LAS CARETTAS – Oysters Mania!

Las Carretas is one of the most haphazardly cheerful chill-out places I know. I mean, just look at the place. The moment you step in, your eyes will be riveted at all the colourful Mexican-themed decor items everywhere.

Yes, everywhere – from the tables, walls, staircase, ceilings and almost every available space in the premise! Every item spins a story about the place, about Chef Victor Siow and his incredibly committed team.

On the staircase wall, endless framed published articles about Las Carretas are hung from the ground floor all the way up to the first floor. And that’s a lot of history, believe me. But then, Las Carretas is in its 20th year now – so just wait for the balloons and champagne ya!

Meanwhile, besides their regular Mexican-style dishes, from this month (until stocks last), fresh air-flown Pacific Oysters from Japan, commonly known as Miyagi Oysters are making an appearance in Las Carretas.

Start the party with some Oyster Shooters where a whole oyster is submerged in a shooter of Bloody Mary. And then there’s more Bloody Mary to properly down that oyster and feel the warmth spread through your throat and chest. It’s a good way to drown your sorrows, really.

*Prices of oysters quoted below are for half dozen oysters

The purists will love the Oysters Originale (RM57.90++) – served on bed of ice, perfect with lemons, Tabasco sauce or sambal! There’s something incredibly decadent about slurping fresh raw oysters and here you can even do it with some sambal belacan. No kidding , good old Malaysian sambal belacan which actually pairs darn well with fresh oysters.

If you prefer your oysters cooked, there are 3 other variations below which will satiate most cravings. The oysters are all cooked lightly to retain their natural sweetness and tender texture.

Crusted Oysters (RM63.90++) – lightly simmered on charbroiler, topped with Mediterranean crust with confit of cherry tomatoes and aragula pesto

Oysters Florentine (RM63.90++) – topped with saute’ed creamy spinach and home-smoked chicken breast bits

Oysters Habanero (RM63.90++) – lightly braised in habanero and coriander broth and served with 2 pieces tortilla

My favourite is the Oysters Florentine. The creamy spinach works really well with the smooth briney oyster and those smokey bits of chicken

Carpet Bag Steak (RM78.90++) – 160g of charbroiled air-flown grass-fed beef tenderloin stuffed with an oyster drizzled with Hollandaise presented on a light blue cheese sauce, sauted zucchinis, confit of cherry tomatoes and mushroom croquette with roasted garlic aioli. The whole package had items which complemented each other very well. Slicing through the tenderloin and sweet briney oyster was a breeze and eating them was sublime.

Of course I still had to have my all-time favourite in Las Carretas, their Mussels in Habanero & Coriander (RM25.90). The black mussels lightly simmered in habanero and coriander creamy broth were as good as ever and we had to order 2 plates of garlic bread to mop up all that delicious broth.

LL couldn’t resist the Beef Quesadillas (RM29.90) – a generous serving of folded baked flour tortilla stuffed with Monterey Jack cheese, onions, bell peppers, jalapenos, topped with salsa, sour cream, guacamole

Beef Quesadilla

Costilla de Cordero (RM33.90) – this turned out to be DL’s favourite: NZ lamb loin chops with chimmi-churri sauce, fresh salad, topped with creamy ranch dressing and buttery baked potato.

An excellent dish to go with drinks: Alas de Pollo Frito (RM21.90) – 8 pieces of deep-fried spicy chicken wings with Southern hot sauce. Actually I liked them without the hotsauce – those wings were so perfectly marinated!

So, all you oyster lovers, hop over to Las Carretas soon to have your fill before the stocks run out! While you are there, have some tacos and enchiladas as well!

 
LAS CARRETAS
29 Jalan USJ10/1F
Taipan Business Centre
47620 USJ Subang
Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-5637-3058