Harvest...

It was Saturday night, 9:30, after a longish day at work, what to do?.... Eat.

So that is what we did, we went to eat. Hoboken is highly populated with places to eat; the good, the bad, and the ugly. My boyfriend and I decided to go to a place that neither of us have tried before. The chosen restaurant, Harvest, opened too fast after a restaurant called Wild Ginger vanished. I just now realize a potential reasoning for why this place is called Harvest. To me, a harvest brings to mind this medley of foods, fruits and vegetables, coming together on the table in a basket (this is just me). The restaurant makes an effort to blend foods from all over the world, with Latin and Japanese emphasis (oddly enough). This is present in their menu, as well as our meal.

We started with a seafood ceviche. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture, because it was nice to look at, but not so nice to eat for me and my favorite. We both possess that weird gene (or whatever it is) that makes cilantro (or coriander for my British friends) taste like soap. And since the main part of this ceviche was cilantro, we did not enjoy ourselves. It was a dainty, well presented glass filled with shrimp, calamari, and mussels, prepared with a kind of tart and runny pico de gallo.

Next, because of our intense curiosity for this Latin sushi the restaurant boasts of, we tried three rolls to share. We chose the Salmon Latino, Short Ribs and Puntacana rolls. My boyfriend preferred the Short Rib roll, because it mixed some of his favorite things (meat and rice) and didn't leave him wanting what normal rolls do, meat. The Short Rib roll had cilantro, onions and avocado, along with the meat, topped by sweet plantains. The Salmon Latino roll contained avocado, chipotle rubbed salmon and queso blanco, and was also topped with plantains. The white cheese overpowered all the other tastes in the roll, making it less than satisfying. The last, the Puntacana, which may or may not have been my favorite, comprised of crabmeat topped with shrimp tempura and mango sauce. I really enjoyed the top, the tempura part, it was delightful. Sushi Latino is definitely a special concept that to us seemed more like a miss than a hit, though the other table was speaking loudly about how good the latin sushi is.

We also ordered a main, Grilled Churrasco, to share. This was just a pretty simple dish; grilled skirt steak (one of my favorites) and fries, accompanied by a herb chimichurri sauce. I really liked the steak, it was cooked just right and had good texture. It was a little salty, but salty meat to me enhances the flavor of the grilled meat. My boyfriend, on other hand, was not really into it. He said it was thin and could have been seasoned better. I must say though, the fries really took the cake. They were perhaps my favorite part of the meal. They were soft and not particularly flavorful, but I really enjoyed them with the meat (unfortunate, maybe).

We also ordered two desserts, one was described as Bread Pudding with a Latin twist, and the other was Tres Leches, a cake soaked in some sweet milk topped with this whipped creamy frosting. Unfortunately, neither one was really great. We both had high expectations for the bread pudding I think. It was spicy and chunky with dried and other fruits. I thought it had thought it was too fruity and the texture was too chewy and firm. The Tres Leches, which the waitress claimed to be her favorite, was mediocre too. I really did not know what was coming with that one, but it was really wet and sweet, but not very flavorful.

 

After all that is said, I am not sure I would go to Harvest again any time soon, though I am curious about some of the other Sushi Latino creations...But in the end, I am not convinced it's worth it...

xx