Last week I visited the Salsa Restaurant in Southend. Generally the food was good, staff were helpful and while the prices were maybe a little high they weren’t totally unreasonable.
The menu offers Mexican, Portuguese and Italian food. I went there with 2 other people.
for starters I had mushrooms stuffed with pate. the menu did not say what kind of pate was used and I would have liked a little more of it perhaps. the mushrooms were served in a thick crushed tomato and garlic mixture which also had a hint of chilli in it. Ideally the pate could have been slightly more strongly flavoured but I suppose it's hard to please all people and I'm not saying that this dish was bad in any way. I'm just expressing personal preference. One friend had prawns cooked in garlic and white wine and the other had calamari. Both liked their starters.
for main I had a Portuguese casserole containing Tomato, mixed meat, sausage, red kidney beans and spices. I had this with sauté potatoes. This was really quite nice though I would have liked a bit more spice in the sauce. I eat anything so mixed meats to me were not a problem. some of the meat had a kidney kind of taste with a more meat like texture. I wonder if this was heart? Nothing wrong with that as far as I am concerned but if you are fussy it is worth asking. Black pudding was also included in this dish and though I am not worried about this, the black pudding was not mentioned on the menu. in general This was a basic really hearty dish and the quality of the meats was quite high. a bit of black pepper might have improved things a bit, I could have asked for some. The sauté potatoes were also fresh and made from real potato rather than frozen and they were well cooked. One of my friends had Beef in a wine and garlic sauce which and the other had Chicken, bacon and broccoli in creamy Parmesan sauce with penne. both people liked their dishes and commented on freshness and quality of ingredients.
For pudding I had Crème Brulee which was home made and full of rich thick custard. it was meant to be flavoured with baileys and though you could tell the flavour was there it was very much in the background. the waitress advised me that this is because children can eat this pudding so understandably the amount of baileys had to be kept to a minimum. one of my 2 friends also had this pudding and we agree that it was still quite rich and satisfying. It was served with vanilla ice cream which was quite acceptable but not remarkable in any way.
The other person with me had a vanilla cheese cake and again liked it.
to end the meal (there is a posh French term for this I am sure) I had an Irish coffee which was made with good strong fresh coffee and plenty of whiskey with cream. I think there should really be some sugar in it as well but in many places poor quality instant coffee is used so the good fresh coffee was a nice touch. 2 of us had Irish coffee with the third having rum and hot chocolate. Normally rum and hot chocolate is not on the menu but hot chocolate is so making one with rum was not a problem for the staff. this flexibility is certainly a plus point. the measure of rum in the chocolate seemed very generous indeed and I wonder if the required amount of rum accidentally got added twice? no complaints there though!
The waitress who helped us was very friendly and patient. she went through the whole menu with us and we did not feel rushed. She also seemed reasonably knowledgeable about the food and in general she was attentive without being too in your face. we did not have to wait ages for the bill and she calculated our bills separately as well as giving us the price of the lot. this was thorough and it gave us full flexibility in deciding how we should split the bill.
for 3 courses, a bottle of wine and a liqueur coffee each we paid just over £30 a head excluding service charge. Tips go directly to the person who serves you by the way. this is not dirt cheap but you can pay a lot more for a meal of this quality. portions were generous and, importantly, the staff were helpful and knowledgeable. Good staff can make all the difference between a good night and a disaster so examples of good practice are very much worth a mention. I gave this restaurant 8 out of 10 and at least one of my friends thinks I am being a bit harsh. it is true that my criticisms are minor but for me an 8 means very much worth a visit. If anyone else who has visited this restaurant puts together a well justified argument for an extra half mark then maybe I can be persuaded.
Graham Page
Mobile: 07753 607980
Fax: 0870 706 2773
Email: gpage@useit.plus.com
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