Casa Colombia — Restaurant in Austin

In Austin where Tex-Mex or authenticly Mexican food dominates, I had my first authentic Colombian food by a happy coincidence this summer. Today, I went to a different venue to have more.

The large mango juice with milk came in a tall glass with a straw, not unlike an offering in a 1950s malt shop. It was thick and cold, and the flavors of mango and milk blend very nicely. I took slow small sips so that I could experience and remember the flavors. It was an excellent way to begin a meal on a hot July day.

The appetizer was a beef empanada with potatoes. I ordered only 1. As forewarned by my server, it was modestly sized. The shell was thin and fried enough that it had some crunchiness. Inside was a beef and potato stew, chunks of beef in a thick matrix of mostly fork-mashed potatoes and beef broth. It was flavorful and familiar, and hot enough that I ate it with care and precaution.

A small sopa de Ajiaco is listed as a 3 potato cream and chicken soup. The small detour into the internet reveals that this pre colonizer dish incorporates red potatoes, white potatoes, and Andean potatoes. The soup was presented with a bit of corn on the cob in the bowl, garnished with a bit of cilantro or perhaps guasca, and a thick hearty liquid that had hints of chicken soup with the chicken fat retained, a hint of browned chicken flavor, a nice mouth feel from the potatoes. The potatoes had been cooked and ground so that they disappeared into the liquid, giving it thickness and persistence in the mouth. There was a hint in the direction of smokiness. Bite sized bits of chicken were at the bottom of the bowl.

Pechuga de pollo is a grilled chicken breast, accompanied with two pieces of plantain that had been somehow grilled, and a cup sized serving of white rice, molded in a measuring dish before being plated. A very light brownish sauce coated the chicken, and a hint of it was on the plantains. More cilantro or guasca. There was exactly the right hint of the flavor of slightly browned meat. Again, I chewed slowly and with deliberation. The flavors rewarded me with each bite.

I suppose I could have stopped there and been satisfied. I thought, however, why not go full in and try a dessert. The menu offered familiar offerings but I wanted a new experience. Mousse Maracuya (passionfruit) sounded good. I took a very tiny taste on the tip of a spoon, not having any idea what to expect. There was a wondrous taste that I kept trying to interpret as a fragrant mild lemon and heavy whipping cream. Later reading on the internet reveals that mousse can be made with cream and egg whites. Some recipes call for gelatin, but I did not notice that today. The cream dissolved the way that a high quality ice cream might melt, spreading the flavor around. I took so long hanging onto the flavor that the waitress came a time or two and checked on me, perplexed how anyone might have found a problem with her favorite dish. Her recommendation was safe, I was simply immersing myself in the experience.

The 2nd or 3rd time she checked on me, I had pieced together that they offered Colombian coffee on the menu, and that it would certainly compliment the flavors of the passion fruit mousse. So halfway through, I ordered one It was afternoon and nobody in their right mind drinks hot coffee on a Texas July afternoon: the coffee was not fresh brewed just for me, it was good, but not transcendent. It did, however, go very well...

Being that I'm from the Caribbean I could savor the food in my mouth by reading the menu online, although I can cook everything on it, it's nice to enjoy a night out with food u like. When we got there it was an hour wait for inside or immediate seating outside with heaters. We chose outside, it was pretty cozy/warm plus we were starving. Everything was ok. They were really busy (it was Saturday around 6:30) and I understood that (being that I'm a F&B manager for a high end resort) we, waited and waited.... after 40 minutes our apptz (chkn patacones, or stuffed fried plantain) finally got to the table. Wasn't terrible, just dry, and no effort at all for the dish. Food came by after 10 more minutes waiting (total of 50 mint wait). I'm still ok, since I understand what's going on. We finally got the food ( I ordered breaded chkn with rice, beans and sweet plantains) chkn was super overcooked, greasy and cold. I could have probably frisbee it! We didn''t complain about it, once again I work in the food industry and understand, plus we were starving. We got passed that. The real problem was with the tab. We got over charged with double plates and food we ordered, but never got. As well as my friend got over charged. He ordered "Bandeja Paisa" and they brought him the upgraded version of that. When we asked why they charged that the server responded " we always bring the upgraded one unless specified not to. Pardon my French peeps , but are u fu** kidding me right now. I responded to the server that, that was not ok, and that he ordered the normal version (the upgraded has a different name) not the upgraded. He proceeded to say that he had consumed the plate and needed to be charged for it. "Oh no he didn't!" Omg, long story short. Probably will never go back. Make sure u specify detailed what u are wanting, and I guess there's no well drinks since I ordered well vodka and charged me $7.50 for Tito's, I thought I asked for well... ...

I feel very disappointed that i haven’t found a good Colombian Restaurants in the Austin area, so far. I considered for two weeks whether to post this review or not, but I decided to post it hoping that this will motivate the restaurant to change. I have it two stars for the excellent service I received from the waiter(s), the hostess and whom I believe was the manager, but what makes a restaurant great is a combination of the food and customer service.

First thing I noticed was the empanada, it was soggy and not crispy, somewhat burned, presentation was subpar, and I would argue it was somewhat stale, as of made several hours earlier.

Second, my Bandeja Paisa: The egg was over cooked and deep fried The sausage (chorizo) was over cooked or reheated, and too small for what I payed. Notice the patacón (tostones or fried green plantain), it’s an industrial version, something out of a box, not even crispy. But the Chicharrón - this was my biggest issue. Besides its small size, notice the pork hair left on the skin, that is a big NO NO for a restaurant, a restaurant needs to have their cooks burn it with a torch or on the stove or some other way, but this is a poor presentation and of poor taste to present a chicharrón like that. And not to mention that I couldn’t even cut it with a knife. (Please Note: when I complained, the waiter spoke to the manager, he apologized and replaced it)

Third, the juices we ordered: I ordered two large Guayaba (Guava) juices, even though we were sitting at the restaurant for lunch/dinner, they brought us the juices in medium size styrofoam cups, but I am sure the juice was watered down and didn’t taste right, I had already complained about the size of the cups and didn’t feel like complaining about that too, my mind had already been made, We’re not going to that restaurant ever again.

Thanks to the stuff for their good service and patience, but I’m very disappointed with the...