Let me start this review with the total admission that I ADORE Mexican food! Fast, slow, china or paper, sit down or walk-about...I am a complete devotee of all that encompasses Mexican food.
Rosa Mexicano in downtown Minneapolis...been there twice...read the hype...here's the skinny. The conclusions are your own.
Very Vibe-y atmosphere...beautiful people (and beautiful wanna-bes) layered at the bar...all seeking recognition from the Dr Jekyll-Mr Hyde bar staff. One minute they are very chatty...then they ignore you for the next 15! No eye contact...smiles are rationed out by popularity...short skirts, big tips and giggling all guarantee attention. Great...another bar for the immature crowd. Sigh.
Loud. Loud. Loud. Irritating vibrating disks announce the table is ready....because you cannot hear what your friends are saying, much less the host. But it is the only place to wait unless hovering in the cramp entryway does it for you.
Dining room....very simple...very pinkish...muted Evocative pool with dozens of suspended diving figurines remind me of the old 1950's "B" movies set down in Acapulco...with the handsome young men fearlessly plunging from the toothsome cliffs into the churning waters. Tables are very close...actually heard the couple's conversation at the table to my right better than I did my dinner companion. And not a scintillating conversation at that!
Start by ordering the "Guacamole en Molcajete" made table side. Yes, I know it is expensive. Yes, I know the small Mom and Pop cantinas on West 7th might do it better. Yes, I know Barrio does it better. But...as the waiter grinds the pestle against the side of the stone mortar...the positively heady release of the peppers, avocados, cilantro and onion fill all your senses causing sensory over-load! (But in a wonderful way!) You can control the intensity...both heat and savory...served sufficiently lumpy, yet creamy. I could have ordered another round and been very happy! (Well, truthfully, happier if I added dessert!)(And if it wasn't $14. for a one avocado guac!)
I ordered, unwisely as it turned out, the queso fundido (no "fun" there) with chorizo crumbles and smoked peppers. [Queso is one of my "go-to" appetisers in ANY Mexican restaurants...there is something magical about warm, drippy cheese flavored with chilies en robing a salty, crispy chip. Aaaah.] As it was served, the waiter advised me that the cast iron dish was very "hot." Sadly, neither heat hot or flavor "hot." The cheese had solidified into one gelatinous lump...impervious to any chip...or axe. I could have picked it up on my fork and gnawed...but I think my dinner companion would have (and should have) been horrified. So sad...as the soft, warm corn tortillas deserved better.
Having been to Rosa's prior, my friend asked me to try the pico de Gallo...being a huge fan of Mexican food as I am. She made no comment as I tried...
...the colorful bowl of tomatoes, onion, and herbs that presented many possibilities. Should I try it on a crunchy, salt kissed chip? Add it to the jelled queso? Roll it in a corn blanket?
SPIT. SPIT. GACK. Rosa attempts (NOT successfully!) to preserve/extend the life of their pico by drowning it in vinegar. NO taste but vinegar....sour nasty "curdle your tongue" vinegar...with bits of overwhelmed goodness as flotsam.
Both being foodies...it was a telling sign about the future of Rosa's.
I ordered Carne Asade...carnivore all the way!...which arrived as a nicely crisped and sauced skirt steak...MOLDED into its iron skillet by yet more rubberized Chihuahua cheese. Such a pity...the steak was marvelous once I yanked it out of its cheesy grave. Served with one of my favorite side dishes...corn esquites....(needs more of this in my opinion)....tooth tender kernels, smoky and charred, dripping in butter. The chili de arbol salsa was a competent contender with the sweet smoke of roasted tomatillos and the "tree-like" de arbol chilis. I would order again....just under the stipulation to leave off the cheese paste.
My friend ordered the Budin de Pollo...a much better choice! Layered corn tortillas with generous chucks of tender chicken, savory salsa, roasted peppers and cheese (amazingly not rubberized!) baked into melty goodness. The sauce topping the stack was a cool and creamy poblano pepper...sneaky little side notes of zing here...tasty enough to be mopped up with each bite. The salsa teased my Norwegian/Swedish taste buds with undercurrents of allspice and cinnamon.
Dessert was shared...Tres Leche de Zarzamoras. And "za-za" it was! Even "hurrah za-za!" Tres leches means "3 milks"...a fabulous pound cake (had me right there!) soaked in a cooked sauce of evaporated, condensed and heavy cream flavored with lemon and lime zest until no more can be absorbed. No dry, crumb choking slice here! Blackberries cozied up in a hibiscus syrup provided the bed for the cake...and a pillow of toasted meringue capped it. We were only going to "sample" a bite or two and leave the rest. Sigh. A bright and brilliant dessert...well worth ordering.
So, to recap: rude bar staff to be avoided at all cost, go at an "off time" to cut down on noise, have the guac just for the theatrics, ask the wait staff to describe the menu offerings, be prepared for sticker shock...and have the "Tres Leche."
