A Nuevo Latino Experience

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by Zach Etkind
on Friday, December 23, 2011 12:00 AM

The combination of damp cold weather and no central heating leaves most people in Shanghai struggling to stay comfortable in the winter. Luckily, the newly opened restaurant Rico Rico on the south bund hopes to pack enough hot Latin flavor to keep people warm this holiday season. With a Spanish manager and a Mexican Chef, Rico Rico offers Nuevo Latino cuisine, which is best described as a modern fusion of the two countries’ cuisine.

As you walk into the restaurant, a warm red glow and soft Latin music immediately sets the mood; cozy and intimate. The first floor centers around the sleek black bar and dance floor, while customer seating is allocated to the second floor and its expansive views of Pudong. Most of the décor has an elegant and contemporary minimalist vibe, except for the long-horn bull skulls on the walls which would seem more appropriate in a Texas steakhouse than a high-end tapas restaurant.Seeing as language is one of the cultural aspects that all Latin countries share, the manager Geraldo decided to add a literary theme to the dining experience, bringing the menus to the table within Spanish language novels. While a clever idea, the novels made the table quite cluttered. The menu itself is laid out as if it were a book, with the starters referred to as the prologue while the following courses are each given different chapter names.  For the prologue, we were served the Mint and Shrimp Spring Rolls (RMB60), Beef Tartar with Quail Egg (RMB60), and Steamed Mussels and Clams with Crispy Squid (RMB68). The highlight of these was definitely the beef tartar, which was served in cone-shaped taco shells and topped with a quail egg; the raw egg adding a certain amount of creaminess to each bite. The steamed mussels and clams seemed underwhelming, and lacked their usual fresh, salty “ocean” flavor. For the main course, referred to on the menu as Chapter 2: From the Land and Sea, we started with the Beef Short Rib (RMB148). The rib must have been well marbled in fat as the meat came out fabulously juicy and tender.  Another option, the Pork Cheeks served with Aired Potatoes and Torched Apple (RMB258), somehow managed to be even more succulent than the short rib; the type of ‘melt-in-your-mouth’ moment every diner yearns for. The rest of the dish, however, couldn’t live up to the pork cheek’s high standard; the aired potatoes tasted rather bland and the pieces of torched apple were too small to add any significant flavor to the dish.

While some of the restaurant’s stylistic elements can seem a little out of place (bull skulls on the wall) and superfluous (menus inside of novels), Geraldo has still managed to create an inviting venue for anyone looking for some Latin spice to counteract the winter chill. If he can continue to focus on providing a warm atmosphere and excellent quality meat dishes, it should remain a welcome addition to the Shanghai culinary scene.