Talara

I recently ventured over to Talara, a new Nuevo Latino restaurant you may have noticed that opened in Harbor East on President Street. I wasn't sure what to expect because I don't know many good Nuevo Latino restaurants in Baltimore and I was worried that the self-described "South Beach" atmosphere might mean the owners want to place more of an emphasis on the bar than the food. I was however pleasantly surprised by the high quality of the food. The restaurant was crowded, but I only waited for 15 minutes without reservations. I got a drink at one of the two bars and was seated at a large window-side table.
The mojitos were a little adverturous with flavors like pomegranite and key lime. I had the pomegranite, which was a little on the sweet side, but the drink had fresh mint and was relatively good overall.
The food however was even better. I went with a group of friends and we all split four tapas. We had a lime and jalepeno flavored shrimp ceviche (ceviche seems to be the restaurant's specialty), which was good and an asian style ahi tuna ceviche, which was amazing. The tuna ceviche was very well flavored and was almost sushi-like, but nonetheless noticably ceviche.
We split a seafood paella, which was very well seasoned and contained some of the best Spanish rice I've ever had. We had a pulled pork and manchengo sandwich that was delicious! The pork was well cooked and perfectly accented by the cheese and bread. We also had a tender pork shank that could have used a little more seasoning, although it was deliciously juicy nonetheless. All of the seafood we had was very fresh and it seemed like there was an emphasis on truly high caliber preparation.
We skipped dessert, only because we wanted to walk down the street and get some bubble tea at Teavolve. The atmosphere is fun and lively and the service could not have been any better. I highly recommend this new and creative restaurant!!
On the upside, Talara brings a new, inventive food concept to Baltimore and it does it well; on the downside the music is a little loud and it can be difficult to hear.