Achiote in the Grand Hyatt Makes a Grand Impression
Good day fellow foodies! This month, I was invited to dine at Achiote River Café and Bar located in the gorgeous Grand Hyatt Hotel. Achiote may be a Spanish name, but don't expect this to be your average Tex-Mex hacienda. Their tag line is, “Latin Flavors, Say Hola to Asian influence.” Maybe you've never thought about mixing these two cultural cuisines together, but I promise IT WORKS!
The lunch and dinner menus both have an appealing mixture of Latin and Asian fare. I like to call it Chino Latino. Moo Shu Pork and table side guacamole are on the appetizer - or as they put it “Small Plates” - menu. I highly recommend the table side guac. For one, it’s delicious and two, it’s entertaining to watch them make it tableside. Nothing fancy like flying avocados and knife tricks. But the vigor and passion they use to make your dip is worth every dime. I suggest the Sansei Style. It has mango, ginger, scallions and wasabi served with wonton chips. Mmmmmmm!
Now, I opted to skip the lunch plates and dove straight into the buffet. Monday through Friday, 11:30 – 2pm, you can feast on a wide variety of flavors. The buffet changes daily but it always includes aguas frescas, salads, an interactive section, entrees, and a dessert station. The day we went was fajita day. Traditional beef and chicken were served. There was a plethora of toppings and sides to choose from such as rice and black beans. Fresh dry slaw was there to top your tacos. All the usual suspects were there as well. Salsas, blended and fresh, including a tangy mango salsa, were also available. One of the items I kept going back for was the tostones. These were the best tostones I have ever had! For those of you that do not know, tostones are twice-fried plantains. They are cut length-wise and fried for a few minutes until golden brown. They are dried off and then pounded into a small disc, and then fried again. (Full disclosure: I never met anything twice-fired that I didn't appreciate!) If you have never had tostones, eating them here will set the bar high!
The dessert station was ok. I was not a big fan of what they had, but they were good. My partner went back for the red velvet cake a few times. It’s a deconstructed red velvet cupcake. A small-sized cupcake with a sweet cream whipped topping on the side. When we went back for dinner we had menu items. If you want an awesome fusion flavor of Asian and Latin, try the Cuban Spring Roll. Wowza! If you have ever enjoyed a Cuban sandwich, then you’ll devour this. All the elements of the Cuban were there: shredded pork, ham and Swiss cheese. They substitute Dijon for the yellow mustard and the pickle is drooped for carrot-daikon citrus slaw. They wrap it in a traditional spring roll. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. We also tried the hoisin-glazed duck quesadilla. Duck is one of my favorite things to eat. Now put that in a tortilla with cheese… SHUT UP!! I’m the happiest man in the world! It’s served with a cherry poblano salsa that was so good. I highly recommend it.
Now since we pigged out on small plates, we shared the dinner entrée. We ordered the cilantro lime chicken pinchos. Think of it as chicken stir-fry meets fajita – oh yeah! Most of the same ingredients are there, onions, peppers, poblanos and zucchini. It’s served with yellow rice, which I think was infused with saffron, with pinchos or pigeon peas. Pretty dang good! Achiote has so much more to offer then what I mentioned, but I hope I've given you a brief entrée into all the goodness they cook. To see the full menu, breakfast, lunch and dinner, and to see what buffet is available each day, please visit www.achioterivercafe.com.
Eat well, be well!
Cris R. Garza
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