Macondo

Occasion: Huijin's birthday dinner, with Yining and Melissa
Location: Macondo, on E Houston and Allen (macondonyc.com)
Edibles: clam ceviche; chorizo and shrimp; pork belly flatbread; mofongo de pulpo (mashed plantains and octopus), feijoada (a Portuguese stew) and duck tacos; two desserts to share - chocolate cake filled with dulce de leche and French toast stuffed with lemon cream cheese

Musings: I've passed this place a hundred times and never felt the urge to go in. That sign, maybe - it just looks cheesy.

But now that I've been, I'm definitely going back. The reason? Their awesome and totally addictive pork belly flatbread with tomatoes, lima beans and mahon cheese. It's super crispy and savory... just wonderful. If we hadn't ordered so much other food, I'd've insisted we get another one.

If the flatbread was the winner of the table, the feijoada was the loser. It was a special, not on the regular menu. One of the most expensive dishes of the meal at $15, the stew just sort of muddy and didn't have any depth or pizzazz.

Everything else was tasty. The portion on the duck tacos is perhaps a bit small and hard to share, but they were delicious. I also really liked the clam ceviche. Very refreshing, and it's a generous serving.

The French toast dessert (torrija) is HUGE - even with four of us eating it, we barely made a dent. Both it and the chocolate cake (brazo de gitano) were very, very sweet. I personally would have had trouble finishing a whole dessert by myself but it was great to have just a few bites.

With a round of cocktails, tons of great food and two shared desserts, our dinner came out to a very reasonable $40 per person including tip and tax.