Review: Nada

I finally found time to go to Nada. I'm not a fan of waiting two hours for dinner on Friday or Saturday night, and for the past few weeks (months?) both Terry's and my weeknights have been packed. We finally decided: we are going to Nada on Wednesday, come hell or high water.

The hell and high water involved a fitting for the wedding I'm in on Saturday, as well as me leaving the camera at home. Oops. If you want to see great Nada pictures, check out 5chw4r7z's blog.

We got there around 9 PM and the place had a few tables full, mostly with out-of-town businessmen and a couple who looked like they had cut out of The Color Purple early. Our waitress offered us chips, salsa and guacamole before we ordered, so we took her up on it. The salsa was nice-- roasted tomatoes, garlic, and not too spicy. The guacamole was exceptional-- I could have made an entire meal out of the guac and the chips (which were obviously homemade and warm and perfectly salty): it was very fresh, light, refreshing (not often you hear that about guacamole!) and spicy, but not too spicy. It wasn't bland and was well seasoned, unlike Margaritas', but I expect that from a restaurant owned by Chef David Falk.

To drink, Terry got a beer (surprise!) and I got a Mojito Fresa, whch is a mojito with strawberry puree. It was very good, not too sweet, but the bartender last night was, according to our waitress, "MIA", which led to long delays between rounds.

Since so many people had raved about it, we got the Mexican Mac and Cheese as well. It was a little spicy for my tastes, but the cheese was a great, creamy compliment and the portion was just right for splitting-- it was rich, so I wouldn't have wanted to eat more of that than I did.

For my entree, I picked an old favorite: barbacoa taco. This is shredded short rib meat topped with lime and pickled onion on warm tortillas. While good, they tasted the same as La Mexicana's in Newport-- and La Mexicana's are $1.50 a piece instead of 3 for $13.

Terry picked shrimp with a white corn tamale. The shrimp was in a spicy cream sauce, and he commented that spice and cream need to go together more often-- they are a nice compliment. However, he commented that the tamale was very delicate, and the sauce totally overwhelmed it. He deemed it good, but not exceptional.

Dessert was a very standard warm chocolate torte, similar to Nigella's Chocopots, and topped with bananas foster gelato from Madisono's and some banana flavored caramel. It was nice, but Mexican restaurants aren't known for dessert. The gelato made it a step above average.

I will definitely go back for their guacamole and cocktails, but I'm still not entirely sure what all the fuss is about. If I get a craving for barbacoa tacos, I'll go to La Mexicana. Otherwise, if I want a Falk restaurant, I'll stick to Boca.