Lexington, KY - Billed as a fritanga - a designation used in Nicaragua for restaurants that specialize in authentic, home-cooked Nicaraguan cuisine - the Nicaraguan Latin Grill is a colorful eatery just outside of downtown Lexington on Versailles Road.
The uninformed assumption many hungry bellies will make, this gringo's included, is that anything edible hailing from south of the Rio Grande comes wrapped in a corn tortilla shell, soft or fried, smothered in salsa.
This is not the case, and it's a travesty most American taste buds are not exposed to the vast and varied world of Latin American cuisine, especially Nicaraguan.
Let's start with salsa. There isn't any. When the basket of tortilla chips is brought to the table at Nicaraguan Latin Grill, it is accompanied by a quartet of different dips and sauces: red and green chili sauces, a mixture of pickled jalapenos and onion, and the ubiquitous chimichurri - a paste of fresh parsley, garlic and olive oil, used as a dipping sauce and meat marinade.
You won't find fajitas, chimichangas or burritos on the restaurant's small, but gripping menu (if you look hard, though, you can find some tacos and enchiladas). You will find yuca (cassava root), tajada frita (thinly sliced
fried green plantains), queso frita (fried cheese), tamales, maduro (sweet plantains), vigoron (pork rinds) and cabbage salad (not lettuce), as well as gallo pinto (a traditional Nicaraguan dish of beans and rice cooked together). A handful of these dishes are mixed and matched for combinations priced between $6 8.
Entree items include carne asada (charbroiled beef), carne desmenuza (shredded beef), bistec encebollado (fried steak with onions and tomatoes), and a few other chicken and pork dishes - all priced between $8 10. Specialty entrees include churrasco (charbroiled beef tenderloin with chimichurri sauce - or with a jalapeno sauce) and a handful of shrimp dishes (with a garlic, tomato or jalapeno sauce, or breaded) priced between $12 13, as well as the colossal fritanga sampler platter ($20). All dishes come with a choice of beans and rice with plantains, yuca or slaw salad.
The restaurant also has a healthy selection of daily specials, along with a few sandwiches and specialty soups (oxtail, tripe).
After much deliberation, my guests and I decided to go for a Nicaraguan free for all, ordering the sampler, an order of camarones a la jalapena (shrimp in a jalapeno sauce) and a pork roast marinated in chimichurri sauce (a special for the evening). All of the food was surprisingly good, though some food items - the delicious churrasco,
in particular - were more memorable than others. For those unfamiliar with this style of food, I highly
recommend the sampler (which feeds two) for a survey of some of the best food the Nicaraguan Latin Grill offers.
Our bill, prior to tipping, came to just $54.54, which included three entrees (one of which was the sampler) and three soft drinks. It was a large amount of delicious food, and as of press time, I'm still full. Though we dared not order any, the restaurant also has a small selection of desserts, such as rum cake and rice pudding. If all goes according to plan, the restaurant should have a beer and liquor license in the coming months.
The Nicaraguan Latin Grill is festively decorated with bright colors and has a staff just as warm as its decor ready to answer any questions about the menu or make a suggestion.