A new neighborhood is dawning and improving daily in Adam's Morgan/Mt.Pleasant in the Tivoli Theater corridor on 14th Street, NW and can be witnessed by the onslaught of several new upscale dining spots amongst the mid-level and low-level chains as well as the wonderful Central American spots.
RUMBEROS at 3345 14th St, NW (www.rumberos-dc.com) is actually in the Tivoli complex and sports some of the huge pillared columns from the original theater, red walls with lots of modern Latino art (for sale at reasonable prices) and suffers only a bit from a lack of great service. Once we told our pleasant server Veronica that we needed to be at the theater at 730pm, there were no problems; we just worried a bit, and then all the food came and was wonderful.
The wines are good and reasonable too. We started with a DON ARIANO 2004 Tannat-Syrah blend from Canelones in Uruguay. I joked with Veronica, asking if 2004 was a good year in Uruguay, and wouldn't you know she was Uruguayan and insisted on trying to find out! OUr second wine was even better, A TERRA NOBLE Gran Riserva CARMENERE 2005 from the Maule Valley in Chile. These are slightly tannic full bodied warm wines, just great as the cold sets in right now in DC and excellent with the full falvors of the food as well.
The four of us could not decide what to have so we boiled it down to 5 tapas selections and 2 entrees to share which was just perfect, and with the 2 bottles of wine the bill came to only $150 without tax and tip; not bad for a filling mail minus dessert.
Our tapas choices were: CAMARONES CARIBENOS al RON which were more lemony than rum tasting shrimp, but the rich buttery sauce was yummy to mop up with bread. YUCA FRITA came with a bland mojo sauce and when we asked for some aoili or such to beef it up, a mediocre chimichurri sauce arrived, which was better, could not touch that of the sauce at Guantanamera in NYC on its super hangar steak with chimichurri! This is the only dish I would avoid, while the yuca was wonderful, it really needs something better to dip in for moisture.
CALAMARES al TEQUILA were tender sauteed squid in Spanish paprika and a tasty Sherry-Vinegar sauce, also great for mopping up. I loved the slight spice in the paprika and this portion was also huge with 5 pieces each about 4 inches long and scored into ringlets.
I have always adored mofongo since visiting Puerto Rico and here is it served as a tapas MOFONGO con MARISCOS and prepared in a wooden cyclinder with the plantains battered onto the side of the wood.
Normally the tomato-sauced mixture of meat or seafood is inside this, but here it is served on the side with Garlic, Shrimp & Scallops and you can simply spoon it over the plantains after you scoop a bit out of the cylinder, or fill it up yourself if you are not sharing! It was very tasty and I would love to see several versions (perhaps lobster and pork or chicken) as an entree.
The big star tapas winner was the TORREJITA de ESPINACA which was simply akin to a spinach latke with shallots, garlic and Guayanes cheese oozing in its middle. Think cheesy cream spinach breaded and fried like a latke (but these were just sauteed or baked, cutting the fat and) giving tons of flavor!
Our two entree choices were the ROPA VIEJA served of course with Rice & Beans (as everything is) and it was a tasty one as well, but again, not as excellent as that I just had recently in Guantanamera in NYC. The RED SNAPPER with Seafood Sauce was a treat with the sauce actually having a light tomato base with mussels, shrimp and calamari as well. The fish was excellent, and I would like to try other fish on a later visit, because I know we will return to Rumberos!
