Columbia Eats: Mojitos Tropical Cafe

I was really excited about finally being able to find some time to venture out to Mojitos Tropical Cafe. The talk around it was glowing since it's opening a year or so ago, and with myself firmly back in the city, I had been eager to make it out and finally get a taste of the Caribbean that I had been hungering for all these months.

It was a late weekend night when my crew arrived at Mojitos, not wasting much time to order some of their namesake along with beef empanadas and a smashed plantain thing kind of like a flatbread. I am certainly no mojito expert, but they packed a giant mint punch which tasted great and really refreshing. Certainly worth a glass if you are open to one. The flatbread plantain things weren't as crispy and crunchy as I was expecting them to be, but came with a damn fine sauce that kind of resembled thousand island with more of a twist to it that I can't explain. Not bad, but not as great as the empanadas which were flavorful and wonderfully rich. Nothing like meat pies to make you happy.

For my entree I decided to go for a bit of everything in the roasted pulled pork plate, which came with choice of red or black beans, rice, yuca and fried plantains.

So, the roasted pulled pork was really good; lots of flavor, tender, and pretty much perfectly cooked as advertised. For the extra four dollars over a vegetarian plate, it might not be a worthwhile investment because I would have been totally happy with the sides alone. The black beans and rice were flavorful and a great combination together, the yuca was starchy and delicious, and the fried plantains that came with the plate were exactly what I was looking for in the meal. Together, these were pretty darn filling and worthwhile in every way. The roasted pork was good, but for the extra price maybe not the price of admission if you're on a budget. If you want a little more, try the empanada plate which comes almost exactly the same way, but with those great empanadas that we talked about earlier instead, and for a bit less of the cost.

Overall, I was fairly pleased by Mojitos, though not entirely blown away like I had hoped to be from all the talk around it. The food seemed decently authentic and flavorful; totally worth the occasional lunch visit for sure. It didn't, however, stand out for me in anyway to call it one of the cities best restaurants. Definitely good, but not great. Not yet. That being said, I'm totally open to returning for more plantain and empanadas. Mojitos is a more than welcome and much needed addition to the Vista, one that I hope to continue seeing there for a long, long time.