100% Natural

Last Friday, 15 June 2007, Tony and I decided to go out to eat. He suggests a place called 100% Natural at Dolphin Mall.

Supposedly, he read a review of the place which wrote that this restaurant was a great place to eat, so we decided to check it out. When we got there I realized that the place wasn’t a restaurant that you’d go to for dinner, it was more of a lunch-type place. But, we weren’t deterred so we went in to eat.

The atmosphere of the place is sort of like a tropical, beach side restaurant with lots of green paint and plants. The center of the restaurant has a tiki hut for the bar area which is pretty much open and visible to the patrons. The Formica tabletops have pictures of bamboo sticks or something that looks similar and instead of a drink or dessert flip book on your table, you have a flip book of health tips, which makes for interesting reading while you eat. Overall, it was clean, and the service was friendly, but nothing to go nuts over.

Now, for the important part—the food!

The best part of our night was the drinks. The restaurant has a huge selection of smoothies. I just asked the waiter to get me his favorite, but from the variety listed on the menu, it seems that you can’t go wrong in choosing a drink. Also, they are HUGE, so it’s sure to last the whole meal. Tony ordered the “California,” which is made of apple, lemon, orange, and pineapple. And I had the “Oasis.” The ingredients include apple, pineapple and strawberry.

For the appetizer, we decided to be daring and went for the “Nopal planchado,” which is grilled nopal (cactus) and panela cheese with a basil dressing and pita bread. Sounds yummy, right? Well, it is definitely an acquired taste, which in our short time in the restaurant, Tony never acquired. I enjoyed it a little more, but it’s definitely something I won’t be ordering again.

For the maincourse I ordered “Quesabrosas,” which I enjoyed immensely. The meal includes three whole-wheat tortillas with cheese, spinach, mushrooms, onion and a 100% natural salad with beans vinaigrette. This was really tasty! I am by no means a vegetarian, but the mushrooms were so meaty tasting that I almost forgot about the absence of meat in my meal.

Tony, on the other hand, didn’t enjoy his experience here at all. He ordered the
“Soy de pollo,” which is their soy hamburger made up of ground chicken breast, onion, garlic and parsley. I didn’t taste his dish, but it looked appetizing. He wasn’t happy with the taste, saying it was not seasoned.

Part of the reason I think we didn’t enjoy the place as much as we might have was because we went there for dinner, and it is really a great place for lunch during a hot day. They also have a breakfast menu, which we might go back and try one day.

I give them kudos for their philosophy, cleanliness, and unique menu.