Glocally Newark

You’ll find Vivo Tapas Lounge tucked away on Jackson Street, just off of Ferry. The address is 167 Ferry, but the entrance is actually on Jackson. And what a find it is.. for me this is another first time visit, again having no idea what to expect. With the weather being just perfect, there were rows of tables lined up along the sidewalk, as well as a live band set up right in the street ! Apparently it was also cigar night so there was a promotional table set up for Jimenez cigars.

I went inside to check out the dining room, and it was really spectacular – exposed brick walls with great arches behind the bar which framed shelves of liquor, with a translucent background with alternating colors. Definitely looks like a hot spot for Friday/Saturday night adventures. Stay tuned for a follow up blog on that one.

For dinner, I went with the Restaurant week special- $35 prix fixe menu including salad, appetizer, entree, one drink (house wine or domestic beer), coffee, and dessert. I’d say that’s a pretty good deal, considering the fact that a drink is included, as well as dessert. Again, the only problem is figuring out where to fit it all.

Salad – Apple Manchego – strips of crisp apples and manchego cheese, you almost couldn’t tell which was which until you took a bite. I never had such a salad before, but it was really great, actually my favorite dish of the night – the blending of textures plays a very important role here.

Apps – Garlic Shrimp , Lobster Quesedilla – JeNN went with the Garlic Shrimp, and I with the Lobster Quesedilla. Shrimp was flavorful and juicy, the garlic just about right, not too overpowering. The Lobster Quesedilla came with a tangy orange sauce which made the dish. Generally when things get wrapped in tortillas, sometimes the flavors tend to get lost, but the tangy sauce was a nice compliment.

Entree – Filet of Sole over linguine – I have to say this was the least spectacular of all the dishes. The fish was cooked well, but after the ealier tart and tangy dishes, this one seemed a bit bland. Some kind of tomato sauce over the linguine, but the actual taste was indecipherable. JeNN went with a rigatoni, and that seemed a bit bland as well. If you’re coming here for Restaurant week, maybe try one of the other entree choices.

Dessert – Dessert was a rather large slice of cake (considering the amount of food already consumed at this point), crumbly but not too dry, hint of lemon which was nice. The cappuccino was well done as well, a nice compliment for the cake.

This place had a vibe that was pretty nice, the live band was playing on and off throughout the night – it was pretty much all salsa and a few cha-chas thrown in there. There were no dancers in the crowd tonight, but I’ll be back soon enough with some salsa reinforcements – the live band is there every Wednesday.

Vivo Tapas Lounge is located at:

167 Ferry St., Newark, NJ