Playa Amor

Thursday, January 10, 2020

Playa Amor was listed as one of the top 100 restaurants in the LA Area.     www.playamorlb.com.       Several in the group had been here before. First for me.  We were seated in the area outside the building but had heavy plastic roll covers and outdoor heaters. In spite of the cool night air we were  comfortable. I did find the restaurant on the noisy side. Inside and outside areas. A lot of tables and they were all full. The background music was not soft and soothing and a bit to loud for me. When I have a hard time hearing the person right across the table from me because of all the noises then I am for really not so into it.  

When I first arrived I went into the bar and sat down. Ordered a house margarita, which was very good. But the bar counter top was full of tiny pieces of chips left behind from the person before me. I had been seated and ordered my drink before someone came and cleaned the area.  They were very busy tonight so I can go with it for now.

At dinner we all ordered an item of the "started" menu. Not my thing normally but go with the majority.  We had the Mexican Street Corn (off the cob). This was a very tasty dish. Then the Guacamole which one was of the better ones I had tasted. 

The salsa was not too hot or spicy. Everyone except me liked it. There was a flavor in it that I could not get into.  Maybe the cilantro.  Whatever it was was off putting for me. 

Charred Octopus had good flavor but I found it a bit chewy. Octopus is difficult to cook correctly. They almost had it but not quite.

Tuna Tartare Tostadas.  Good flavor on the tartare but not exceptional. I would like to have this dish sands the tostada shells. 

New Mexico Green Hatch Chile Spaghetti. Several people at the table have had this dish before. They all said it was not up to par. I found it very bland and could not get the chile flavor at all. Almost like they forgot to put in the sauce. Just stirred in the cheese. 

Pork Belly Nachos. Great flavor. But again we are swarming in tortilla chips. Another dish I wish I could order with the half the chips. Maybe I will try that sometime. Pay for the dish but ask them to only put half the chips in the bowl before adding the pork belly and cheese mixture. 

Someone ordered Churros for dessert. They came with a chocolate dipping sauce. I did not try them.

They have  a large cocktail menu. Most of us had the house Margaritas. They were  good. But the pricing of all the cocktails go from $10 and up. The margarita was served in a upright water glass, loads of ice, several good size pieces of fruit. The liquid to solid ratio was skewered. They are making money on the alcohol, which most restaurants do. But I think this drink should have been in the $6 to $7 range.

In spite of the lukewarm like of Playa Amour tonight I would come back.  I would like to try one of the fish dinners.  All restaurants have off nights and normally I will give them another try.  Probably not much will be done on the noise level. That seems to be the in thing right now in restaurants. Loud loud and louder.