Komali

It had been over a month since PMc and I had gotten together for our regular catch up dinner. This time we decided to check out Komali, Abraham Salum's new place on Cole, next to Salum.

We weren't the only ones to make this choice on Friday. The place was packed. And very presidential. The Bushes (W. and Laura) were in the house as well. I'm beginning to think Laura is stalking me. This is the second time I've seen her this month. A couple of weeks ago she and I were on the same Southwest flight to Hobby (yes, even former first ladies fly the Company Jet). First on Southwest. Now Komali. Coincidence? I think not. If my blog gets shut down shortly, we will know the truth. ;)

Now, I've been a huge fan of Salum for years. I've never had a bad meal there (try the lamb chop, my fave) and it's one of the restaurants I always recommend to folks. Komali is very different from Salum but not in a bad way. First, it's huge. When you walk in there is a long white bar with tables for dining on the other wall. Then there is a whole other dining area down the hall. While Salum is very soft and beautiful with dimmed lighting; Komali is stark white, modern and and very bright. While Salum has more of a continental flair, Komali is modern Mexican. D Magazine had a problem with the noise level at Komali and, yes, the volume is quite high there but it's not as loud as, say, any of the Neighborhood Services concepts in town. It never got so where PMc and I could not hear our conversations or had to raise our voices to be heard.

We began with drinks, which is a strong suit for Komali. The bar is big enough that I think I'll be stopping by for pre-dinner drinks every once in a while. PMc ordered the Komali. One sip and she declared, "tastes like a Jolly Rancher." I ordered the Tamarind Margarita. A milder margarita than most but if you want an extra kick, take a sip with the chili powder rimming part of the glass.

Foodwise, we started with the Queso de Cabra - morita chile goat cheese topped with sweet piloncillo sauce and grilled bread. It was delicious but with a different bread choice, I would have preferred it for dessert instead of a starter. The piloncillo sauce tasted like honey so it was a great complement to the goat cheese.

For entrees, I ordered the Vuelve a la vida. It's a fish, shrimp, oysters, octopus, and scallops cocktail (read, served with chips) with fresh avocado. I ordered at the recommendation of the Chef who said this was one of the dishes that reminded him most of home. Served cold, it was in a tomato sauce and was very fresh and good but, at $18.50, I wasn't completely convinced I got my money's worth. At a lower price point, I would have thought it rocked as a starter, but as an entree, I wasn't completely wowed.

PMc ordered the Albondigas en salsa de pasillo. Mexican meatballs in a pisallo sauce with cilantro rice and handmade tortillas. PMc enjoyed them but she got the same impression that I got from my food. The food is very fresh. The food is very good. But at $18 for meatballs and rice, PMc wasn't as wowed as the price point dictates.

All the desserts looked delicious but we decided to drink our dessert instead. I tried the Maracas which is a pineapple drink (yum) and PMc ordered a glass of wine. The wine list is, as you'd expect, heavily South American and Spanish.

Chef Salum was very present on the dining floor and sat down with us a couple of times to talk. Smiling ear to ear, he was definitely happy with his restaurant but a bit tired. In addition to his responsibilities at Salum, and his back of the house responsibilities at Komali, he's also running the front of the house at Komali for the time being until his new front of the house manager can start. Having the Secret Service show up unannounced at 11:30am for an inspection probably didn't help matters either. I had met Chef Salum at Chefs for Farmers #1 and he was very disappointed that he wasn't going to be participating in #3 next month ("no time, I'm afraid, right now"). Chef is just one of the "nice guys" and I really hope Komali has all the success Salum has had over the years.

Service was unobtrusive but you could tell he was a bit harried. Think W's visit had thrown everyone for a bit of a loop.

So my first take on Komali? Well, I'm definitely going to try it out again. I want to try out a few more of their entrees (and I've heard raves about the soup) before I give it a final review. I think it's the type of place that once you find your favorite dishes there, you will want to come back again and again. So, we'll see.

http://www.komalirestaurant.com/

Cheers!