I originally reviewed Mambo's Cafe (Alpharetta) in 2016, giving 5 stars for the overall combination of great Cuban and Peruvian dishes, good service, value, and upbeat ambiance.
Sadly, much has changed in the last 7 years. The menu is essentially the same, but execution has declined. After two consecutive dissatisfying experiences here in the last few months, I've downgraded my rating, and I would be hard-pressed to return.
The experience a few months ago involved slow service, lukewarm food, and failure to prepare food as requested. The main issue with the latter is that I requested my steak (part of mixed grill) prepared Medium Well. It was brought Rare...after a long wait, too. They took the steak back by itself and cooked it appropriately, but this sort of threw off the cadence of the meal. I wrote this all off as a bad night... stuff happens, right?
However, today I had another experience that convinced me that Mambo's has really gone downhill. This time, I ordered the Parrillada de Mariscos (seafood grill) ($38) while my friend got the Churrasco (skirt steak) and pesto pasta combination ($28). Food was brought relatively quickly yet again, temperatures were inconsistent. Some items on the plates were hot while others were luke warm. Odd and not appealing.
But the big issue: My seafood dish included octopus, and it was so rubbery that it was inedible. I would compare it to trying to chew a thick piece of rubber hose. (A rare instance of having to spit out food...ick).
Now I realize that octopus, like squid, can be tricky. It can be tough if undercooked, but it will quickly become rubbery if overcooked. It's got to be cooked really fast (like hot grill 60 seconds) or marinated and very slow cooked (like an hour). I'm not sure what happened in this case, but I'm guessing that the food prep has become sloppy and inattentive, resulting in an overcooked disaster.
I often choose to hold back on complaints, but for a $38 entree, I expect all the ingredients to be at least acceptable (and edible). So I told our waitress. To my surprise, she just looked dumbfounded and unsure what to do. She said, "Oh, sorry, so do you want me to leave that out of your to go box?" Seriously? That's it? After feeling a little more annoyed, I asked to talk to the manager. The manager came; she was polite and offered to have them prepare a couple of pieces of octopus for me to take home with leftovers.
So, at this point, my thinking was, "let it go..." The waiter brought a similar portion of octopus. Out of curiosity, I cut a piece to taste. Better - it was at least edible. Yet still a little tough. (Have these cooks not been trained?)
As prepared years ago at this restaurant, the dish was cooked with a little olive oil but not much. It was "clean" and full of distinct tastes of the various ingredients. Now? Excessive oil...swimming in oil! Looks like it's in a sauce, and everything tastes the same. Again... sloppy preparation!
Did Covid and the labor shortage ruin Mambo's?