Dinner at Paladar

Last fall, FI and I went to Paladar for dinner. I had wanted to go since I heard LeeAnn Wong speak at an "Asian chefs in the media" event at the Asia Society and named Paladar as her favorite restaurant in New York City.

We decided to do an all-appetizer dinner since after looking over the menu, we couldn't decide which ones we didn't want to get.

We started out with sangrias. This were pretty strong and had a great variety of fruit, such as citrus, pineapple, berries, etc.


We enjoyed the chips and salsa and black bean sauce. The chips were super fresh, still hot and crispy from the fryer. Another reason why we ordered only appetizers - chips are yummy and you eat a lot of them waiting for your food.
First we had Arepas (Venezuelan corn cakes topped with tomato, chorizo & crema fresca). These were really rich and filling. We actually just split one and took the 2nd one home. (It was still very tasty the next day.)


I picked this appetizer because I love pumpkin and will pretty much order anything that has pumpkin listed as an ingredient. This is Ensalada de Calabaza (roasted pumpkin, walnuts and Cabrales cheese over bitter greens with pomegranate vinaigrette). The greens and cheese were savory and contrasted nicely with the sweet pumpkin and walnuts.


Then we had Costillas 'LES' (pork spare ribs with guava BBQ sauce, served with mango, jicama & cabbage slaw). The spare ribs were delicious and tender. The slaw was really sour and crunchy. I'm surprised the mango didn't make it sweeter.


Finally we had Anticuchos de Carnero Panca (glazed lamb skewers with mint mojo, white bean & piquillo pepper salad). The skewers were delicious, again tender and sweet. The white bean salad was really light and tasty. The flavors weren't super spicy or overwhelming.


The meal was great. We ended up full but not overwhelmed and had yummy leftovers for brunch the next day. Looking over the Paladar website, it looks like their menu is seasonal so we should go back and try their new stuff.