Re: Tamal está cerca de mi corazón (Tamal you are close to my heart).You all obviously know the way to this girl's heart is through food!
With Latin food being one of my all-time favorites along with living in the land of A+ Mexican & Dominican food, I had high expectations for Calle Ocho. This restaurant is Nuevo Latino and located on Columbus Ave and 81st. Walking in you are greeted with bright colors, dim lighting and friendly servers. They have ample space for groups to wait or grab food/drink at the bar---looks good for group dining! For this particular trip, my fellow foodie and I opted to try the Tamal appetizer along with the warm bread/black-bean dip (complementary). Let me start with saying that the warm bread & black-bean dip=danger. It can definitely ruin your appetite, so word of advice is to not go too hard on the bread ;)
Now to the main attraction...the Tamal! This dish is a sweet corn tamal filled with goat cheese topped with pumpkin seed pesto and surrounded by a sea of shrimp enchilado. The combination of all of these flavors from the goat cheese (get up on the goat) to the pumpkin pesto mixed with a spicy shrimp enchilado makes for the perfect combo of sweet & spice. For those of you not trying to put the spice in your life, do not fear this dish is not that spicy. Definitely enough for two people along with another appetizer and leaves you wanting more!
Calle Ocho is a great place to go with a group of friends and experience new and exotic combinations of Nuevo Latino cuisine for a decent price. Definitely worthy a repeat visit!
