So, a local long-standing Mexican restaurant in my area recently moved and its replacement has finally opened. I was hoping for another Mexican, but I’m not sure what we’ve got there now (they claim American & Latin cuisine).
For lunch I can have a hot dog or a quesadilla or maybe calamari? A mandarin salad or a blackened steak salad? A burrito or a turkey club wrap? Do I want flan for dessert or should I stick to the tiramisu?
Dinner skews a bit more Latin, but is still an international mishmash. I can start with pierogies or crazy corn. Salad could be Caprese or Greek. For the main, fajitas or lemon butter salmon?
I usually like to support local, independent restaurants. Am I crazy to look at these menus and think I’ll pass. Can one kitchen reliably turn out such a wild variety?
That’s one helluva menu . . . I hope they have a large kitchen. When I lived in the city (Philadelphia) we had a local diner with a menu like that, but I always stuck to the breakfast items.
I guess this menu threw me as it bills itself as Latin and American, but then offer pierogies and tiramisu
They’re kind of a dime-a-dozen around here. Even the little coffee shop down the street from me can make you eggplant parmesan, a pastrami sandwich, buffalo wings, a tropical salad, or one of 19 omelettes. But I agree that it’s odd to find Eastern European food on a Latin menu.
San francisco has a number of restaurants that advertise themselves on their signage as “Chinese food and donuts”… go figure
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
7
Many places have diverse menus.
I’ve recently returned from a touristy area in Spain where many of the restaurants have overly long and very diverse menus - and turn out passable food. I assume that they are working to the basis that their customer base is also ethnically diverse and they want everyone in a party to find something to eat.
On the specific point, I don’t find the linked menu to be at all bizarre. Not food I would particularly choose to eat but certainly not bizarre
I find really nothing on that menu even if it were divided into different restaurants. Just kinda boring, LCD (lowest common denominator) food.
Harters, I’ve found what you describe in Spain only in the the Costa del Sol area. The other areas of Spain I’ve visited (and it’s far from complete) weren’t like that at all.
Seems to me that most of the mains are Latin-ish while the ‘mishmash’ is confined to the apps and salads (and kids’ menu). Quite frankly I’m guessing that most of the apps are frozen items they buy in bulk and thaw/fry, thus the oddball mix. I see that a lot at diners: apps like deep-fried eggrolls, jalapeño poppers, pierogies, and shrimp next to whatever cuisine the place specializes in.
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
10
As I said, I was in touristy area (Tenerife). It’s what you expect in a touristy area of Spain. You don’t have to move far away from those areas to see the touristy menus cease. And, of course, a bit of research will find you non-touristy restaurants even in the touristy areas (including the Costa del Sol - a place I know reasonably well from several holidays there over the years).
Our time in CdS seemed filled with a lot of non-Spaniard Europeans looking for their own national foods. OPs post doesn’t seem like that to me.
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
12
Most tourists and non-Spanish residents on the Costa are fellow North Europeans. I have it in mind that there’s one local council area where ex-pats make up the majority of the electorate.
Agreed. And not very interested in tasting the local fare
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
14
Possibly. But also it’s a matter of how restaurants feel they can make a profit. I’ve been to touristy places in America and havnt experienced good food - and, generally, havnt found good local cuisine. Far better BBQ in Blowing Rock, NC, than in Myrtle Beach, SC, for example
Guess I missed the “resort” part. If I could afford it, I’d LIVE in NYC!!! Some of the best food EVER. And a million non-food things to do. But we digress
