EVERETT — Reviewers don’t usually pounce on a restaurant that has just opened; it’s unfair to expect a new business to have all the kinks worked out so soon after starting up.
But if I hadn’t been told that Marimba, in downtown Everett, had been open a little more than a week, I wouldn’t have guessed. Friday night business was good. The wait staff seemed relaxed and unharried, and food and drink orders were taken and delivered promptly.
The only clues to Marimba’s fledgling status were the lack of a liquor license and a sign on the window warning that they could only accept cash and checks until their credit card equipment arrived. Since my visit, the restaurant is now taking credit cards.
The liquor license is going to take a little longer. But no matter: Order a freshly made juice of mango, orange, cantaloupe, pineapple, banana, lime or papaya ($2.95) then struggle to make a choice from the rest of the menu.
Marimba specializes in the cuisine of the Caribbean and South America. Chef Miguel Lanzon, a native of Venezuela, said the emphasis is less on the spice and heat found in Mexican food, and more on the fresh flavors.
My wife and I started by sharing bites of an appetizer and salad. Eggplant dip ($4.99) featured chunks of cooked and marinated eggplant in a salsalike mixture with red onion and served with tostones, which are fried chips of plantain, similar to banana but less sweet. The dip was supposed to come with yucca and sweet potato chips, but we were more interested in the eggplant than the chips anyway.
We also split an avocado salad ($7.49), which perched avocado slices on a bed of greens with a heap of bay shrimp tossed with a creamy dressing.
The flavors Lanzon talked about were demonstrated best in an Ecuadoran dish, Fish Encocado ($15.99), tilapia fillets, served with a stew of green and red peppers, onions and tomatoes in a coconut milk sauce. The tilapia was mild but moist, and was served with white rice and yucca, a sweet-potatolike tuber. What the fish, rice and yucca lacked in their own color and excitement, the sauce more than compensated for.
We also shared a plate of Lechon ($12.99), slices of slow-roasted pork topped with sauted onion and accompanied by rice and black beans. The pork was fork tender and made sweet by the caramelized onions. Also with the pork was a scoop of Venezuelan potato salad, which included chicken, peas and apple and must be one of that nation’s comfort foods.
Other dishes we want to try include chicken baked in adobo sauce ($10.99), a Cuban picadillo ($11.99) of ground beef, raisins and olives, and Prawns Criollo ($12.99), served in a Creole sauce. Diners on Saturday and Sunday can order a bowl of Sancocho ($7.49), a hearty Creole stew that Lanzon said is the social focus for Caribbean cultures that barbecue is to Americans.
Marimba also serves a lunch menu with some of the dinner entrees and a selection of sandwiches, including a Lechon sandwich ($7.99) made with the same pork and onion combo served on a baguette, and a Cuban sandwich ($7.49) with ham, Swiss cheese, pork, mustard and pickles.
Desserts are limited; just a Tres Leches cake ($5.29) and flan ($4.29), but are house-made and delicious.
The atmosphere at Marimba is casual and colorful. Flags of South American and Caribbean nations hang from the ceiling and music from those countries plays over speakers.
Lanzon and his partners, who double as wait staff — Javier Flores and Oscar Flores, brothers from Venezuela, and Pedro Guadamud of Ecuador — were eager to converse with customers and gracious about halting attempts to pronounce the names of dishes.
Lanzon said he intends to expand his menu and rotate dishes as the restaurant matures, but we see no reason to wait to enjoy what’s there now.
Herald restaurant reviewers accept no invitations to review, but readers’ suggestions are always welcome. Reviewers arrive unannounced, and The Herald pays their tabs.
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