6/16/12

Decco Cafe - Galleria Area - American with Latin Flare

Menu Selections:  slider appetizers, chilequilas **Now Closed**

This hidden little treasure is comparable to a diamond in the rough.  The location is perfect for all the lunch-goers in the Galleria area due to its location.  It’s tucked away in the Decorative Center so few people are aware of its existence which is evident by the sparse crowd.  This, in addition to free parking (no need to valet so you can arrive in your Hyundai), seating yourself, a small wait for food, and a Taco Bell level of price (maybe exaggerating a bit) all are elements that compose the ideal place for your lunch break.  The two things they need to work on is, the stock of their food, and the service.  They were out of half of the menu, leaving me to resort to my third choice.  The server seemed extremely high (yep, as in cannabis-high), didn’t give us small plates with our appetizer, tried to take our food without asking if we were finished first (a BIG no-no), and forgot to “bag” up our food to-go.  We had to ask about our leftovers and a light seemed to finally go off in his head and somehow they hadn’t thrown it away yet, which made me suspicious of the storage of our food during that time. 

The food, on the other hand, will spice up your day and just about make that diamond luminous.  The steak sliders consisted of a black bean spread and a sliver of avocado.  These clean flavors enabled you to taste each one individually and played off the other well.  The appetizer was complete with slightly crunchy steak fries and spicy pickled carrots on the side--for those that aren’t from the South--beware.  These seemingly innocent veggies had a delayed kick, which I personally loved.  The miniature doughy rolls on the table that were served with an apricot jam in lieu of butter were phenomenal.  Continuing with the spicy trend, the chilequilies (similar to nachos, except without loads of cheese and slivers of tortilla chips instead) consisted of a base layer of tortilla strips, black refried beans and tomatillo spiced chicken.  This was topped o ff with a pinch of cheese and a dollop of sour cream.  It all balanced quite well-the amount of beans allowed for the strips to vary in degrees of crunch and the amount of sauce didn’t overpower the other flavors or make it soggy.  I do, however, think queso fresco might look better for presentation purposes instead of the shredded jack they used.  The black refried beans on the side could also use a bit more consistency as they were over frapped.

The décor matched the decorative center more so than the Latin-flared food.  It was very modern, with a common curved theme and simple, patriotic colors of red, blue, and chrome found throughout. 

Will I be back?  Yes, maybe the next server won’t blaze before coming to work.  Everything else was superb. 

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