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“Los Dados”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Latin/Mexican	MeatPacking	Moderate	Good

ngs are certainly improved, the service still needs attention. I might as well have lit flares in the restaurant to get my water glass filled. I asked about seven different times and got nothing more than nice nods and a still empty water glass. Attentiveness is not a strength at the moment. However, a new manager has been installed and improvement will hopefully be forthcoming.

Now, let’s talk about the good parts of Los Dados. Let’s start with the shrimp ceviche ($15), which, while not a ceviche in the traditional sense, was hard to resist. Rather than a bath of lemon and lime citrus, Sue submerges a dozen or so juicy shrimp into a sort of hot cocktail sauce, then tops it off with cool chunks of avocado, and tall half-moon tortilla chips. The dish reminded me a bit of a nice spicy Bloody Mary, while Sasha said it made her think of a reinvented shrimp cocktail. In any case, I think the name ceviche is a misnomer because it raises an expectation for a clean citrus profile, not a hot and spicy cocktail sauce. As we spooned out the last few shrimp with our tortilla shovels, we decided to rename it Shrimp Cocktail 2.0.

Our next round of appetizers—the sweet plantain gordita ($8) and the panuchos Yucatecos ($9)—left the table murmuring a sea of Mmmms and Wows. What can I say? These women know how to express themselves. The gorditas are round and thick, about the size of hockey pucks, and are fashioned from sweet plantains (sort of like Arepas, as Heather pointed out) and then stuffed with Oaxacan white cheese and pan fried so the cheese oozes out in gobs when sliced in half. My favorite part of this dish was the sauce—a deeply flavored, cinnamony roasted tomato and chipotle sauce that left me feeling warm on the inside, like I’d just had a shot of whiskey. The panuchos (which translates to snack) are adorable crescent shaped corn cakes topped with a schmear of black beans, a luscious mound of braised and shredded achiote pork, and a garnish of cured red onions for a bit of brightness and punch.

As we passed around pitchers of margaritas (what round were we on?), I watched as oversized salads (Sue offers a selection of seven salads priced between $7 and $17) descended upon a table of women seated at the long communal table in the center of the dining room. It was then that I noticed that the restaurant was, well, filled with women. We had nine at our table, the table next to us was four, th ... [more, click below]

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Posted: November 12, 2007

Other restaurants in MeatPacking :
+ Paradou   + Florent   + One   + Bivio   + Spice Market   + Ono   + 5 Ninth   + Fatty Crab   + Del Posto   + Morimoto   + Los Dados   + 5 Ninth   + Merkato 55   + Scarpetta   + The John Dory   + The Standard Grill   + Bill's Bar & Burger   

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