Mambo Restaurante Nuevo Latino

Head chef Pablo Robaina is out to change minds. “Many people think Latin American food is just beans and rice,” he said in a 2008 interview with the Ottawa City Guide, “but there are so many other ingredients that can blow your mind with flavour.” Though the restaurant’s small plates, such as rollos de pollos, tacos del norte, and chorizo tostado, stay true to the chef’s Mexican and Venezuelan roots, Robaina also looks to other continents for culinary inspiration in such dishes as the Spanish-style tapas and the curried rack of lamb. Since being opened by the creators of Kinki Asian Fusion in 2007, Mambo Restaurante Nuevo Latino has embodied a multicultural culinary tradition as if it were built on the international date line.