Rosa Mexicano: National Harbor

Rosa Mexicano is an upscale modern Mexican restaurant located at the National Harbor outside of DC.  The decor inside includes blue tile fountains, majestic flags, and Dia de los Muertos masks.  One wall was entirely windows looking out onto the harbor itself.  As we ate our dinner we watched the sun set over the water.

Our meal began with freshly made guacamole made tableside. A simple recipe of tomato, onion, jalepeno, and cilantro served with a cute little straw basket of mini corn tortillas, crunchy tortilla chips, and 2 kinds of thin salsas in varying degrees of heat to your liking. So fresh and chunky.  Perfect mixture of heat and avocado with the veggies and the warmth of the tortillas and the crunch of the chips.

Fresh guac and chips

My entree was a butterflied snapper served whole (minus the head) and pan sauteed, served with a chile garlic sauce and a tomatillo cilantro sauce, as well as habanero marinated red onions and a slice avocado. The fish was perfectly cooked, still with the bones mind you, which probably added some flavor.  The cilantro sauce bright green and fresh and the chile sauce with just a bit of a bite.

Edgar ordered a couple appetizers for his meal.  One being Berkshire Pork Belly Tacos.  These mini corn tortilla tacos were topped with tomato and cilantro.  Berkshire pork is about as good as it gets and pork belly is sweet and fatty, so full of savory flavor.

The other appetizer being duck tortilla pie.  Layers of roasted pulled duck (nice and smokey) and mini corn tortillas topped with yellow pepper habanero cream sauce (nice and spicy).

Now you might be asking how does pork belly and duck fit into the diet of someone who's all pesca-vegetarian and organic and whatnot.  Well, sometimes, you see things on a menu that you can't get just anywhere and you know they're going to be tasty and you think, "I've gotta try those cuz who knows when I'll get the chance to again?"  So that's how it fits.

Ok.  Ahem...Moving on...

Along with our entrees we were served a bowl of rice and a bowl of refried black beans with Chihuahua cheese.  We also had a lovely little pitcher of a raspberry sangria with diced apples.

For dessert (by this time we were so stuffed but we couldn't pass it up) we had churros which are basically elongated donuts...crispy on the outside, soft and doughy on the inside, smothered with cinnamon and sugar and served with 3 sauces, a raspberry puree, a creamy caramel, and a spicy Mexican chocolate.

                                              Oh,  so heavenly!!!  To the moon and back!

 

I'd definitely give Rosa Mexicano a 5 star (or 5 Yumma) rating!  Can't wait to go back and try more stuff on their menu!