La Carreta
14791 Miramar Parkway
Miramar, FL
In a somewhat strange turn of events, I was sent with really short notice to the south east “corner” of the US for a customer engagement (I could, of course, tell you who that is but that also means I must… Errr, let’s stop there, OK? 
). In a way, I am grateful as I have been “stranded” in the last couple of months and I need this break. Come to think about it, it has been a long time since my last trip – Richmond, Virginia! So, without further ado, from Miramar, Florida…!
Before I continue on my first post, a reminder: Miramar is not that far from Miami (20 or something miles north-northwest of Miami), which happens to be a hot spot for Latin Americans (with 65% of the population being Latino or Hispanic and +70% with Spanish as first language). As a result, you can expect a lot of Latin American cuisine nearby. It shouldn’t be surprising then that, for this first post, it would be of a Latin American themed restaurant: La Carreta (which literally can be translated as “The Cart”), which happens to be a chain restaurant. Now, before any of you start bashing me, as a reminder, I had little notice so I did not really have too much time to plan the places I should go and, despite I had a car available, traffic was a bit tricky not to mention limited lunch time. Anyway, putting all these aside, my thoughts based on my visit to La Carreta!
Although not noticeable from the picture above, they do have some tables outside. Now, unlike here in Vancouver where the we seldom hit mid 30C (mid 90F), not to mention not that much humidity, it was tropical-like weather in Miramar. I can’t help myself wonder: why would you want to sit outside instead of sitting inside were you have the AC? And, in my case, I was in business attire so it wouldn’t really help the case… So, yes, I sat inside, hehehehe.
Yes, La Carreta is on the lines of Cuban.
I will admit the dining room look a bit odd. For such a big place, the tables were arranged in a somewhat odd way. I mean, with such a large building for themselves, couldn’t they make sure you won’t end up with tables in the middle without anything separating them one from the other? OK, that might not really make any sense, as I did not take any picture the dining area I was seated on but bare with me, OK? But, if that doesn’t really make much sense, why I bring it up? Because, if it wasn’t because I was seated on a side, near a window (yeah!), I would have felt quite awkward seated in the middle of the dining area taking pictures at the gaze of everybody. Hmmmmm….. But, enough of that. To the food!
First, some complimentary bread. No side butter as there was some already in the bread itself. It was just your basic slices of bread so I won’t say much about it, as well, it was free. One thing that made me think, and it will be something in common with the rest of this trip, is portion size. I was on my own and can’t help myself: was it really necessary that many pieces of bread?
And here is lunch: a quarter roasted chicken with rice, beans and plantain. As for that plastic container, it had some sort of sauce. Before I continue with the description of the meal, here is a funny story of sorts. I did not really ask for this dish. While perusing the menu, I really wanted the roasted pork lunch. When I told the waitress I wanted that, she asked “white meat or dark meat”. I was confused for a moment. Could it be they now cut the leaner pork meat separately and call it “white” and the more fatty (but tastier) darker meat “dark meat”? So, based on this assumption, I said “dark”. Obviously, I made a wrong initial assumption and was given this… I was *this* close on sending it back but chose rather not to. I mean, I was hungry and was under the clock so I had ate it.
So, how was the food. One word sums it all: average. The rice was just rice. The beans did not add anything to it. Normally beans would add some flavour and texture but, in this case, it did not. The plantain… Well, it is somewhat difficult to mess up so I will leave it here. As for the sauce, I can’t say it is au jus as I couldn’t really taste any chicken in it. And, finally, the chicken, the make or break part of the dish… One additional reason why I did not send it back was because visually it looked great. I mean, slightly charred skin ought to mean good tasting right? In this case, wrong! There wasn’t that much overall taste nor moist. I mean, it is dark meat, it is meant to be flavourful by default! I don’t even want to imagine what how white meat would be…
Overall, I was completely disappointed. Had it been in Vancouver, I would give them a bit more leeway but, unfortunately, it was in a place with a lot of Latin American people so they ought to be able to make a lot better… Granted, it is a chain but, still, that does not mean chains can’t do decent food. Fortunately, for the rest of the trip, I ended up going to better Latin places (including one that won’t be publish for personal reasons) but also went to some non-Latin places. So, I hope you will be back the rest of the week!
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Sorry to hear about your experience at La Carreta. But at least you have a chance to go to Florida. Must be an awesome trip, even though you are on the business trip. It was surprising, like you said, that the food is just average. I guess you win some you lose some:) Anyway, great site. I’ll definitely coming back.
Cheers,
Tana
Tana, welcome! I won’t comment about the pros/cons about going on business trips, hehehehe. But, yes, it was good to leave the office for a couple of days.
I can just picture you tucked squarely in the center of the restaurant trying to look inconspicuous with your SLR. Priceless.
Raidar, come to think about it, that has happened to me. But it was here in Canada. However, since things might not necessarily work the same way over there…
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