A heaping helping of news & reviews from DFW’s dining scene.
My tolerance for alcohol far surpasses even the most experienced drunk, and thanks to a mutant ability that helps negate the aftereffects of alcohol consumption, I rarely ever need to cure a hangover on a Sunday morning. For the rest of you, there's always Mi Tierra near downtown Arlington.
Nestled in an old home with chipped paint and some warped wood, Mi Tierra is a cozy family-owned restaurant with an uncomplicated charm you're unlikely to forget.
On Sundays, food is served buffet-style, and for a hedonist like me, a buffet is dream cuisine. At $15, it's the perfect opportunity to sample many of Mi Tierra's Latin-inspired dishes all in one sitting without the fuss of having to order off a menu, which can seem like a chore on the day after drinking your liver to extinction.
The dishes at Mi Tierra are based mostly on Cuban and Puerto Rican cuisine, and my plan was simply to eat everything. I piled food onto four brightly colored plates and got right to business.
First, I tried some salad greens with yucca drenched in olive oil and garlic dressing. Yucca is a starchy root very popular in tropical regions, and the salad ingredients set the tone for the rest of the meal -- many of the dishes at Mi Tierra use the same combination of garlic, olive oil and vinegar.
Next, a plantain salad, consisting of cubed plantains marinated in garlic, onions, peppers and vinegar. The texture of the plantains was very similar to potatoes, and the blend of ingredients left behind a tangy aftertaste that had me going back for seconds even before sampling the rest of the food.
I followed the salads with a helping of chicken covered in a flavorful, dark guava sauce similar to mole, a chocolate-based mixture with the same viscosity. The chicken was tender and served in manageable strips, and if it weren't for my piss-poor cooking skills, I'd re-create the dish myself.
If you like rice and beans, you'll love Mi Tierra's diverse selection. Choose from black beans, red beans, yellow rice with pigeon peas and, of course, white rice. My personal favorite was the cilantro rice, but I'm partial to anything made with cilantro. Don't forget to do a post-dinner mirror check for greens in your grin.
I also doubled up on croquettes, which are small, deep-fried rolls filled with ham. In Cuban and Puerto Rican cooking, croquettes are usually filled with beef, chicken, ham and sometimes seafood. The croquettes were filling, but a bit underwhelming compared with the other entrees.
I gave the octopus and codfish salads a try, both having the same tangy pinch found in the plantain salad. The somewhat chewy octopus paired well with cut red peppers.
I tend to avoid all seafood, but texted my other half to notify her of my foray into marine-life consumption. She instantly replied with a congratulatory "I'm proud of you."
I ended the meal with some homemade pastries, including a semi-tart puff pastry covered in powdered sugar, alongside a chocolate brownie.
Additional time added to treadmill routine: probably 600 minutes, but I couldn't care less.
Other interesting options on Mi Tierra's regular daily menu included Peruvian ceviche ($13), cod cooked in lime juice and mixed with onions, tomatoes and cilantro, accompanied with tostones; and Puerto Rican molongo ($10-$15), mashed fried green plantains stuffed with your choice of chicken, carne frita, churrasco or shrimp.
Also worth mentioning is the shredded beef, as well as a spaghetti entree for kids. I suppose the rugrats won't immediately appreciate the delicacy that is the octopus salad.
