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Cafe Carumba


By The Bean Queen (Visit website)



A couple of weeks ago we had one of our monthly alum dinners that I am in charge of planning.  I couldn't quite figure out where to go; it is getting hard because I don't like to repeat restaurants, but eventually I decided on Cafe Carumba which is in Old Town Scottsdale.  I had been there once, when it just opened about 4 years ago, but after I looked at the menu I could see that it had been revamped, so I was excited to try it.  Our group arrived, and we thought the interior was cute, decorated in modern Southwestern decor, but we were shocked to see only about 2 other tables occupied....and it was 7:00 on a Friday night!?!  Nevertheless, we were there, we were hungry, and we figured we would't have to wait too long!

We started off with the Nacho Bowl, which was basically all of the nacho toppings placed in  bowl with chips to dip in it.  The girls that ordered it really liked it, but I thought that it was missing a key element to nachos...the cheese!  It was just seasoned ground beef, sour cream, onions and tomatoes; while all the ingredients were tasty, I think some cheese would have made things a whole lot better!  But it didn't stop them from scraping the bowl clean!


One of the other girls wasn't too hungry, so she opted for the Caracas Chopped Salad, which was a combination of grilled chicken, black beans, corn, tomatoes and cojita cheese served on romaine. The presentation of the salad was very nice, the bright colors of the corn and tomatoes made it look very appetizing. The chicken was nicely cooked and the combination of all the simple flavors made for a nice, light meal.


The most popular item with our group was the Taco Platter, three out of group of seven ordered it, but they all chose different fillings!  The picture below shows the grilled chicken tacos, but there was also on order of the steak tacos and the pork tacos too!  Everyone liked their tacos, the fillings were generous and the flavors were good, and since the platter came with three tacos and two side dishes....there were a lot of leftovers!  We all thought that the choices for side dishes were quite unique, not just your typical rice and beans.  We tried almost all of them amongst us; the side salad, sweet potato fries, homemade potato chips, black beans, pinto beans and even the roasted mushrooms and spinach!  The homemade chips and the sweet potato fries were our favorites, but they were all quite good.


My sister opted for the most unique entree out of group, she ordered the Chicken Oscar "Carumba" Style!  The dish was a grilled chicken breast topped with two crab cakes, asparagus and topped with an ancho hollandaise sauce.  The presentation was lovely; the chicken was cooked perfectly and the crab cakes were full of crab, but the only thing that didn't make this an out of this world dish for her was that the sauce was a bit too spicy for her.  I tasted the sauce and liked it, so if you don't mind a bit of spice, this is a fun Southwest twist on a classic dish!


There were a lot of items that sounded good to me on the menu, but ultimately I decided to go with the Green Chile Pork.  I love green chile pork, and I usually measure most against the one at Z'Tejas, so I was intrigued to try this version.  It was served in a hot skillet with warm tortillas on the side.  I tried a bite of the pork first and it was very tender, it just fell apart, but I didn't really get much green chile flavor.  I scooped some into a tortilla, along with some pinto beans and took a bite, it was good, but it just didn't have that much flavor, the beans overpowered the pork!  It was not a terrible dish, but I guess I am a bit of a Green Chile snob....and this one is not one that I will be ordering again!


Overall, we had a nice experience at Cafe Carumba, the food was good for the most part and the service was quick.  I am still perplexed as to why the restaurant was so empty the entire time that we were there, but I have heard that it is a popular brunch spot on the weekends, so I may have to go and check that out.  I would go back again to try out their happy hour as well, especially, since unlike almost all the other restaurants in Old Town, they actually have their own parking lot!

Cafe Carumba
7303 E. Indian School Rd.
Scottsdale, AZ 85281
http://www.cafecarumba.com/


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