Stoking the flames - Brasa Rosa

I've blogged about Brasa Rosa before. Generally, I try not to write too quickly about a place again. Unless, of course, I have a good reason. And I do. To remind everyone that Brasa Rosa is an outstanding value.

As I have noted, Brasa Rosa is related to another Colombian restaurant, El Llano. What I especially like at El Llano are 2 combination dinners. One is a mixed platter of grilled meats, called picada, the other a mixed fry (sausage, ribs, chicharron, etc.). They make great group meals. Recently, I volunteered to arrange a group meal for some friends, and I wanted to have a picada (if nothing else, it makes for easy check splitting), but I wanted to have the picada at Brasa Rosa because, as I have said, the use of live coals for the grill makes for better meats. Because Brasa Rosa does not have a picada on its menu (an accident they told me), I did a bit of schmoozing with the owners to set one up.

I actually arranged for 2 picadas, which is really for 8, but it turned out we had only 6, and we ended up with a much better plan, credit to the Condiment Queen, 1 picada and 1 whole roasted chicken. To gnaw away slightly at hunger as our meats carbonized, I ordered 3 Colombian empanadas. Unlike Argentinean empanadas, Colombian empanadas have a crisp corn crust, think almost a deep fried tamale. Inside is a mixture of potato and shredded meat. It kept us at bay just long enough for our table to fill with Dr. Atkins' wet dream.

Now, I was sure that I had said one picada, but it seemed like 4 or five. Three platters filled with all of the cuts of meat of the house got presented to us: pounded thin steak, chicken, veal, brisket, lamb chops, rabbit quarters, and nuggets of short ribs. It was so much food, that it was only later when the bill came, did I get full confirmation that they did not give us more than we ordered.

All of the meats are grilled very through so do not go expecting otherwise, and the house is heavy with the salt. The steak alone, actually, was a bit too saline. Still, both house salsas, the spicy aji and the oily-garlicky chimichurri diluted the effect. The chicken remains fully tasting of the flame. Brief relief from meat came from sweet plantain, very plain potatoes and arepas, both stuffed with cheese and plain (Colombian hockey pucks).

So much protein demands dessert. Luckily, Brasa Rosa complies. I found the body-built flan one of the best around, and the trashy canned figs with cajeta have their own cheesy appeal. With a generous tip, it came to $20 per person. Besides, BYOB made it even cheaper, and a cheap bottle of Norton Cab 2002 went extremely well with the food.

Roasting chickens at Brasa Roja. Pic courtesy of MikeG