Mojito — Restaurant in Seattle

I got the Lechon Asado plate along with the Chicken Empanada here

Before I even talk about the food, I have to mention the environment here. This restaurant is really small - only room for a few tables in the indoor seating area, with very few staff on hand. However, it has an incredible feeling - like you're stepping out of Seattle and directly into Colombia, or Venezuela, or Cuba, or other similar places The music playing from the speakers, the art and pictures on the wall, and the atmosphere of the restaurant is quite literally perfect. The owner (whom I recognized because there was a giant painting of him on the wall) even came in and took my plates when I finished.

This is all a preface to say that this may be the most perfect Latin food I've had in my life (and I've been to Mexico and the DR) Starting off with the Chicken Empanada, I can't start without mentioning how crispy it was. The crunch on this thing was absolutely incredible - biting into the breading was so immensely satisfying. The inside was also great - a mix of chicken and cheese. This empanada was done Colombian-style, which meant it had cornmeal, which combined to be really good. I additionally loved the guacamole - so much so that after I finished I was just eating it with the few pieces of greens I was given

Moving to the main dish, the Cuban black beans and rice (congri) were basically perfect - the beans were sweet and immensely comforting, and the rice was well-cooked, slightly wet with the sauce, and just overall fantastic. I ate this by mixing it with the pork. Speaking of the pork, it was absolutely the highlight of the meal. There was a TON of it on the plate, and it's hard to put into words how juicy, tender, and astoundingly flavorful it was. The roasting and marinating process worked to absolute perfection here - as it was so satisfying to eat. The flavor profile of mixing the pork, rice, and beans was just all-time good. It was difficult to eat the last piece of pork, because then I knew I'd be done with the meal

Lastly, the two other things this came with were the fried yucca and tostones. These were both an interesting complement, and I really loved the sauce that was slightly sour and slightly mayo-like that came as a dip with this

In terms of price, I would say this was a pretty good amount of food, although the total was slightly on the expensive side at around 28 dollars. Still absolutely worth it, in my opinion

Overall, an all-time good plate of food that provides a diverse combination of tastes and a wonderfully compelling flavor...

Mojito is a hidden gem that I stumbled across! The service is great! The staff is super friendly, full of life and attentive!

I had the Chicken & Beef Empanadas. Both were delicious. The empanadas had the crispiest & crunchiest crust on the dough that I’ve ever had which was refreshing because most empanadas tend to be soggy/ oily! The fillings were pretty good & the flavors were super authentic. Each empanada was $4.

For my entree, I ordered the “Pabellón” $23. The dish is a shredded beef cooked in a red pepper, tomatoes & onion stew. The dish was served with white rice, black beans & platano maduros/ plantains. The server who took my order recommended that I also try the “Vaca Frita” which is a fried shredded beef dish. So he did half & half for the shredded beef options. The price was the same.

The “Pabellón” itself was good, the sauce was a tad overpowered by tomatoes, so I couldn’t taste the red peppers or onions.

The “Vaca Frita” was good but a little too hard for my liking. The shredded beef just ended up being on the dry side.

The rice & beans were beyond delicious! It was soo delicious that I could eat a bowl of it by itself. My only complaint for the rice is that some parts were a little too wet. The beans had the perfect balance of flavor.

The maduros was the perfect choice to accompany this meal. It brought the sweet element all of the savory components needed! It was cooked perfectly! It was some of the best I’ve had in a while!

The food was served with 2 different sauces. A green sauce with a heat level of mild to medium & an orangish habanero sauce (pictured) with a super spicy heat level. Both sauces were soo good that I wish the restaurant sold bottles of them alone. These sauces tasted great on every menu item & elevated the taste...

I have been eating at this establishment since they first opened. Back in the day anytime I had people come in from out of town I just had to take them to Mojitos, So my Mom and my Cousin were in from out of town recently , I live in Tacoma but was in the area visiting my ailing Uncle. Afterwards I wanted to treat my family to dinner.

NEWSFLASH.....

Honestly I don't know why I didn't send out food and drinks back immediately it was the absolute worst experience I have had there ever. The Mojitos were not even prepared properly no sugar on the rim and the weren't even muddled. When I asked the waiter about it he just looked at me puzzled.THE owner wasn't there I should have known then to leave. Instead we waited quite a while for our food. I always get the Polo de guiso it been my favorite for ever so I ordered the same for my Mother .I was so embarrassed having raved about this place to my family and disappointed in the food it was so over cooked and dried out. Normally the dish is vibrant with color and juicy.not this time it looked like they burnt the whole bottom of the pan and threw it on our plate. Talk about a waste of $130 dollars BYE...