Aldea: A Disappointment

As a cook with very limited free nights and change to spare, picking a new restaurant to try is a difficult task. You want something that will be fun and exciting, yet satisfying and a reasonable value. From what I have seen with my coworkers, we are not afraid to plop down several days of hard labor’s pay for a great meal. But there is nothing sadder and more frustrating than when the experience falls short. Such was Aldea. The menu looked appealing. The prices were steep, but nothing obscene by New York standards. We ordered all the classic dishes: the octopus, the squid, the shrimp ALHINHO, the famed duck rice and the traditional pork chop with clams. Nothing hit the mark. That mark where you take a bite and start singing to your food. That mark when your eyes open to a new width. That mark when you realize you just tasted something beautiful. The octopus was tender enough, but the lemon-squid ink puree tasted of preserved lemon and had a lingering flavor of detergent. The shrimp was bland and one dimensional. The duck rice lacked balance and was too fat heavy- some more acid would have helped. The squid was the best of the dishes, but I suppose that doesn’t mean much. And then there was the pork chop. The pork chop was just depressing. It was just a watery flavorless chop of nothingness. I honestly tasted nothing. As always, I will be looking for a new restaurant to try for my next outing. Hopefully I can share a more favorable review.