Palena
Last weekend, I finally went to Palena for dinner. I say finally because my husband and I received a gift certificate to dine there as one of our wedding gifts. We decided to use the gift certificate for his birthday last Saturday.
I looked at the website before we went and saw that you could only dine in "courses." For example, you can purchase two, three, or four courses and dessert. These prices aren't cheap. The menu online look pretty good so I figured, why not?
I can't say that I was overwhelmed or underwhelmed. It was just ok. However, for the prices that they charge, I would have expected Palena to be a bit bigger and to also not be adjacent to an Exxon gas station. The decor could have been spruced up a bit with some more color. I saw alot of black and white photographs on the walls.
As for the food, it's hard for me to classify it other than saying shi-shi. There were goose eggs and also octopus on the menu. I did have the grilled octopus as one of my courses and it wasn't bad. It's wasn't chewy either. I had scallops for another course and fish as my main course. My desert was good, a warm german apple cake. My husband preferred the meat dishes and had the mixed grill of duck and pork as his main entree. We both shrugged our shoulders in agreement that it was ok and that we wouldn't go back. We don't feel that the evening was a waste, it was just something different.
To me, if you are a true foodie, you may like Palena a bit better. For more information, go to www.palenarestaurant.com