restaurant in Milwaukie — Restaurant in Milwaukie

The order was to-go so I can't fully rate the atmosphere or service in full. Upon walking in, the place was completely empty with the exception of the person making the food. They were very nice.

In terms of food, this left all of us desiring more. And since I've read some of the reviews on here in which the restaurant responds, this is not the first time we've eaten Venezuelan or Caribbean food. We decided to try this place because we love these cuisines and eat them regularly.

THE FOOD We ordered a few things including the main dish, Pabellón, which we've eaten elsewhere before. What we got was odd and unappetizing. What we received was dry shredded beef, rice, and cheese sandwiched between a halved plantain...which was smothered in mustard, ketchup, tartar sauce, and more cheese. The menu said it had the following: "Shredded beef, Black beans, White Rice, Fried Plantain, Fried Egg." The person who ordered it tried to eat it, but ultimately couldn't because it was not good.

We also ordered empanadas. They were fine, but wasn't a lot of filling. The beans in one of them were crusty and dried up. I'd say 60% air pocket and 40% filling.

The chicken on one of the dishes (cachapa) was dry, but ended up being the thing two of us ate because of the dish I mentioned above. The maize itself was good.

Of all the things we ordered, the tequeños were really the only thing that tasted on point and not super greasy. Everything else was greasy and underwhelming.

Overall, we'd be willing to be it a second try because it's new and things happen. But, we were definitely disappointed.

NOTE: Since the restaurant responded telling me that I ordered Patacon and not Pabellón, which we did not, I've added screenshots of their menu (if the photos do not show up properly, I've also copy.pasted the descriptions of these from the online ordering system below). One is from the menu displayed on their website, and the second is of the dish descriptions of Patacon and Pabellón listed on their online ordering system. If we ordered Patacon, then it was still wrong because there wasn't ham or coleslaw. Plus, it was filled with rice, and SMOTHERED in mustard, ketchup, & tartar sauce.

But we didn't order that dish.

Thank you for being condescending and defensive instead of recognizing that the food was prepared incorrectly.

Here are the descriptions of these dishes from the Ovation's online ordering system:

PABELLON: Paa-bay-own (Pabellón): Shredded beef, Black beans, White Rice, Fried Plantain, Fried Egg

PATACON: Fried Plantains filled with Shredded Beef, Ham and Cheese, Caribbean Coleslaw, Tartar...

We followed all of the directions including notifying staff inside the building that we would like a table outside and patiently waited to be seated. 10 minutes later we were seated at a nice outdoor table. It took another 10 minutes for the waiter to bring our menu, again we didn’t mind waiting. The water station was out of water cups and we were thirsty. The final straw was when a couple arrived after us and were immediately served a drink. We didn’t mind waiting, we liked the atmosphere until that happened. I’m so disappointed. This was my first experience out with my baby girl in her stroller. I’m even more disappointed with the owner’s response to our critique. If you care about the people that live in this community make don’t get verbally abusive over a bad rating. Make us want to come back and we we would delete our one star- instead of telling us we don’t know how to read. I’m a highly educated professional and am disgusted. Maybe you should check the self-serve water station to see if it’s stocked? Maybe you should offer people that station after they sit down? Maybe just communicate and acknowledge people?

This is my reply (edited)

Thank you for the nice response. I’m sorry that you are understaffed, I am too where I work and it’s tough at times. A lot of people don’t care to patiently wait or enjoy that moment of anticipation. I upped my rating because I want to be fair because I appreciate your kindness. Perhaps another employee wrote the response for my husband? I’ve honestly had nothing but kindness from the owners in my past two experiences here, and we did experience kindness this time around it was just a perfect storm.

To be honest I didn’t want to get on here in the first place and give a negative rating. I’m again thankful that you would like to have us back as customers and give another try. And I can edit the response again! And move stars up again from neutral to up where they should be. Have a...

Chaming Delighful Bistro! It was a early Friday evening. We were in the mood for something different for an outside Friday night dinner. We were thinking of looking for food carts. We drove through Milwaukee and on the corner we saw a Bistro where people were sitting outside and enjoying drinks and food. I looked at the reviews and noticed they had all 5 star reviews. Well we had to stop, We are so glad we did. So from the moment we arrived until we left was such a delightful experience. We were seated outside and our server Teresa was very helpful explaining to us about the menu.,They have a Happy Hour Menu and a Regular Menu. The Menu is a balance of French/Asian Fusian Fare. I ordered a Rosemary Lemonade. It was such a refreshing drink. It was the best lemonade I have ever tasted. So after we decided what to order we were met by Romano. Incredible customer service, such a delight. He is a natural when it comes to dealing with people and making them feel at ease. I ordered French Onion Soup and The Fun Guy. Oh my goodness. The soup was so tasty every bite had onion and bread and cheese with broth. It did not lack on flavor. It was wonderful. The Fun Guy was exactly that. It was fun to eat, Raviolis stuffed with mushrooms and then deep fried so I could eat them with my fingers and dip them with the 2 sauces that were absolutely delicious. David and Sean the Chefs are amazing at what they do. They compliment each other in such a unique way with there culinary backgrounds. If you want an incredible meal this is the place to go. The prices are very reasonable. I can't express what a wonderful fine this was.Also they have a To Go Market on the side that features fresh made Quiche, Crepes, Meat,...