Friday, October 31, 1997
Limbo’s sets the stage for cuisine with a Caribbean flair
RESTAURANT: New spot on Third Street doesn’t achieve
authenticity
By Tim Yun
Daily Bruin Contributor
Crystalline water, white sandy beaches, reggae music and exotic
cuisine. Jerk chicken, pina coladas and mini paper umbrellas afloat
tropical drinks. While it is seemingly impossible to gratify the
hunger for an island paradise, the newly opened Limbo’s Restaurant
on Third Street attempts to bring that little bit of the Caribbean
to the West Side.
Decked out with multicolored walls, bizarre statues and live
steel-drum music, the restaurant seems out of place amidst the
hustle and bustle of West Hollywood. Though festively designed, the
interior layout and decor appears a bit too contrived to achieve a
credible Caribbean ambiance.
However, in its short existence, Limbo’s has garnered a steady
clientele. During the week, the clients vary, ranging from the
trendy, hip college crowd to the more mature, older patrons. On the
weekends, champagne brunch (which is just a slightly modified
version of the dinner menu) provides a more mellow atmosphere.
Though the ambiance reflects great efforts toward Caribbean
authenticity, the food fails to live up to the atmosphere.
With brunch comes a choice of a relatively uneventful fruit
salad or the soup of the day. Though generally bland, the
sweet-potato-with-ginger soup provides a generous helping of
ginger, which adds a delayed fiery kick that may be a bit too spicy
for those with sensitive taste buds.
Despite the unimpressive first course, the appetizers manage to
provide the meal with redeeming value. The lobster and crab
Dungeness crab cakes, served with a fresh mixed salad, are fried to
golden-brown perfection. The outer crust of each cake provides the
perfect shell, allowing the stuffing to retain its texture and
consistency. Chef Christopher Hylton creates a flavorful – but not
overpowering – entree, flecked with a mixture of spices, fresh
bread crumbs and crab meat. Tossed with the house dressing of
vinaigrette combined with a hint of guava juice, the accompanying
salad complements the crab cakes with a light citrusy taste.
The main course, risotto with grilled vegetables, is, unlike the
crab cakes, more pleasing to the eye than the taste buds. A medley
of grilled mixed vegetables consisting of squash, carrots and
leeks, drizzled in a light tomato-based sauce, makes the dish
colorful but lacking in substance. Hidden underneath the expertly
charred vegetables is basically a flavorless lump of fried risotto.
Although crispy on the outside, the patty has the same consistency
and taste of day-old oatmeal.
What Limbo’s lacks overall in the entrees, it certainly makes up
for in the dessert menu. With a wide variety ranging from the most
mundane to the exotic, the dessert menu is the definite highlight
of the meal.
The banana creme pie with rum caramel sauce is not the average
slice of pie. Piled atop a perfectly flaky crust, the whipped cream
sweetened by natural sugars from the bananas and combined with
sweet rum sauce completes a dessert that is not too heavy or too
sweet.
The banana mango creme brulee, encrusted in a hardened shell of
caramelized sugar, lives up to the reputation of other dessert
items. A bit heavier than the creme pie, the brulee balances
consistency and sweetness. Although the banana flavor overshadows
the hint of blended mango, its taste is not overwhelming and
provides a pleasing finishing touch to brunch.
Limbo’s does not quite fit the bill as an authentic
Caribbean-style meal. With prices ranging from $12 to $16 for a
dinner entree alone, the meal might be a bit on the steep side for
those on a tight student budget. However, for after-dinner coffee
and dessert, or to enjoy the rhythms of live steel drums, Limbo’s
is definitely worth a visit.