Latin Bites — Restaurant in Houston

Came here on a Monday night for roommate date night! The website advertised happy hour all night on Mondays (industry night). We arrived and quickly seated and greeted. We asked our server about happy hour and she said it was only from 5pm to 7pm (FAIL). We did not protest too much (although I just checked the website again and it definitely says HH prices all night at the bottom).

On to the ordering...per usual, we split everything! We were feeling adventurous and opted for pisco drinks instead of our usual wine. I got the Blackberry Smash which was delicious! My roommate got the a passion fruit drink with sour (can't remember what it's called) which was also good. The sour wasn't heavy at all and the passion fruit flavor was delicious. Drinks ranged from $11 to $13 - they weren't too strong.

Appetizers:

We got the Jalea, which was basically a fried platter of calamari, fish, shrimp, and maybe some other seafood. Everything was breaded and fried well, but it was a bit heavy. I wish the aji tartar sauce it came with had a bit more kick, but it seemed to taste like a normal tartar sauce.

We also got the Cebiche de Mercado as an appetizer to share. So fresh and light it was the opposite of the Jalea - which worked out for some balance. It did have a few pieces of fried calamari on top. The sauce it was served in was almost creamy and curry like. The sweet potato puree was a nice touch. Pretty good, although I would have thought for $18 you'd get a larger portion.

Entrees: We split two mains. We got the Pappardelle with Lomo Saltado and the Arroz con Pato (duck confit).

The pappardelle noodles were a bit overcooked, some of the noodles did not stay together and were shredding (maybe they stuck to the bottom of the pan? not sure). The beef itself was delicious! Sauce was also okay/good. Overall my favorite of the night (but not amazing), although for $24 it was a bit skimpy on the beef.

The duck came out in a clay pot. She took the top of the pot off and there was this tiny piece of duck in a huge bed of rice. I think the contrast made the duck look even smaller than it would have on a plate. For $25 you should probably get more than a piece of duck and rice - maybe some sides? Something? Anything?

Overall the food was okay to good. But when factoring in the price, it definitely wasn't worth it. I know at nicer places you don't always expect these huge portions, but for the amount we spent I would have rather gone to many other fine Houston establishments. Even DaMarco gives you more than twice the amount of duck that Latin Bites does (although slightly more expensive, it's not twice the price).

Service: Waters were always filled, people checked on us pretty consistently. They were a bit slow about taking dishes away, even when they were piled. But overall still...

Please do not go here unless you want to waste your money on food that doesn't even have any flavor. Me and my mother are Peruvian and it's very difficult to find a good restaurant that specializes in Peru food with a delicious flavor. We heard it was a very good restaurant even the google reviews says it's pretty good but it's all a lie! Here are the good things about Latin Bites, their restaurant is very clean very nice, presentation wise on food is amazing looks absolutely divine but if you're trying to accomplish a Peruvian dish at least make it look like one, a fancy plate doesn't mean it's going to have an amazing flavor like it should be. The only thing that tasted pretty good was their Inca Kola. Bad things about Latin Bites, I don't mind wasting my money on an expensive dish, if the food is good which it isn't at all! First thing we tried their Papa La Huancaina, a dish served to us was an embarrassment knowing someone serving a disgusting dish, no flavor at the cream at all, than they gave the potatoes with the skin usually you give it with no skin and the potatoes are supposed to be hot to give the cream a richer flavor. They also only give a half an aceituna when you're supposed to give it whole for you to suck on the juices to give it a nice taste for the cream as well. Another not so great dish is the Ceviche, they do not use the lemon fruit natural they use a different acidity to the dish that does not mix well with the other ingredients. Lastly, we tried their Alfajores all I have to say is, you could tell it wasn't fresh at all it was hard as a rock when it's supposed to be soft. Worst Peruvian restaurant I have ever been to and too expensive for food that is not worth buying. If you do not believe me go ahead and have your experience at Latin Bites you...

Well, it was unremarkable and underwhelming for starters, to be honest they shouldn't call themselves Peruvian food at all .... i noticed it featured papas de crema, Peru has this amazingly delicious bright yellow potato that is grown in the Andes (lays makes a Peruvian potato chip there) so i asked the waiter if they use potatoes from Peru, his response was of course not ... eh? no? so then the robust flavor would just be some bland Idaho chalky flavor? so why even have this on the freakin menu?

lets start with the hits: we ordered the cebiche (those Peruvians and their funky spelling) and some piscos, both were very good to be honest ... the fish was very spicy and tender, the piscos were down right delicious, the perfect blend of frothy and silky textures ... so i was stoked to order my meal ...

then the food arrived ... since i have been to Peru, i knew what to avoid like the damn saltado, i tried this in Peru and was like hey this ain't nothing but a stir fry, the same goes for the arroz criollo (ain't nothing but some dirty rice) and that inca cola also ain't nothing but some big red in some yellow color, so of course i avoided these options, the fact that this "upscale" restaurant even offered these menu options was my first red flag that somethin' ain't gonna be right up in here, but i did love the Peruvian roasted chicken I so fell in love when i was running the streets of Cuzco where the most amazing Peruvian chicken lives (er is made), well this was more of the shake'n bake variety (hey now i like me some S'nB) but for the price you could get 2 family meals and better tasting chicken down the road at pollo bravo ... the rest of everyone meals...