Katarina Bar Grill

[rating:2.5]

I have mixed feelings about this spot. If you read my last review, you saw that I mentioned that some places fall short in one area, while doing well in another. This is one of those places.  The service here was really good, the gentleman was very attentive, friendly, and did an outstanding job. The location looks exactly the same as it did during it’s former Cocina Latina life. You see, this restaurant has been purchased by some new folks. I hadn’t even realized it, because it looks exactly the same.

So, like I said, the service was great, and the ambiance, etc, was cool. The place really is exactly the same as it was before. The one difference is the cuisine, some items are similar, while others are slightly different. A fusion of sorts it seems to me.

For appetizers we had some Yuca fries, those were pretty good with a touch of ketchup.

The other app we tried were crab cakes, those were super freaking spicy, even to my wife who has a higher tolerance than I do. The nice server offered to change it for us, but we said it was okay. They weren’t bad, just really, really spicy.

For the main dish, my wife decided to get the pork chops. Those come with white rice and black beans. She wasn’t really feeling this dish, she said the pork chops were very dry.

I went with a steak and eggs dish which also comes with rice and beans and plantains, you know, like a good Puerto Rican. It was okay, not great, but not terrible. Just okay.

All in all, we were not crazy about this spot, in terms of the food. They can probably work on that as there is potential. The gentleman working there is definitely a winner. The space is cool. The food will need a bit of work. I feel a bit bad saying this, because the guy was so cool. However, NYCTalking is all about the real talk. So sometimes, even though I don’t want to, I have to say things that are not so great.