May I please have some mo’ Momocho?

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I know it’s going to seem like I’m just piling onto the “I Love Momocho” bandwagon, but we went there last Sunday for my birthday. Since it was my birthday I got to chose where we were eating.

Since it was Sunday I figured we might as well go someplace on the West Side. Weekends are usually West Side dinners so we don’t have to hurry around at the end of the day to get out of work. We were also meeting her parents there, so it was a nice in-between place for us to meet.

Naturally, I wanted to sit outside. While it isn’t Three Birds or Sergio’s, the outside area at Momocho is really nice. I think it makes my top ten of outdoor eating areas in Cleveland.

So we all sit down and the first thing the server says is that there all out of the grasshoppers.

I was crushed.

The whole reason I chose it was because I wanted to try those things. The one day I decide to go and they don’t have them. Isn’t that nice?!?

Once the disappointment passed we decided to get 3 different types of guacamole to start off (trout, blue crab, and pineapple). This is usually the problem when we go out with my father-in-law: We can’t figure which one or ones to get so he just says to get them all. This is nice for sampling, but bad for stomach room.

For the entrees my father-in-law went with the safe play and got the scallops. Personally, I think you’d be hard pressed to find a better scallop dish in this city. If I could choose only one, this would be it. Regina got the mahi mahi tacos. She thought they were okay, but a little dry. My Mother-in-law got the crab cakes, which she really liked. I had the sixteen spice grilled chicken. It wasn’t bad, but I’ve had better things off the menu.

This was the first time we’d ever had the dessert at Momocho. Without any kind of warning we each got something. All I can say, is that the Fried Ice Cream was big enough for 3 people. All told, there was a lot left over. As is the case with most Latin restaurants the desserts are fairly ordinary. If I had it to do over I probably would have passed on the dessert.

I saw Chef Eric Williams at the benefit for Annie Chiue. When I asked him what the deal was with the grasshoppers he basically said that they’ve been really popular and every couple of weeks they run out of them. That was good enough for me. It’s not like you’re going to go down to West Side Market and buy some more, are you?

I always enjoy coming here, especially in the summer. Even though my dinner wasn’t out of this world, it was good. I try not to get the same thing every time I go someplace I’ve been. I like to change it up. In this case it was just okay. Maybe next time I’ll call ahead to make sure they have the grasshoppers.