As waiters pass by with trays for other diners, you're tempted to order the seviche for your living room, the passion fruit mousse for your entry hall. They'd certainly brighten your living space. Oddly, the most beautiful dishes here are also the most luscious. The seviche is a whirlwind of juicy, briny bits of chopped fish and shellfish, tart balancing sweet, soft against crisp. Among entrees, salmon tamal is wonderful, as is the dark, rich mole, thinner than the Mexican original, spooned over stewed baby chicken.
Jerk chicken is skinless and boneless, neither as crusty nor as fiery as the Jamaican original.
It's a bit effete. The best entree, Puerto Rico's asopao, is close to its tradition, a pale yellow and nearly creamy shrimp and crab stew, hauntingly aromatic. The color show carries through to desserts, particularly the airy, passion fruit charlotte striped with chocolate and caramel, and the chewy, gooey, chocolate bread pudding with a cap of glazed sliced bananas.