Madrona report, part 2

[MsRamsey]

Dulces Latin Bistro has been open since 1992. The chef is Julie Guerrero, who attended Seattle Central’s culinary school. Carlos Kainz, her husband, runs the front of the house. There is a separate cigar room and a 900-bottle wine collection. We had reservations and were seated immediately at a good table next to the window. The room is warmly lit and welcoming, the tables set with white linen and sparkling Reidel stemware.

Dulces has a full bar along with their giant list of wines and ports. We both started with a margarita (the waiter’s suggestion), which was yummy and much better than most. The bread was cold and the typical crusty sourdough variety, too thinly sliced to show it off very well. It also didn’t seem very fresh. You are expected to dip the bread into chipotle oil, and a bottle lives at each table.

Prawns al la Diabla -- Mexican prawns sautéed in butter with a combination of dried chilies and a hint of orange: This appetizer was okay. There were 5 smallish prawns, which makes it difficult to divide between two people. I didn’t taste a “hint of orange.” I would order a different app next time.

Cream of Asparagus Soup / Salad: It is worth noting that Dulces offers a choice of soup or salad with dinner. The soup was quite light, brothy, and subtle for a “cream” soup. Dulces does justice to vegetables, and I liked the silky texture of the soup and how well they brought out the asparagus flavor. The salad is very simple -- stacked dark green lettuce and a couple of tomato slices.

Chiles Rellenos -- Poblano chiles dusted with cornmeal, stuffed with Montrachet and manchego cheeses. Served with chipotle cream sauce: These aren’t “dusted with cornmeal.” They are definitely dunked in a batter (which is fine by me). The batter is crunchy, but I could not detect much seasoning. The combination of the chili, cheeses, and sauce were rich, spicy and smoky. The accompanying broccoli and snow peas were steamed perfectly and bursting with flavor.

Blackened Ono: This was one of the two specials that night, and Andrew ordered it. When serving the dish, the waiter admitted that he had made a flub in not describing the ono as being served rare. Luckily, we much preferred it that way, and the waiter was quite relieved. This was a very tall and generous piece of fish. I had not been very interested in it because it has been likened to swordfish (which I don’t like), but I was pleasantly surprised at how great this was.

We had a half-bottle of Steele Syrah (California), which was delicious and hearty. Dulces offers a large variety of half-bottles. I was impressed when I noticed a waiter decanting a bottle of red for another couple.

Desserts: After dinner, a waiter automatically brings the tray out to your table. He points to each dessert with a little pen light as he describes it, which made me snicker. I can’t remember them all, but I do remember: crème brulee (of course of course) with some Ibarra chocolate sauce spooned on top; chocolate “decadence” cake (that name just induces eye-rolling anymore); a flourless apricot cake (which frankly looked like an old potato pancake and didn’t appeal at all); and lemon tart with meringue. Also offered were several gelatos and profiteroles. I ordered the profiteroles, but the description was poorly phrased as to be misleading. There were three profiteroles, which I was led to believe (and which I specifically stated I wanted) were filled with caramel gelato. Instead, only one was filled with the gelato, and was the most delicious. The other two were filled with somewhat gluey pastry cream. Also, the profiteroles were definitely stale. I’ve had far superior profiteroles made at home by my friend Bryan, even after his had been sitting in the freezer for weeks!

Andrew’s crème brulee was okay, but I thought it was too dense and too big.

I don't mean to convey that the desserts are awful. They're just quite clumsy and need some work. A restaurant named Dulces should have really good desserts. Also, I have to wonder about dessert tray philosophy. If a restaurant has chosen this method of selling desserts (and it does work), shouldn’t the desserts be refreshed every so often? Everything looks desiccated after a few hours and then it just looks tacky. I think it's just better to automatically hand out a small dessert menu.

Two margaritas, one appetizer, two entrees (soup or salad included), one half-bottle of wine ($18), and two desserts: $100 excluding tip.

In general, we liked Dulces Latin Bistro and would go back. On the up side, the atmosphere is very romantic and the service friendly. The food was generally quite good. It’s worth noting that it’s unusual for a nice neighborhood bistro to offer soup or salad with dinner. Also, they offer half-orders of their entrees, a great way to try many things in one sitting. The choice of wines is enormous. The wine list is extremely well organized, with gobs of reasonably priced wines (plus the half-bottles, which many restaurants do not offer).

On the down side, the dinner service was too rushed! For such a romantic restaurant, we would have been much happier with a more leisurely pace. This was by far Andrew's biggest complaint. Madrona is not a neighborhood where you eat dinner before a show and need to hurry. They couldn’t have been worried about turning tables because the restaurant was only two-thirds full the entire time. No one was lining up to get in. I note again that the desserts NEED WORK. (Someone like Nightscotsman needs to put them on the straight and narrow, yo.)

Dulces Latin Bistro

1430 34th Ave.

Seattle, WA

206-322-5453

http://www.dulceslatinbistro.com/

Edited March 3, 2003 by MsRamsey (log)

[girl chow]

Desserts:  After dinner, a waiter automatically brings the tray out to your table.  He points to each dessert with a little pen light as he describes it, which made me snicker.

Holy crap... That is just too freakin hilarious. A pen light? I don't think I could have held back a huge, obnoxious laugh. What's next? A powerpoint demo on the entrees? Geesh!

And thanks for giving such a great detailed report. Can't wait to go and read your other post now. I don't spend a lot of time in Madrona, so I'm always interested in reading reports on restaurants there

[malarkey]

I've eaten at Dulce's, but its been ages. What I remember is that the appetizer was excellent, the dessert was excellent, but the entree was found wanting. I do remember dessert was a really knocked out coconut cake...

Raise your hand if you miss Cool Hand Luke's... and their legendary cinnamon rolls... and their breakfasts... *sigh* (CHL's used to be where St Cloud's is now)

[malarkey]

in fact... has anyone found anywhere that makes cinnamon rolls that even come close to Cool Hand Luke's?! I can't even make them at home that good... Who was their pastry chef? Where did they go?!?

[Really Nice!]

Got this advertisement in my weekly Wine Press Northwest e-mail.

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wines every Wednesday. October Special: Prix Fix Menu Three

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http://www.dulceslatinbistro.com

[LEdlund]

Wow - Look at all the half bottles!