Review: Not So Slims On Taste and Service

Last Saturday, a group of us got together for dinner at Slims restaurant in Northside. This was my first time, and from my experience, I can definitely say it won’t be the last. I do admit that I was a little surprised at what an “event” it was in terms of a time commitment, but I certainly can’t complain about spending an extended time eating good food with good friends. We arrived at 7:00 and left at 10:15, pleasantly full and fully caught up with our friends.

Even with a prix-fixe (fixed price) menu format, Slims offered a great selection of appetizers, salads and entrees that were fully worth the $42.50 asking price. My wife and I made sure not to order the same of any item so that between us we could sample as much of the menu as possible. Even better, the other three couples were readily generous in offering samples of their entrees.

While reviewing the menu, we were served a small pre-starter of marinated sausage (rather salami-like in texture) over Tuscan toast. Also, we had a large fresh artisan bread sampler on the table for snacking. I settled on the shrimp appetizer (Mofongo pequeno, shrimp, ajili mojili sauce), the mixed green salad with pistachio, blood orange and pomegranate, and roasted Cuban pork as an entrée (lechon asado, Cuban black beans, rice, slaw, plantain crisp).

My wife selected the mushroom appetizer (Mushroom duo, poached egg), a different salad (Mesclun, avocado, papaya, papaya seed dressing) and the Cornish game hen entrée (Cornish Hen, Congri, champ, cranberry hazelnut stuffing, sautéed kale).

The appetizers were both very good. The shrimp were cooked until just tender, not that rubbery texture you often see in starters. Even though it seemed very odd, my wife loved the addition of the poached egg to her dish. Slims grow their own organic salad greens and the taste is fresh and distinctive. They even gave us a small baggie of them to take home at the end of the meal. Between the salad and entree, they even provided us a small serving of grapefruit granita to cleanse our palette.

The pork entrée was very moist and tender. The waiter said that they cook a whole pig each weekend in a la caja china cooker. The accompanying slaw and rice were quite good, but the black beans were a bit on the pasty side and had a somewhat conflicting spice in them that was perhaps anise seed. The decorative plantain crisp was actually quite tasty as well as attractive.

My wife’s Cornish hen was a bit on the dry side, but overall the flavor was very good. It was easy to compensate for the slight dryness with the provided side of mango & black bean salsa. Also on the side was the sautéed kale and some roasted white sweet potatoes, both of which were quite good. Two other entrees we sampled from the table were the imported German hare (rabbit) and the pork belly. The hare was fabulous with no gamey taste whatsoever. The pork belly was glazed and decadent with marbling. It was good to try, but too rich as a main dish for my taste. After dinner, we all had coffee (served with REAL cream) and assorted desserts. We ordered the “Oatmeal sundae Mickey Rooney macaroon McVouty” was just the right size for us to share. I highly recommend this dessert as a great finish to a meal.

Our experience at Slims did not disappoint. The service was excellent, the food very good and the atmosphere funky and fun. Yea, I’m going back, but next time I want that wascally wabbit entrée all to myself.