Timbao

It was good while it lasted. I just drove by earlier today and noticed another business had taken over the place.

Dinner: Started with guacamole and chips, which comes with the Tomatillo arbol salsa that we enjoyed so much on our first visit. Not a good time of year for guacamole, as the only varieties are the low-​fat type so it’s a more watery guacamole than what we had before. I like their chips, however — unsalted and good. The salsa is a purée, with a steady heat build-​up and great flavor.
The chicken skewers are small cubes of breast meat, glazed with dark rum, pineapple and lots of ginger — enough to make it taste hot. Normally DH doesn’t care for pineapple, but he enjoyed the rest of the sauce with the leftover chips.
The crab sliders were decent, if heavy on the breadcrumbs. But even better are the Jamaican «Stamp and Go» fritters, minced mahi-​mahi with various spices and breadcrumbs, battered and fried golden-​brown. There’s three, surprisingly large. The lime-​scallion cream is drizzled with a smoky red chile sauce, and the heat of both is considerable. Marinated pimento-​green olives come with this, and although not quite as necessary as they are with the sliders, still a tasty addition.
Camarones Tacos — three double small corn tortillas, topped with feta cheese, very lightly sauteed shrimp, rings of bright red mild pimento peppers, fresh cilantro, and a light drizzle of papaya-​habanero sauce. The lime wedges are necessary to give the tacos that final lift, and the sauce isn’t that spicy. A good dish, but not exceptional.
Vegetable Pozole, with chicken. Very light on the pozole — four kernels of hominy? — with big chunks of fresh veggies. The broth was based on canned tomatoes, but surprisingly tasty although it didn’t have much depth. The chicken was a generous amount, actually more than I was expecting. Despite the menu saying breast meat, it was a mix of light and dark chicken meat.
The Sopa de Tortilla was also unbalanced. The broth was strangely smoky-​tasting, as if with an overdose of chipotle chile base added to beef broth (yes, there are other ways to add chipotle chiles besides canned in adobo sauce). And there was much too large an amount of tortilla strips for the small amount of broth, making us conclude that soups are not Timbao’s strong point.
We shared the fried sweet plaintains with coconut gelato, a fairly substantial dessert with five slices of deep-​fried plaintain drizzled with caramel syrup. A little too sweet for our tastes, but good with strong coffee.

This is Montero’s reimagined and it works. Mary and I met here for lunch today. The décor seems largely unchanged and I recognized at least one of the servers from Montero’s. The menu is different and is extensive and varied. I arrived a few minutes before Mary and ordered hot tea to drink. The young woman who helped me was accommodating and helpful, even to the point of stabilizing the tippy table I had chosen.
I was tempted by the spinach salad, the flautas and the tortilla soup, although there were other delicious sounding dishes available. The soup and salad were each $ 6.50. I decided to order the flautas and the tortilla soup. Mary ordered the spinach salad. Our server apologetically told me they were out of tortilla soup and recommended the posole instead. She assured me it was even lighter than the tortilla soup. I decided to get it instead and it was delicious, full of a variety of vegetables in a flavorful broth. Chicken could be added for a nominal sum and I might do that next time. The three flautas were a good sized portion for $ 6 but I had over ordered and could only eat one. The other two I brought home. Mary liked the salad.
Alan and I used to be regulars at Monteros’s the first few years it was open and then the menu changed and we didn’t like the food as well, so we stopped going there. I think we’re going to have to come for lunch or dinner and explore the rest of the menu. They have sangria and I always liked Montero’s margaritas; they have other cocktails as well. They serve brunch on w/​es. I used to love the nopales and eggs. I like the changes that have produced Timbao.

As much as we hated the old menu/​food from Montero’s we decided to give the new Timbao a try. It is AWESOME the food is amazing, the service is great, fast, respectful, courteous. The menu has a mix of Latin american flavors, plates, and entrees hard to find (together) in any other place.
Cooked to perfection, and served in a beautifully decorated place that matches visually what they serve on the table, fusion from all over Latin America.
The Chef is VERY nice and cares a lot about the customer experience. The prices are reasonable and the portions are perfect.
Give this great place a try, you won’t regret it !!
A+++++

We thought we try out the new menu, Timbao, at Club Monteros. Glad we did! We were disappointed with the old menu, but this one rocks! The chicken mole is very yummy and tender and the green rice is so good we often order another side order. The breakfast/​brunch items also are very delicious. So glad we gave this place another go.

The sign on the corner still says «Montero’s» but it is all different inside. No more tired beans/​rice/​greasy meat. Now there is ceviche, empanadas, cuban sandwiches, and yes, fabulous Mexican dishes (Mole, Si!). Even better, they now have a real wine list (Spanish Albarino, Argentine Malbec, Cali Zin) in addition to killer cocktails. The dance club scene is still strong on weekends, now with much better food and wine.

Quite nice overall. I loved my plate of chicken with mole poblano.

We thought we were going for Mexican and wound up in a fusion paradise. The name is changed and the menu is described as tropical. The menu is very eclectic and I look forward to going back and trying other dishes.
The chips and guacamole was delicious. The chef has a deft hand with all of the sauces/​salas. Taquitos were tasty. The carnitas verde enchiladas were outstanding. excellent service, fresh ingredients and delicious food. It turns into a dance club at night. 3.5 stars.

Stopped in at Timbao’s with a friend tonight after walking up and down Solano trying to decide where to go.
I was really impressed by the atmosphere right when we walked in. It’s a really cute little place. I also noticed that some people were having some sort of celebration in the back room, which looked fun.
The service was excellent! Everyone was warm and friendly. The food was really good too. We ordered a bunch of tapas and it ended up being really filling. The plates are well priced for the amount of food you get. We got the crab cakes, mussels, mahi-​mahi fritters, camaron con coco and causa limena. My favorite was the camaron con coco and the mahi — mahi.
My only small complaint is that some of the mussels had that fishy taste and maybe could have been cleaned a bit more.
Overall the service and presentation and taste were pretty fantastic. I’d like to try everything on the menu and would definitely consider hosting an event or celebration here. I’ll be back for sure.

We ate dinner last night and had an amazing ceviche. the beans here are insane, whichever type you have. The Caparihna is muddled with mint and fresh strawberries and is the best I’ve had. Brunch here is also phenomenol, their chilequiles are to die for. they are new so check them out.

Fantastic! Fresh, tasty, friendly.

Timbau is the new name of Montero’s Café. We were lucky enough to catch their grand opening tonight.
They call their cuisine «tropical» with influences from Mexico, as well as Central and South America.
We were pleased by the drink menu, which included several tasty looking cocktails. Wifey had the sangria which was sweet and tasted like punch. I love Michelada and was happy to see it on the menu. The combination of beer, tomato juice, fresh lime, and tapatio is spicy, refreshing, and wonderful.
Our waiter suggested we start with chips, salsa, and guacamole, all of which were fresh, home made, and tasty.
We ordered the fried plantains which were super sweet if insufficiently crispy. The black beans they came with were smokey and wifey declared them her favorite part of our meal.
The Ceviche Tostadas included fish, squid, and shrimp. I liked the assorted veggies that came with it, but the dish was a little too fishy. Ceviche needs super fresh seafood to work.
We also shared the seared tuna with mango papaya salsa. The fish was cooked perfectly and tasted super fresh. The accompanying salad and corn cakes were both pretty soggy.
The service was excellent, with multiple staff checking in with us through the meal to make sure everything was just right.
Dinner for two including 2 drinks was $ 60 including tax and tip.
I’d definitely come back.