nuestra cocina

first time and will never come back. restaurant so loud, sit outside no air conditioner,tableso tight together i feel like the one next to me gonna elbow into my head. food come out on a big plate with a tiny island of food in the middle, not tasty, lamb smell so strong and very not tasty smell, i can smell it from a mile a way, server not very attentive and hard to get attention, dessert taste like a mountain of sugar , in general horrible experience , but the dessert is the final thing that makes me want to throw up. waste of time and money, not enough word to describe this.

no longer a fan. i have been a fan for several years but after my last experience, i think it will be my last. we went early - 5:30ish and it was not busy which was not normally the case - usually a waiting line. we sat at ourtablefor 10-15 mins. waiting for acknowledgement and to order drinks. after turning around and looking repeatedly for our server (jennifer) she finally came over. we took our friends for the first time and it was embarrassing at how slow each step of the service was... drinks slow to arrive, trying to catch server's attention to place order, etc. the drinks finally arrived and in the past i always loved the margaritas but this time they were very watered down and the glass was 2/3 full of ice. not just for the first drink but also for the next drinks. at $8 a drink, i do not consider this a worthwhile drink to order.

the meal arrived and i have always raved about the food being so flavorful but i was very disappointed. i ordered the lamb shoulder and, yes, it was very tender, but there was no hint of any seasoning and the portion was so small that i felt like it was the lamb knee instead of shoulder!

after talking this restaurant up to my friends, it ended up being very embarrassing to take them to this restaurant. i have recommended them to many people but that won't happen again.

you had a good thing going nuestra cocina but i feel that it has slipped to an unacceptable level. sadly, no longer on my list of recommendations.


-----20 sep, 2012-----

wonderful flavors. favorite dish is the chili relleno. not just average and stuffed with cheese - it's stuffed with meat, nuts and all kinds of yumminess! excellent food and the prices are very reasonable. the bartenders are above average and excellent. gotta say that waiting for atableoutside was very long and disorganized. it was a slower night and we watched people wandering in from street and nabbing tables when we had been waiting quite some time for an outdoor table.

right at home in our kitchen. on a weekend foray to points south i landed here. portlandia has a major rep as food town spectacular giving seattle a run for the money. what seattle doesnt have is much for classy latin/mexican food. but in ptown i had the pleasure of dining at nuestra cocina. the margarita was divine. the fish seviches was awesome if a little too spicy for this gringa - no worries the waitress noticed my distress and rescued me out with some sour cream on the side. gorditos were tasty and so filling i have one leftover for lunch. my friends who were supposed to meet me for dinner bailed on me and i was left to eat at the bar. no worries jennifer the waitress extraordinaire made me feel right at home a long with the staff in the busy open kitchen. she has worked here 9 years and reports that after a vacation her first stop is dinner here! so take a road trip south to portlandia and be certain to look up jennifer @ nuestra cocina. my only advise is don't be in a hurry as they don't take reservations and getting atableon a busy friday night could take you up to an hour.

the host with the most. this kind of experience, for me, would usually merit a 3 paragraph or so review. but im feeling lazy. maybe its the 6 months of rain we're all enduring thats to blame. regardless, i find it suffice to say that the meal my wife, myself and some friends had here a couple weeks ago was wonderful. the cocina especial margarita surpassed the hype and the food was also no laughing matter. actually thats not true, as we laughed heartily throughout the entire meal, due to the sheer exuberance of our experience. what made that possible you might ask?
well, we got the ball rolling with an order of the tacos de puerco (which our server had the foresight to amend so that we all had an even split). these (partnered with some sopes de chorizo, frijoles y chile arbol [tasty little buggers!]) made it very clear to us that there would be no sad faces at thistableon this evening. after we wiped these out and got our second round of cocktails delivered, the food seemed to arrive in no time. black beck disposed of his bifstek de res con papas y chile guajillo in a matter of minutes. i was lucky enough to steal a tender bite and fully understood. his other half wisely chose the cochinito pibil whose leftovers were much enjoyed the next day by yours truly; that pork was 'moy' succulent and that was not lost on this gringo. mi esposa finally settled on the chile relleno con calabazitas y queso oaxaca and was glad that she did (though she admitted she wished the veggies were just a leeeetle crispier). as for me; the organizer of this affair, i had been coveting the chance to try their camarones al mojo de ajo for a long while now, and while i felt they couldve been cooked just a tad (and i mean, just a tad) less, the flavor pushed that minor qualm to the back on my mind and left me in a wistful state of euphoria (due to the fact that i knew this state would dissolve with that last bite of shrimp). so i rode it out for as long as my hunger greed would allow me..
yes, i guess once i started revisiting this meal at thetablein my mind i found more than just a few words to say about it after all. take that!! damn grey sky drizzle..
grade: a (i have a feeling our next meal here will cement this place in bragging territories)

wait! i'm not done with that!. wow, incredible drinks and very flavorful mexican-american food. upon entering this cozy restaurante you are immediately greeted with the open kitchen which can make for a very relaxing family style atmosphere, only we weren't greeted with smiles but casual grimaces from the kitchen staff obviously bummed about more customers, and this was only 15 minutes after they opened. the hostess couldn't decided where to seat us which was awkward and then it was the usual forced server script and rattling off of specials before we could even get our coats off, a pace that did not let up despite many open tables. we opted to skip desert because the service was so pushy and when we got up to leave, they started bussing ourtableas soon as we stood up though there was nobody waiting for our table.
good food--very inexperienced service

i love mexican food of most varieties, from the standard chips/salsa on thetableand every dish topped with guacamole and sour cream, to the more traditional hole-in-the-wall burrito shops with no fancy sauces on the top ... and it's always nice to find