Restaurant Review: Macondo's Offers Caribbean Treats

Many students are interested in international dining but have exhausted their tastes for Thai, Mexican, and Oriental food in Harrisonburg. Step up and try the much talked-about but barely-known Macondo's Caribbean Restaurant.

From the outside, Macondo's looks a little shady; bleak, grey brick walls and a simple neon "Open" sign are all that adorn the small restaurant located on the same block as Lowe's in Harrisonburg. Inside, the atmosphere is a lot more welcoming. A small bar sits in one corner while the rest of the single-room dining area is filled with tables and chairs. Sadly, no booths occupy the restaurant, merely a simple downside to the positive surroundings.

On the Tuesday night that I dined at Macondo's, the restaurant was bare with the exception of three other tables with eating patrons. Service arrived promptly to the table, which is to be expected on a slow Tuesday night, carrying a basket of bread and butter to start my date and I off. One would expect a four-page menu to provide a lot of variety, but from the look of things, many of the dishes were very similar with recurring items like Jerk Chicken, Garlic Chicken, Mushroom Chicken and pork chops filling the menu. The seafood and vegetarian selections held more variety however. Snapper in Mojo Sauce, Caribbean Blaze Shrimp, Vegetarian Malaguena Pasta, and Saffron Mussels Pasta are among the dinners available. There is also a very large selection of appetizers and side dishes.

My date and I ordered an appetizer of Tostones, fresh cut and fried plantains served with garlic, mayonnaise sauce. They were fantastic. We also ordered Orange Roughy in Mojo Sauce and the well-represented Jerk Chicken for our entrées. Each entrée at Macondo's comes with a choice of side and soup or salad. The regular entrees ranged from $9.00 to $13.00 and the seafood entrées can be up to $20.00. The Orange Roughy was very delicious but sadly came with no rice or pasta underneath. The Jerk Chicken was somewhat unsatisfactory; it seemed dry and a little cold, I wondered if it had been reheated from earlier in the day.

Dessert was another story however. Flan, Tembleque (coconut pudding with cinnamon on top), and two different fruit dishes, one papaya and the other guava, as well as some New York-style cheesecake. We requested the Papaya Preserve which was a few slices of preserved papaya over a slab of white Caribbean cheese and drizzled with the papaya's own syrup. The fruit and cheese combination turned out to be a delicious and interesting end to our meal.

Macondo's was good, but for the price. I would recommend not making it a habit to eat there. Good food for the most part and a nice atmosphere made for a nice evening. Try it, try new foods, and perhaps you'll find the perfect dish!