Rumbo al Sur
4239 Park Blvd., Oakland, CA
http://www.rumboalsurrestaurant.com/menus/
Review date: May 2012

Rumbo al Sur has been much anticipated, a sibling to the popular A Cote in Oakland's Rockridge neighborhood. It's a limited all-small-plates menu, with chef Matthew Colgan taking his inspiration from Latin America. 

Formerly the location of the Cal-Mex restaurant Compadres, the once-open, sunny-colored space has been broken up into smaller rooms with rusty-colored walls and dark wood tables and chairs. There is now valet parking (shared with Bellanico and the Thai restaurant across the street). 

The waitress was well-versed on the menu. She was helpful in advising Inez that the BBQ ribs she was thinking of ordering, were rubbed with a spicy rub. Inez is always paranoid about spicy food, so she ordered the swordfish instead.

Told that both the salad and soup were large enough to share, we ordered the mango salad and Sopa Azteca. The mango salad was a combination of baby spinach and arugula, sprinkled with shredded cheese, coated with a lime juice dressing, and accompanied by narrow shreds of ripe mango and caramelized cashews. We were surprised Inez liked the salad so much, she had a full share of it. Carlos didn't care for it much, while I thought it was pleasant and unoffensive if not exciting.

The soup was really a Sopa de Tortilla, full of chicken shreds and deep-fried strips of their housemade corn tortillas. Many restaurants use a basic clear chicken broth. Rumbo makes this soup as it should be made: with tomatoes and two or three kinds of hot chiles, roasted until the skins are blistered. The chiles and tomatoes are peeled, then pureed with onion, garlic, cilantro into a smooth thick sauce. The soup was spicy, rich with roasted chili flavor – the best of this type we've ever had. Just for this one soup, we would be willing to return here.

I also ordered the duck empanadas to share. A nice pastry forms two good-sized empanadas (pasties) with a duck picadillo filling. There's little 'filler' here; it's a good helping of shredded duck meat in a chile-raisin seasoning, with a small amount of tomato sauce to moisten it. It's served with a sour cream-cilantro dip, which I used lavishly but Carlos doesn't like. We judged them on the same level as the salad: good, but not worth going out of your way for.

For my entree I picked the lamb birria. A simple braised lamb with heirloom Rancho Gordo beans, I thought a side of the coconut rice would go well with it, and so it did. The coconut rice is long grain, a little hard, but flavorful with rich coconut cream and a good dose of salt. A small order of their housemade corn tortillas is served with it. They're served warm, and although not my favorite version of this traditional bread, were adequate if rather heavy. Bauer thought the birria was the best entrée on the menu when he reviewed Rumbo, but although tasty, none of us considered it remarkable. We thought Inez's fish entrée more interesting and far superior.

Inez's swordfish was a good-sized, fresh pan-sauteed filet, served over black-eyed peas with a mango salsa. The more substantial menu items come in oval bowls, and hers was useful in corralling a delicious sauce of shallot, turmeric, and coconut cream. Carlos liked the taste he took, and commented this would also go well with the coconut rice.

He chose the turkey enchiladas in mole sauce. A crema enriches one side of the dish, and stewed black beans accompany it. Unfortunately, he decided he just doesn't care for mole sauce no matter who makes it, so after a few bites we switched plates. Although this wasn't the mole of my dreams, it was decent enough and even better with the crema. This was a red mole (there are many different recipes; see Wiki's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mole_(sauce)). 

The servings aren't enormously sized but the plates are quite filling. We judged Rumbo's food good, if on the heavy side. Inez finished up with a pineapple-mango-coconut sorbet, but didn't care for the icy slushiness of its texture. Carlos had a cappuccino, nicely done.

Service has vastly improved, a positive of the new ownership. It was as prompt and efficient as it was cheerful. We've gone to A Cote three times, and consider the service more impressive than the erratic food. When A Cote is good, it does a great job, but we always seem to encounter certain dishes, and their desserts in general, that make you wonder why a good chef would bother putting them on the menu. We feel that Rumbo, although a different style than A Cote, suffers similar flaws. 

With such a limited menu I can't say we'd come back here very often, but that soup, and the fish entree, are worth coming back for, as long as they or something like them is still on the menu. Michael Bauer of the SF Chronicle reviewed Rumbo back in February 2012 (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/05/FDH81MTMQ5.DTL&type=printable) and although some dishes have changed, his 2-star rating would still hold, in our opinion.

Three people, dinner: three starters, one side, three entrees, one dessert, two drinks, with tip was a reasonable $134.