We had one of the best meals of our lives year. The kind of meal where you keep talking about it…read morefor days afterwards with knowledge you can never eat these dishes anywhere else again without comparing them to the 10/10 experience you had at La Monstera.
They are tucked away down a side street off the main square, in a small corner spot that glows purple from the moody lighting inside. We didn't have a reservation, but there were open seats at the bar on a rainy Thursday, so we were able to sit right down.
For two people, we shared four dishes, which was slightly more than we could handle in one sitting, but we were glad to have something to take home. The hushpuppies are a larger portion than we expected but a solid start. They are coated in honey for a touch of sweetness. The tuna crudo is a dish I would not skip if I was visiting because you can't get fish this fresh anywhere. It comes sliced very thin, topped with jalapeno, and swimming in a citrusy sauce. It was not overly spicy, just a small kick that worked perfectly. Dish three is where things really started getting more interesting. The brocollini is one of the best versions we have ever had. It has a nice basil-y sauce and thin pieces of fried garlic, and these flavors worked so well together. They really make veggies sexy.
The standout of the meal, though, is the shrimp al ajillo. The employee who brought it seemed so excited just to be delivering it, no doubt he has had it himself and knew he was delivering joyous memories. The garlic flavor was unbelievable. Even the side bread, soaked in that garlic oil, was spectacular.
The cocktails are well mixed, too. Their vieux carre features rum, an interesting twist on a classic, and it is very good if you are into old fashioned type drinks. Rum forward, potent, but sippable. For round two, I tried pasiflora. The description sounded quite tart and fruity, with rum, ginger, passionfruit, and vanilla, but it was so smooth, with a velvety texture, and a side shot of prosecco you could sip separately or pour right in. A fun experience not to be missed. Before our dishes started coming, they even provided a small dish of fried chickpeas to snack on with our drinks. I love that.
Bonus points because we stumbled in on another day, which was a day they were supposed to be closed, to find they are a "margs and tequila shots only" pop up going on, with a great DJ and fun crowd.
