In our family, fall is the season of birthdays and time to go out. Not that we don’t go out otherwise. It’s that these fall outings are more thoughtful and better justified — pleasures less guilty.
The birthday boy chose the fusion of Latin and Chinese flavors on Upper West Side in Manhattan at La Dinastia. Casual storefront on restaurant-busy 72nd, casual interior, attentive not hovering service, very tasty food.
Set in our Sinological ways, we shared everything as always:
— fried calamari was my favorite: chunky the Asian way, with the thinnest barely-there coating, flash fried, they were a striking contrast to the usuar-fried heavily battered rings,
— broiled seafood platter was another pleasant surprise, especially the filet of sole — tender, flaky, and not at all dry which happens to fish cooked at high temperatures so often,
— along the seafood platter, arrived fried plantains, which were surprisingly soft with some caramel notes,
— lomo salteado (restaurant spelling) was different than the traditional Peruvian dish with the distinct Asian sweet and sour sauce,
— fried chicken cracklings, or chicharrones de polo, were the star of the table: crazy crunchy, not excessively salty but seasoned perfectly, they also were not dry as one would expect by looking at the pile,
— for the green, bok choi with oyster sauce completed our selection — this one has never been a miss.
Some serious leftover packages went home after this dinner.
