Panama -- the second night

Update (02/11/08):
Todd finally got back to me. This restaurant was called Peperoncini di Mare.

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OK, before I begin this post, let me say that I can't remember the name of this restaurant. Todd paid the bill, so I asked him, but he's in Nicaragua right now, so I guess he's just going to hold the name hostage until he returns.

So.

Restaurant X was where our prospective clients took us for our second meal in Panama. It was a modern setting, and appeared to be heavy on Italian and seafood, which was perfect, since seafood is definitely the thing to try in Panama. When we discussed what to eat, we had been interested in trying "Panamanian" food, whatever that was.

We later discovered that Panama is a bit of a melting pot, so there aren't an abundance of restaurants that show off the cuisine of Panama very well. Instead, there's a wide range of all cuisines. We discovered that if you wanted to try food indigenous to the area, you better go with seafood.

So I went with corvina. This is the local fish here in Panama, which would explain it being on the not-so-big menu at least four different times. I have had corvina before -- they serve it at Downtown Kitchen in the town where I grew up, and it's a white, flaky fish that's quite delicious.

My meal was good. A little strange, but good! It was served with plantains, which was an interesting combination. The odd pairing, however, was the mashed potatoes that were served with a gravy. It was like having two different meals at the same time: one with a light, citrusy fish; and one, with potatoes and gravy.

For the appetizer, we had a variety of things, but the star was definitely the ceviche. I have no doubt that it was made with corvina, and was so tart and good! So good that we ended up ordering another round of it! Yum!

How do you say, "Table for two" in Spanish?

This past week, I had the pleasure of traveling to Panama for work. No, not the "redneck riviera", the actual country. What a great trip to follow Montreal. After I had been frozen to the bone, I was happy to thaw out in a locale that has a high temperature of 84F and a low of 80F. Sign me up!

After a somewhat grueling trip into the country, we arrived at our hotel, the Veneto, which is a casino hotel -- Panama City is crawling with them. One of my coworkers and I went to a restaurant just a stone's throw from the restaurant, based on the recommendation of the receptionist at the hotel.

So, off to Pomodoro's we went. And the verdict. Eck. After a wild charades game of "I don't speak Spanish, do you?", we were seated in a really nice patio area. The ambiance was the best thing to come, I found out after we were served.

First, the food was really cheap. I don't want to seem like a snob, but the food was too cheap. I mean, c'mon, filet mignon that is $5? I just don't know about that. Panama uses the US dollar, so there were no conversion obstacles here, and we also knew that things were a lot cheaper down here, but really? Really??

It wasn't fine Italian. It was kind of what I'd expect to find in the food court of a mall. I ordered lasagna, which I figured would be difficult to mess up, but the meat was...I don't know...ground a bit too thin? Kind of similar texture as the chili on a Varsity dog? But not as tasty?

We ended up ordering two glasses of the most expensive wine, two appetizers, and two entrees. Our bill was $34. Wow.