Cabanas

My friend JD is leaving DC and had his farewell dinner at Cabanas in Georgetown. We all met at the bar, where some of his friends were drinking margaritas, which they said was good, but were tiny. I opted for a bottle of Corona, which unfortunately, was not so cold. We were a group of 8 or so, and we had a lovely table by the window. Before I knew it, someone had ordered guacamole and mango salsa and chips for the table. I generally love guacamole and mango salsa, however, I wasn't feeling it. The guac was bland, it was better with some salt and lime squeezed into it, but nothing to get excited about. I had more hopes for the mango salsa, but much to my disappointment, the mango cubes were hard and dry and I wasn't getting the yummy bursts of flavor my tongue was expecting to dance on it. The arrival of my second beer, which was significantly colder than the first appeased me a bit. My friend ordered a caipirinha, which tasted a lot like a minty margarita than anything else...he was not so happy.

For dinner, I picked the enchiladas with wild boar. I don't know if it was the hunger or the beer or if it was really as delicious as it was, but it was DELISH!! I devoured it, even before I could think to take a picture, it was gone. JD had the el pollo rostizado como a Lima, which is basically pit roasted half chicken and it smelled amazing. I was too busy with my enchilada to steal a taste, but it looked good with yucca fries and salsa verde. We noted that it was served with a HUGE side of mayo, which went untouched. As we were finishing up our dinner, a flamenco dancer appeared with a guitarist and put on a show. I've seen better, but for Georgetown, and after a couple of drinks, it was fun.

Service wasn't stellar, but I rarely expect that when I go to a restaurant with a big group of people. I thought the food was overpriced for the mediocrity and modest portions. Now I was fine with everything, until a couple of days later when I saw that my credit card was charged twice for different amounts. I had put in $41 for my portion of the check, which was correctly charged, however there was a second charge of $90. I know sometimes the card is swiped for the wrong amount, and the server realizes it and the pending charge disappears after a couple of days when they void it. Unfortunately, I found on Tuesday night that both of the charges were processed. I called as soon as I discovered it and spoke to someone who basically said that it was too late (10:00pm) for them to help me that day, however I should call back on Wednesday and ask to speak to the manager. I did just that and after repeating my story to a very nice lady, she asked me to fax her a copy of my credit card statement, which I tried to do, but their machine was not receiving faxes. So I called back on Thursday and asked for an email address where I could send the scanned copy of my statement. Well, the email address was wrong also (I had repeated the spelling of the address back to the manager 3 times). What the heck is going on?! I was unfortunately busy before their dinner time to call them and I know better than to try on a weekend night. I was looking at their reviews online and it's amazing how many people complain of being overcharged or double charged...you'd think they would learn something? Hmmmm. Tasty tasty!

$$

www.dcseafood.com/cabanas/index.htm