Hot Tamale Rating: 3
(1=worst, 5=best)
Plastic flowered vases on green and white checked tablecloths, a telenovela on the big screen, and Mexican music blaring several decibels too loud - those are the first impressions your senses register as you enter Catti on 14th at Parkwood Pl. NW.
The Tex-Mex-Trio, along with friends Alice, Adam, and Kelly (Billy was conspicuously absent...), were seated upstairs on the balcony overlooking the bar, the big screen and a wall of smaller TVs.
Later, when we left, Kelly commented that "We're the most interesting thing to walk into this restaurant tonight." Kelly's assessment was pretty much spot on. The clientele was all males, sitting at the bar or tables - by themselves - face deep in cerveza with eyes on cell phones, televisions, or flitting over the female wait staff.
Speaking of the wait staff, their service was quite good. In spite of our poor waitress having to continually ascend the stairs to check on us, and run down and back up again to fetch more salsa, margaritas or water, we were rarely in want of anything.
As we waited for the margaritas to arrive, a man in black approached our table and asked if it was our first time here. We replied that it in fact was.
"Oh, cuz I thought you were that guy ... that I hassled 'bout lookin' too young to drink. I said I'd buy him four drenks if he ever got back in here."
This place clearly had character.
The chips and salsa came - ostensibly out of a bag and out of a can, respectively. Nothing to write home about. The margaritas arrived too and were pretty decent.
While the food had thus far been largely unremarkable, the entree made up for what was lacking, at least in Jason's case. Jason had requested Cecina Estilo Yec... something, something. Because he couldn't recognize any words when he ordered, nor pronounce them, he automatically assumed it would be great. His unpronounceable meal turned out to be skirt steak with refried beans, stick-of-butter shaped cheese, an avocado, zesty red sauce on the side, and home made tortillas. The beef was tender and flavorful, the avocado soft and buttery and the beans were fresh and almost creamy.
Jaime ordered Puerco en Salsa Verde. The plate contained equal portions of refried beans, rice and chunks of pork in salsa verde, a garnish of shredded iceberg lettuce and an accompaniment of two thick corn tortillas. The beans, a pleasant surprise, tasted homemade, rather than canned, and paired well with the tortillas. The slightly under cooked rice disappointed, but did serve as an adequate vehicle to collect any excess salsa verde. The Salsa Verde was the real point of this plate. The chunks of pork combined a thin, crispy covering over a tender-fatty morsel, but they took a backseat to the bright and spicy Salsa.
Would Jaime order it again?
"Probably, but I’d like to try some of the other items on the menu that looked interesting," Jaime explained.
Anna tried Camarones del Diablo which were spicy shrimp covered with a smoky chipotle sauce. The shrimp were large, tasty, and there were plenty of them. Instead of beans, Anna was presented with a pleasant, fresh salad with tomatoes and cucumbers.
Our fellow compadres all tried and enjoyed el Diablo, but alas, Anna learned a hard life lesson this evening – "I don't like smoky chipotle sauce."
Our friends who joined us highly recommend the seafood fajitas and the chicken mole. However, Anna was also saddened to discover that, like the smoky chipotle, the mole didn't agree with her unrefined palate either.
The Mexican dude-ranch music progressively gave way to Mexican pop-rock as our plates cleared, our margaritas emptied, and our first Mexican Restaurant dinning experience came to an end.
(1=worst, 5=best)
Plastic flowered vases on green and white checked tablecloths, a telenovela on the big screen, and Mexican music blaring several decibels too loud - those are the first impressions your senses register as you enter Catti on 14th at Parkwood Pl. NW.
The Tex-Mex-Trio, along with friends Alice, Adam, and Kelly (Billy was conspicuously absent...), were seated upstairs on the balcony overlooking the bar, the big screen and a wall of smaller TVs.
Later, when we left, Kelly commented that "We're the most interesting thing to walk into this restaurant tonight." Kelly's assessment was pretty much spot on. The clientele was all males, sitting at the bar or tables - by themselves - face deep in cerveza with eyes on cell phones, televisions, or flitting over the female wait staff.Speaking of the wait staff, their service was quite good. In spite of our poor waitress having to continually ascend the stairs to check on us, and run down and back up again to fetch more salsa, margaritas or water, we were rarely in want of anything.
As we waited for the margaritas to arrive, a man in black approached our table and asked if it was our first time here. We replied that it in fact was.
"Oh, cuz I thought you were that guy ... that I hassled 'bout lookin' too young to drink. I said I'd buy him four drenks if he ever got back in here."
This place clearly had character.
The chips and salsa came - ostensibly out of a bag and out of a can, respectively. Nothing to write home about. The margaritas arrived too and were pretty decent.
While the food had thus far been largely unremarkable, the entree made up for what was lacking, at least in Jason's case. Jason had requested Cecina Estilo Yec... something, something. Because he couldn't recognize any words when he ordered, nor pronounce them, he automatically assumed it would be great. His unpronounceable meal turned out to be skirt steak with refried beans, stick-of-butter shaped cheese, an avocado, zesty red sauce on the side, and home made tortillas. The beef was tender and flavorful, the avocado soft and buttery and the beans were fresh and almost creamy.
Jaime ordered Puerco en Salsa Verde. The plate contained equal portions of refried beans, rice and chunks of pork in salsa verde, a garnish of shredded iceberg lettuce and an accompaniment of two thick corn tortillas. The beans, a pleasant surprise, tasted homemade, rather than canned, and paired well with the tortillas. The slightly under cooked rice disappointed, but did serve as an adequate vehicle to collect any excess salsa verde. The Salsa Verde was the real point of this plate. The chunks of pork combined a thin, crispy covering over a tender-fatty morsel, but they took a backseat to the bright and spicy Salsa.
Would Jaime order it again?
"Probably, but I’d like to try some of the other items on the menu that looked interesting," Jaime explained.
Anna tried Camarones del Diablo which were spicy shrimp covered with a smoky chipotle sauce. The shrimp were large, tasty, and there were plenty of them. Instead of beans, Anna was presented with a pleasant, fresh salad with tomatoes and cucumbers.
Our fellow compadres all tried and enjoyed el Diablo, but alas, Anna learned a hard life lesson this evening – "I don't like smoky chipotle sauce."Our friends who joined us highly recommend the seafood fajitas and the chicken mole. However, Anna was also saddened to discover that, like the smoky chipotle, the mole didn't agree with her unrefined palate either.
The Mexican dude-ranch music progressively gave way to Mexican pop-rock as our plates cleared, our margaritas emptied, and our first Mexican Restaurant dinning experience came to an end.
- Location and Atmosphere: 2
- Service: 4
- Cost and Value: 3
- La Comida: 3
Rating:
Medium distance from metro; Too loud!
Slow with chips and salsa, otherwise good.
Little pricey, but big portions. You will not leave hungry.
Mediocre chips and bad salsa. Margarita didn't use the best tequila and the taste of the margarita mix lingered long after the meal. Entrées were by and large very good, though.
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