Culantro — Restaurant in Ferndale

We ordered carryout last night. Since we had never been here, we decided to try a variety of entrees, sides, appetizers, and desserts to get a good sampling of what Culantro offers.

Let's start with the appetizers: we ordered 4 empanadas, 2 Chicken and 2 Beef. Bothe the chicken and the beef were chunky and "real" unlike the mushy, ground up stuff you sometimes get in an empanada. The crust was flaky and crispy. A+!

For entrees, we had to have the famous Peruvian rotisserie chicken. We got a half, and it was incredible. The skin was grilled with the Aji sauce that offered just the right kick. Inside, the meat was very juicy. We devoured it. We also had the Aji de Gallina, chicken is a yellow cream sauce. While not bad, it didn't have quite the same kick as the "La Brasa" so I don't think we'll get that next time. (Besides, there are so many other interesting dishes on the menu, we want to try some others anyway...)

For sides, we had Papas Fritas, Black Beans, and Fried Plantains. The fries were big steak fries done to crispy perfection. The black beans were a tad soupy, but the blend of spices in them were so tasty. And if you've have never had the joy of a fried plantain, you are in for a treat! These were ripe to perfection, crispy on the outside and so gooey and sweet on the inside. Our Cuban relatives would be jealous...this will be on every order when we come back!

On to dessert. We were really excited to try the Flan, and even ordered extra to drop off at my brother's house, as he always was raving about my mother-in-laws Flan. Right before I left to pick up the food, the restaurant texted me to say they were out of Flan and were removing it from my order. Devastating! When I arrived to pick up the order, they apologized and offered me some of the Mousse de Maracuya - Passion Fruit Gelatin and the Dulce de Leche cake. Wow is all I can say. The cake was so delicious...I think the cheesecake layer was the secret. And the mousse was a flavor explosion. I've never had a passion fruit dessert, but I want more now. And yet, there's at least one or two other desserts we'd like to try, no to mention we still need to try that Flan!

In summary, the food was great, the service was super kind, the online ordering was a breeze. We'll be back! And maybe someday we'll even be able...

I came here tonight (8/14/20) with my fiance and two friends. Rachel called the cops on us for sitting and eating our meal!!! Four Ferndale cops came out and found no issue with us. Also I will say this upfront we were not drinking or anything of the sort.

It all started when our server Rachel tried to take a plate in which there were a few tomatoes on in which I intended to eat, I politely told her I wasn't done. She put it back no problem. Later on she asked if she could take the plate (in which it was now an empty plate) I told her yes. After she was walking away my fiance and I looked at each other and my fiance told me she had to ask, joking about how petty I was not to waist not even a few small pieces of tomatoes. Then from the distance we heard Rachel our server yelling at my fiance angrilly, in which we were like wait what is happening. She said I heard what you said. We explained to her we didn't say anything about her, we explained the whole situation of how we were joking about my pettyness. She kept swearing at us and talking about how we talked bad about her with the chefs loudly so they could hear. After talking again to her she literally told us it was a misunderstanding and we should just "drop it." We asked for a manager she said she is the manager, we asked for the owners information she refused to give it to us. She continued to talk bad about us and after giving her sas she asked us to leave, she told us to leave or she will call the cops, we asked for boxes for the food she she ignored us and called the police. We waited for the police and talked to them, got an incident number and the owner will be hearing from us and given a record with the police. She did all this in front of her kids sitting with a man in the restaurant in which after she started yelling he took the kids and left.

The only way this is coming off Google, Yelp and Facebook is if we get apologies from Rachel or she is gone. This is absolute ridiculous, I have worked in the service industry for over ten years and have never behaved the way this woman has. I can understand making a mistake but not apologizing for that mistake and continuing to be rude to four paying customers that did nothing wrong, that is ridiculous.

By the way, the cops decided to take it upon themselves and gave us boxes...

We were pretty excited to try Culantro because my friend is from the D.C. area and has been raving about Peruvian chicken for years. But we gave them several months to work out the kinks because I'd heard some negative comments when they initially opened.

The first time we checked this place out was a Saturday afternoon, and it was great! Super fast and super good. My friend familiar with the cuisine said it was on point.

After that great experience, I decided to place a carry-out order when running errands during lunch on a weekday. It was a total disaster. I tried to call in an order 5 times, but no one ever answered the phone. Instead, I got a recording that said the number was unable to take messages. Annoying, but not a deal-breaker. I figured I would run in and place the order, finish my errands and then pick up the order on my way back to work. When I arrived, I stood in line for 10 minutes while the people placing their order at the counter decided what they wanted. While waiting, the phone rang several times, but no one bothered to answer it. When it was finally my turn, I discovered that they do not keep up their website, and they did not have the specials listed on it. Since it was a friend at the office who wanted the special, I ended up not even placing an order at all. I got back to work late and hungry.

Overall, while the food is good, I do not recommend Culantro for take out, especially...