Recently, we had dinner at Romesco with a few close friends. We’ve been wanting to return for awhile, having had such a good first impression earlier this year. This second time around, the meal was just as pleasurable
Tamarind Martini
We loved this drink the first time and had to order it again. It’s one of the most popular cocktails at Romesco. It’s not too strong and the tartness of the tamarind pulp along with the lip-pucker spices dusting the rim of the glass give the drink a unique twist. It’s still on my to-do list to make at home.
Roadside Ahi Tuna Tostada
The oversized tostada was piled with a generous serving of bright pink cubes of tuna and topped with vibrant greens. The tuna tasted wonderfully fresh and creamy. This was a great way to start the meal, I only wish there was more than one per order.
Gambas Al Romesco
Plump, succulent shrimp are cooked in a garlic infused creamy tomato sauce. I wanted to mop up every last bit with some bread. The shoestring fries were perfectly crisp and seasoned. This was a new-to-us item and was one of our favorites.
Grandmas Tacos de Fideo
This spaghetti-filled dish is playful and fun. Taste-wise, it wasn’t anything special but we thought it was worth an order since our friends had never experienced it before.
Bone Marrow Sope
My friends adored the presentation of this dish. It’s one of my favorite tapas to get here and I don’t usually eat bone marrow. The airy corn flour sope is the perfect accompaniment to the marrow.
Pulpo Asado A Las Brasas
Another favorite of mine, the smoky octopus is pleasantly tender, making this enjoyable for even my friend who usually doesn’t are for octopus.
Tamarind Quail
This was somewhat disappointing. I had a hard time tasting tamarind in the sauce.
Seafood Paella
The paella is described as “award winning” on the menu so we felt compelled to order it. The portion size was generous and while I enjoyed it, it didn’t quite live up to its description.
Caesar Salad
The paella was accompanied by their famed Caesar salad (the restaurant group includes the Caesar restaurant in Mexico where the Caesar salad originated from and they own the rights to the recipe).
Tijuana Border’s Churros
This was a great way to end the meal. The churros were light and fluffy. The hot drinking chocolate and vanilla bean ice cream, with their contrasting temperatures, both paired well with the fried dough sticks.
Overall, we had a great meal here. If there is one complaint I have, it’s that service is a little slow and our meal took far longer than I anticipated. I actually noticed this on our first visit as well, but it had been so busy that night, I chalked it up to that. On this visit, the restaurant wasn’t nearly as full but we had the same slowness issues.
My initial post can be found here.
Tip: look for various coupons to sweeten your experience even more. We were able to buy a yelp one during our dinner and in the past I’ve seen coupon deals for living social, amazon, groupon.
Romesco Mexiterranean Bistro
4346 Bonita Rd
Bonita, CA 91902
https://romescomexmed.com/
Oh I’ve been enjoying drinks and food with tamarind lately! Hope you replicate that tamarind martini soon. I think I’ve seen Romesco on Groupon but always thought the drive to Bonita was a bit far for us. But friends were saying we can offset the gas price by saving on food cost with Groupon. Does they accept reservations?
yes they take reservations! the drive isn’t too bad and there’s a few stops you can make to make it worth your while. there’s a rita’s ice nearby. TJ oyster is also in the same plaza as romesco.
I have heard of this place but never really looked into it (I think because its a little far from where I live). The menu looks inventive/fun. Have to agree that by just visually assessing the paella it looks a little lacking. But intrigued by everything else! Have to sometimes make the drive our to Romesco 🙂
it’s far from where i live and i don’t normally make the drive to bonita, but i have been a lot recently because i love this place and i love tj oyster bar restaurant as well.
The gambas al Romesco is one of my favorites as well; I especially love the thick sauce (which has ground up almonds in it). The bone marrow sope is also a really neat looking dish – it looks so cool when they present it to you. We also experienced slow service (we went during a busy time. I’ll have to try the Octopus asado next time. I’ve only had it on their tostada.
the food came out pretty slowly on our first and second visit and it took us about 1/2 hour to try to order the dessert. i think they need to work on that, but i really love the food so I’ll definitely be back.