this time was clearly the empanadas. I was doubtful at first - my favorite empanadas in the past have been those filled with pork and/or chorizo, and ground beef did not sound like an appetizing option to me. But they hadn't let me down on any of the previous 12 dishes I'd tried, so I gave it a shot. Thank God I did; it was a real treat. I wouldn't have thought the blend of seasoned beef, pearl onions and raisins could have been so perfect. This one is definitely going down in our favorites for next time.
Somewhat disappointing was the meat filled paella, featuring large portions of chicken, some chorizo, fish, shrimp, and mussels. There wasn't anything wrong with any of it, though I could have done without the large pieces of chicken completely. The meats were all perfectly cooked and well seasoned. But astonishingly, I found myself missing the very non-traditional combination of walnuts and raisins found in the vegetarian version of the dish. I think we'll be going back to that on subsequent visits. This one came out to a bill of $55 plus tip, owing to a larger ratio of food ordered to diners in the party this time out - we just couldn't say no to a paella tonight (which incidentally must be ordered for two or four people, at $16 per person for the traditional version, and $14 per person for the vegetarian).
As much as we love the food at Mojito, there are some criticisms that I feel like I have to levy at the restaurant. In several places of the restaurant it is ridiculously crowded. The initial two-top where we were seated was next to a 4 top that had a gentleman placed on the end in the small aisleway between our table and his. That's not an unacceptable solution in many cases, but this gentleman's back was approximately 4 inches from our table. It was very awkward for us, and thankfully the waitress seated us at another two-top which was open only two spaces down, but she was clearly put out at having to do so; and the request was phrased very politely by Anna, so this wasn't a case of my occasionally gruff personality tainting the exchange.
A problem which unfortunately persists is the crowding around the bar during busy hours (which is most of them). The bar is placed directly along the path leading to the kitchen, which creates a severe traffic problem; it's a bad situation for both guests and servers. On our last visit, we were given the table directly next to the bar and my dad spent fifteen to twenty minutes trying to avoid another gentleman's rear end directly in his face.
Fortunately for Mojito, the food is excellent, and many are willing to put up with these at-times-ridiculous space issues. I only hope the discomfort of forced sardine impersonations won't end up overriding the pure joy we get from the food, because it's one of the tastiest spots in town, and it can be a heck of a value.
They don't take reservations but will do call-ahead seating if you call 30 minutes before arriving. I'm told this system works well, but both times we've gone it's been early enough (less than thirty minutes after dinner hours begin) that we are seated very quickly. By the time we leave though, the number of people standing by for a table is astronomical so be warned. The food is excellent and can be very reasonable if you stick to just tapas, but the paella is something special.
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