Rosa Blanca
707 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Rosa
Blanca opened some time ago in the former Chifa space. It is a Cuban themed
diner, with a casual atmosphere and a tons Cuban vibes. I was really looking
forward to trying it, because Chifa was my favorite Garces restaurant, and I
was hoping they closed it for something better.
My fiance and I ordered the Para la Familia, which is an option of chefs choices for the table. We had the pineapple guacamole with yucca chips, ensalada verde, empanadas de queso, croquettas de bacalao, ropa vieja, enchilado de camarones, y espinacas. We also ordered a mojito and a Juana Rodriguez. The mojito was pretty lackluster. Especially for a Cuban restaurant, it really needs to be improved. It was strong, but the flavor of the mojito definitely needs to be enhanced. My fiance's Juana Rodriguez was very tasty. It was a drink complete with white rum, raspberry, cava and lemon, that all combined to form a delicious citrusy island feeling cocktail. Inconsistencies through the drinks course, but we were hoping it would get better.
The guacamole and yucca chips came out next. I thought the yucca chips needed to be crispier, but the guacamole was fantastic. The pineapple really starred. It wasn’t traditional guacamole by any means, but it was a really great flavor. The ensalada verde was a throw away dish that really didnt do much for us. I mean it was just a plain green salad without much flavor going on. I could have done without it completely. Another set of plates out, and more of the same inconsistency.
We
really liked the empanadas de queso and croquettas de bacalao. They were both
very good. The exterior of the empanada
was not overly dough and had a beautiful crust to it. It seemed to be baked
rather than fried which was a nice treat. The cheese filling was perfect. The
bacalao croquettes were fried beautifully and came served with a creamy aioli
dip. While Whatever spice they used in the ropa vieja, whether it was nutmeg or
cinnamon, was overpowering, but the dish was good nonetheless. The enchilado de
carmarones was very tasty. It had a spicy tomato based sauce on it that made
the shrimp really flavorful. As always we loved the maduros as well. Fried
sweet plantains are fantastic! Our dessert was bomb, a delicious custard with
mango sorbet. It may have been the sweetest and most flavorful sorbet I have
ever had. It tasted like I was eating a frozen fresh mango. Outstanding.
The cortadito I ordered was very good in flavor, but it was served lukewarm. If it was hot it would have been outstanding.
Two
pints for Rosa Blanca. I had really high hopes for this place, but it just
wasn’t to the level I have come to expect from Jose Garces. It definitely
wasn’t up to the standard I held for Chifa, tear. Hopefully they can make some
improvements. It has a lot of potential, there were some really high notes, but
some pretty low ones as well. If anyone can right the ship, its Jose Garces.
Check it out and let me know what you think! Cheers!
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