Long Island Restaurants

Gallo Tropical

It was Saturday night at Gallo Tropical, a popular Colombian restaurant in Patchogue. Affable host Dave Bustamante was making the rounds of tables, greeting old customers and welcoming new ones to the place he co-owns with his parents and sister.

"Have you ever been here before?" he asked us. We told him we had, but that was before the restaurant had added an attractive new dining space, more than doubling its size. On this particular night, the room's French doors were closed, because it was drizzling outside. A week later, though, I found them thrown open to the street, the room washed by an evening breeze.

Meals here are long, leisurely affairs. The menu has only three appetizers, my favorite being grilled Colombian chorizo, hot and glistening slices of spicy sausage served with a grilled arepa (corn cake). Empanadas (turnovers) were filled with beef and potatoes - more potatoes than beef, but they were good, anyway. So, too, was the chicharron con arepa, a fatty but nonetheless appealing pork rind. Everything paired well with Bustamante's avocado sauce, a condiment we used throughout the meal. Made with pureed avocado, jalapeño, cilantro, onion, scallion and lime juice, it was something the restaurant should consider patenting and offering for sale.

Because Gallo Tropical is Colombian, it almost goes without saying that its rotisserie chicken is a specialty. I found it juicy and well burnished. I also relished its version of arroz con pollo, made with shredded chicken. For me, it evoked Chinese fried rice - but with a Latin accent.

The combination known as a "mountain" platter was a mountain of food, indeed. Heaped on the plate were chicharron, a surprisingly good grilled steak, a fried egg, rice, beans, avocado and - a favorite - grilled sweet plantain. A grilled loin of pork, on the restaurant's "low-carb" menu, turned out to be surprisingly smoky and tender. A friend had ordered grilled tongue. I would have preferred it in a tomato onion Creole sauce rather than plain, for as good as it tasted, it lacked succulence.

My camarones al ajillo (shrimp scampi), on the other hand, was an outstanding dish, the plump shellfish bathed in a creamy cilantro-sparked garlic sauce. Shrimp ceviche - raw shrimp with onions, tomato and cilantro that had been "cooked" by its citrus marinade - was spirited and refreshing.

I know of many Mexican restaurants that could take a few lessons from the fajitas served here. We ordered ours done with steak, chicken and shrimp; every bite was infused with the flavor of the grill. Bustamante, the consummate businessman, not only serves several Mexican dishes; he has a creditable Cuban sandwich, as well. And - how non-Colombian is this? - he also offers a grilled chicken gyro. The thing is, it's a good one.

There is only one dessert to get - five-milk flan. Bustamante told us it was an original invention and then challenged us to name all five milks. I was able to come up with four - condensed, evaporated, coconut and heavy cream. The fifth he wouldn't divulge, but after several bites of the lush and creamy finale, I ventured a guess at mascarpone cheese.

"Close enough," he said, telling us he had used a Spanish version of cream cheese.

He is justifiably proud of that flan - and of Gallo Tropical's newly enhanced appearance. The restaurant fits nicely into a downtown area whose once-sleepy dining scene gives every indication of being in full blossom.

Reviewed by Joan Reminick, 9/8/06.

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