Taking a cue from the somewhat magical town of the same name created by Gabriel Garcia Marquez in One Hundred Years of Solitude, Macondo kicks up the gourmet quotient on Latino comida de la calle (Latin street food).
Our tapas-loving friends, intrigued by the name of this new Houston Street restaurant, asked if we were up for a night of tapas and sangria tinta. Of course, we were!
When we entered Macondo, we were transported to a kitchy world reminiscent of a holiday resort. There were plantain bananas hanging from baskets around the bar, tables were surrounded by comfy couches, and the back dining room walls were wallpapered with plastic ivy and it was lit by a huge neon light that alternated colours from green to red to yellow and so on. Like I said, kitchy.
The food was good. We ordered a number of small plates (tacos, arepas and ceviches) that were delivered to our tables at a steady pace that gave us enough time to enjoy each without mixing flavours and textures. Of all of the dishes, the grilled steak Cocas (flat bread) was my favourite. The steak was paired with arugula, jalepenos and Cabrales cheese.
Again, it was the cheese that won me over. This cow's milk cheese is produced in the small rural town of Asturias in northern Spain. Here it is aged for two to six months in cool caves in the limestone mountains of the area. Like Gorgonzola and Roquefort, Cabrales has blue-greenish coloured veins running through its body and has an incredibly pungent flavouring that struck a punch to my palate. I just loved it!
Our tapas-loving friends, intrigued by the name of this new Houston Street restaurant, asked if we were up for a night of tapas and sangria tinta. Of course, we were!
When we entered Macondo, we were transported to a kitchy world reminiscent of a holiday resort. There were plantain bananas hanging from baskets around the bar, tables were surrounded by comfy couches, and the back dining room walls were wallpapered with plastic ivy and it was lit by a huge neon light that alternated colours from green to red to yellow and so on. Like I said, kitchy.
The food was good. We ordered a number of small plates (tacos, arepas and ceviches) that were delivered to our tables at a steady pace that gave us enough time to enjoy each without mixing flavours and textures. Of all of the dishes, the grilled steak Cocas (flat bread) was my favourite. The steak was paired with arugula, jalepenos and Cabrales cheese.
Again, it was the cheese that won me over. This cow's milk cheese is produced in the small rural town of Asturias in northern Spain. Here it is aged for two to six months in cool caves in the limestone mountains of the area. Like Gorgonzola and Roquefort, Cabrales has blue-greenish coloured veins running through its body and has an incredibly pungent flavouring that struck a punch to my palate. I just loved it!
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