Saturday, July 26, 2008

luscious LIMA makes for a savory summer stop

It's rare we go out on Saturday, and even rarer we take Samuel, but we have never been to LIMA (www.limarestaurant.com) downtown and figured that this "in" Latin spot would not be too crowded if we went early. We were spot on, and since LIMA is a big nightclub scene, it really had just started to fill up as we left around 8pm. How perfect was that timing?

At the door we were surprised to see our opera and zarzuela singer friend PABLO who I had forgotten works there. He is such a sweet guy that he brought a superb BLACKBERRY and STRAWBERRY SMOOTHIE upstairs for Samuel several minutes after we sat down.

The upstairs dining room (street level is the bar and kitchen, downstairs is the disco) is chic and trendy with lots of glass (modern oil lamps at each table instead of candles), gray and steel. The banquettes are more comfortable than the hardish leathery wooden chairs. Modern-style Schott crystal stemware adds to the sleekness. Indeed, if I have to say ONE bad thing about Lima, it's that the sleek stainless steel men's restroom is lacking a toilet seat which was broken! Other than that, it was a treat of an experience from the excellent food to the brilliant service proffered by our waiter Fausto. He explained that "lima" refers to "lime" in many Spanish dialects, so virtually every dish seems to touch on this at some level. Even the yummy butter has hints of lime and salt! Samuel gobbled up the small warm rolls and we all wanted more, just for the lime butter!

He enjoyed the SALTED COD FRITTERS with their tasty and not too spicy TOMATO SAUCE (even though its called "spicy tomato sauce," but he passed on the superb huge BEEF EMPANADAS saying they were too spicy (they weren't!). Made with raisins and olives the meat was tasty and moist and the pastry perfect with an indeed spicy CHIMICHURRI dip. Our first two requests for wine were sold out, so we settled for a BLACK CHOOK VMR (Viognier,Marsanne,Rousanne blend) from South Australia that was big enough to fight the lime and spice in some of the dishes.

Choosing the ceviches (available as ceviche or as tiradito(no lime--aka sashimi) was very hard, but Fausto suggested the superb TUNA GINGER which was made with green onion, white soy, lemon, sesame seed and tobico (I guess this is the Spanish spelling for "tobiko"). Will wanted to try the WHITE CEVICHE (incidentally they can be ordered as all fish or fish with shellfish--scallop and shrimp) so we went for this pretty dish with COCONUT, Pineapple, Lime, Habaneros and Cilantro. It sounded better than it tasted simply because it was too laden with raw white onions and needed a bit more oomph or flavor
leaning towards the savory and away from the coconut. I look forward to going back again and trying the many other options.

We chose a number of HOT SMALL DISHES which are quite large appetizer portions (like the empanadas and cod) and were thrilled with the soft moist tasty TAMALES with Chicken, Watercress and two dipping sauces of PICO de GALLO and CREME FRAICHE. Indeed, these might just be the best tamales I have ever had, as I so often find them to be a boring option.

The GRILLED BABY OCTOPUS was tender and tasty and came with Grape Tomatoes, Garlic Olives and Cilantro.

We wanted to split one entree and could not decide, so Fausto steered us to the CUBAN CHICKEN saying that Chef Raynold Mendizabal indeed hails from Cuba. This superb moist traditional dish was a 1/2 chicken roasted and served with yummy LIME BRAISED RED ONIONS, Steamed aged Basmati Rice and Chimichurri Sauce (lighter and less spicier here) with the Black Beans on the side, which we promptly poured over the rice for a brilliant mixture.

Samuel was not too full for dessert so he got a huge platter of three homemade sorbets: LIME which was excellent and MANGO & RASPBERRY which were creamier and smooth and also superb. When I asked him which was best, he hinted at the lime, but proceeded to say "all three."

We were too full for dessert, but Chef Raynold had come over to say hello and invited us to the kitchen for a short tour. Samuel seemed enthralled and we tasted some superb BLUE SPANISH CHEESE (next time we must have the cheeses and the charcuterie as well!) with some figs. Chef offered a chocolate covered fig to Samuel, and we gave in as he licked the chocolate off the tasty fruit and passed the rest to me; and we thought our son loved almost ALL fruit!

On the way out we bumped into the dining room manager Ciroc, who had been a fixture at Galileo for dozens of years, and it was nice to see he has found a new home, one that we shall surely return to again very soon.