Did you know...

...that the Orinoco in Brookline Village has a liquor license and serves amazing mojitos?? And that in fact there is a whole section of the drink menu devoted to them?? I stuck with the authentico (dark rum, mint), while Sebastian tried one with shaved coconut.

I've written about Orinoco before (actually, twice before), but I cannot recommend this restaurant enough. Last Friday, Dish Mom and Dad, and Sebastian and I headed to the Brookline Village one. This outpost has the same party atmosphere as the South End location, but with a little more room to breathe. Plus, it has an awesome bar. If I lived in this neighborhood, I'd be on one of those bar stools daily.

I insisted we get those bacon-wrapped, almond stuffed dates again (heavenly) and of course sweet plantains, but this time I tried a new entree, the Pabellón Criollo ($13.50)-- shredded beef, white rice, black beans, and sweet plantains. While this sounds pretty basic, getting a forkful of every element on the plate was like foodie nirvana.

Here's a photo of the atun, adobo-rubbed tuna with frisee and radish:

Gorgeous.

Orinoco

I've been dying to try Orinoco for awhile, but now that Z lives across the street, we really had no excuse not to!

Orinoco, "a Latin kitchen," is a tiny, romantic, and festive space on the corner of Shawmut and W. Concord St in the South End. I love the fact that it is not around any other restaurants or bars; as you walk down the quiet, tree-lined street at dusk, Orinoco is a warm and inviting beacon of light.

People had told me it was a tiny space, but I had no idea it was this small. There were about 6 or 7 two-tops lined up quite close to each other on one wall, 3 booths, and a large table in the back. That's it. In summer, they also have some tables on the brick sidewalk. On this chilly September night, we opted for inside.

Waiting at the small countertop, a harried host/manager/bartender(?) brought us some glasses of wine. We ended up not having to wait the full time luckily, and were seated pretty quickly.

It took a long time for the server to come over to us -- he was definitely "in the weeds" -- but once he did he was energetic, friendly, and helpful. We started with the trio of empanadas-- one stuffed with cheese, one with seafood, and one with black beans. I think the last one was my favorite. We also split a side order of fried sweet plantains. It reminded us of our time in Puerto Rico-- so delicious!

Z got as his entree the pabellón criollo (about $13), "Venezuela’s most folkloric dish," which is shredded beef, white rice, black beans and plantains. This is Z's ideal meal-- he is obsessed with rice, beans, and plantains. We switched half-way. For being $13, it was a large amount of food.

I went with one of the arepas ($5.75) --traditional Venezuelan corn pocket sandwiches-- stuffed with Venezuelan creamy guayanés cheese. I love trying foods I've never had before-- it was not what I expected at all, and had an intense crunch which mixed with the soft and creamy cheese was a fun flavor and texture combination.

We didn't try a dessert, which I wish we had, as the girls next to us were oohing and aahing over a molten cake made with Venezuelan dark chocolate. Our experience at Orinoco was definitely a positive one-- cheap prices, good, unusual food, and great ambiance all make me want to visit again. Especially for lunch-- their salads look great too!

UPDATE-- Have returned since I wrote this, and the salads are awesome!! Inventive and fresh.

Taranta

After a few weeks of North End take-out hits and misses (mostly misses; see below for run-down), I was ready and excited to try a North End restaurant. I'd enviously walked up and down Salem Street numerous times as diners sat around tables, nursing large bottles of vino and sampling tantalizing pasta dishes. Finally, on this past Friday night, it was my turn!

We decided to try Taranta-- Skylar had been there before and enjoyed it enough to go back, and Julia was game for anything. Also, I was intrigued by it being Italian meets South American food-- I'm really enjoying fusion cuisine (done right) these days. We headed over pretty late-- around nine -- and were seated at a table up front near the open windows. Sadly, I did not remember my camera!! And the lighting was such that cell phone pictures were out of the question. But the interior was very romantic-- think brick walls and white linen tableclothes with votive candles.

The restaurant definitely had that Hanover St buzz to it-- loud and boisterous dinner conversations, sound from the street pouring through the open front, that warm summer breeze drifting through. The service was also Hanover St service-- friendly but at a very quick pace. Not bad though considering I was quite hungry.

I had quite a hankering for pasta (maybe because I've been smelling it for the past 3 weeks) and so decided to try the Gnocchi with green lamb ragu ($25). Our waitress said it was their signature pasta dish, and I can understand why. Here's the "official" description of it: Cassava root gnocchi with a slow braised "Chicha de Jora" green lamb ragu and shaved parmesan (Spicy).

The gnocchi was lighter than usual and less doughy since it was made from the Cassava root, and whatever "Chicha de Jora" is certainly gave the dish a nice and welcomed kick! All in all it was utterly delicious. Definitely one of the best dishes I've had in Boston-- rivaled the pasta dish from Sorellina (they were both excellent, but in different ways, one being sweet, the other spicy).

Skylar got a perfectly cooked pan-seared tuna ($28) that was delicious and melted in your mouth. Julia's stuffed chicken was delicious as well-- I really enjoyed the slow-roasted tomatoes and POLENTA! My favorite starch.

Funniest (or most disturbing?) part of the evening was when a drunk reveler tried to scale the side of the building, got half way up, and fell, grabbing on to the awning and making it crash down. I guess he was alright though since he got up and ran away! However, the best part about this was that when we were leaving, the Chef (in normal clothes, obviously on his way out) stopped and chatted with us about the incident-- explaining what happened, etc. But as you know, Dish Gal loves chefs, so it was the perfect end to a delicious meal-- chatting it up with the chef in my new 'hood =)