While writing up my review for the opening event at Red Lulu Cucina & Tequila Bar, I already made mention that I would have to go back for a full meal so that I could give my loyal readers a true review of Red Lulu’s food.  At the spur of the moment, I ended up in South Norwalk at Red Lulu’s last night in a group of 8 distinguished people from Greenwich.  The good news: not only did I try the food at Red Lulu’s, but I tried a large variety of the food and heard the feedback from the people in my party.  The bad news: I was not able to take any photos because I did not have a camera with me, but I am not too upset about this since the lighting at Red Lulu’s does not make for nice photos anyway.

Red Lulu’s Ambiance & Decor:

I know that I already touched on this topic in my initial review of Red Lulu’s, but I feel the need to add a few observations after being there on a less crowded evening.  This is not to say that Saturday night was not full (because there was definitely a nice buzz of people and all of their tables were filled), but it was much more manageable compared to the opening night when you literally could barely move and Red Lulu’s was full to the limits of the fire code.  The crowd was a bit more upscale compared to the crowd we passed while walking past other bars and restaurants in SoNo.  The ambiance is very Manhattan, for Fairfield County, with a glow of red against a lowly lit restaurant.  There was a large party seated with an impressive silver candelabra adorning their table, while our party of 8 sat in an alcove with a red glass chandler overhead and surrounded by red textured wallpaper made of a combination of silky and velvety materials.  Red Lulu’s still projected music videos onto a large wall, similar to what they did at the opening party, so I guess this is a permanent feature.  An area for Red Lulu’s to improve on is how they mark their bathrooms.  The image on the women’s door versus the men’s door leads to a great deal of confusion, so much so that when I saw anyone ask a waiter how to get to the bathroom, the waiter would always respond with “let me show you.”  In fact, there was even a staff member standing near the bathrooms to try and make sure that people went into the correct door.  However, when I was in the ladies room, a man still walked in and said “oh sorry, I had no idea which door to go in!”

Red Lulu’s Drinks & Appetizers:

Now onto the most important part of the review – the food!  Upon sitting down at our table we were given a basket of warm tortilla chips with three different salsas (a creamy smoky flavored salsa, a red salsa and a green salsa) along with a bowl of grapefruit and mint infused shaved ice with a shot of tequila poured on top.  The freshly baked chips were delicious – light, crunchy and perfectly salted.  But the real treat at the start of the meal was the bowl of shaved ice with the vibrant citrus & mint flavors that really popped and cleansed your palate.  We ordered several pitchers of margaritas and the waitress asked us if we wanted the rims of our glasses covered in half sugar and half salt since that is their standard, which I found to be a very interesting combination compared to the typical all salt or all sugar rims.  The margaritas were decent, but a bit heavy on the alcohol, but keep in mind that I tend to like fruity drinks with just a touch of alcohol.  Everyone else in our party liked the margaritas a lot.

For appetizers we ordered: ceviche, steak tacos, steak enchiladas, oysters, chorizo nachos and two orders of lobster guacamole.  The ceviche is served as three different ceviches, each in a separate chilled glass, on a plate covered in popcorn.  I am  not much of a ceviche person, but the presentation was delightful and everyone enjoyed the variety of flavors.  The steak tacos were decent, though they were nothing compared to the steak enchiladas.  Red Lulu’s steak enchiladas are covered in a mole sauce with hints of espresso and chocolate, which really makes for one flavorful bite after another.  The oysters were fresh and good, but nothing particularly notable.  The chorizo nachos (a layer of chorizo covered with a layer of melted cheese) tasted great and had a cute presentation, but everyone agreed that the way the plate was arranged made it very difficult to eat, especially as the cheese cooled off and hardened.  My favorite appetizer was the lobster guacamole – a perfect combination of avocado and spices topped with large chunks of lobster – I don’t know if I can go back to eating plain guacamole ever again – what a genius dish!

Red Lulu’s Entrees

Two of the people in our party had gone to a tasting at Red Lulu’s earlier in the week where they tasted everything on the menu (and even some dishes that were not on the menu!), and they highly recommended the steak.  So 6 of the 8 of us ordered the carne asada, a marinated and thinly sliced skirt steak.  The other two people ordered the lobster enchilada and jumbo shrimp in a lime cilantro sauce.  I did not get to taste the lobster enchilada, but the man who ordered it raved about it and it really looked great.  The carne asada was a nicely flavored meat, but not the best I have ever had.  The best part about the jumbo shrimp was the sauce it was served in, but the shrimp itself was a little bit overcooked and the chef forgot to devein one shrimp- a major no-no when serving shrimp.

Red Lulu’s Desserts:

The chef came out to see us right after we finished our entrees, and we asked him to send out his favorite desserts, so we got gingerbread “Oreo” cookies, a chocolate dessert, a banana-rama and a cuatro leches.  In the order from my least favorite to my most favorite dessert at Red Lulu’s, lets start with the gingerbread “Oreo” cookies, which are basically two large ginger cookies with some white creamy filling squished between them and served with a shot of milk.  Nobody at our table really loved these ginger sandwich cookies, and in fact it was the only dessert that we did not finish.  The chocolate dessert was good, but I honestly would not order a chocolate dessert at a Mexican restaurant anyway.  The cuatro leches was very tasty and somewhat similar to a tres leches cake.  There was a hint of almond or marzipan flavor in the cuatro leches as well, which is always a winning flavor in my book.  And the scoop of strawberry sorbet served on the side of the cuatro leches was fresh, tangy and not overly sweet.  The best dessert though was the banana-rama.  A creamy filling made of bananas and perhaps cream cheese or some other dairy product is stuffed inside of a fried shell and served with caramel sauce – heaven!  Throughout dinner and dessert there was a shot cart that went from table to table, and finally by the end of dessert we were convinced to muster up a little bit of room in our stomachs for some tequila shots – afterall, Red Lulu’s is supposed to have amazing tequila.  The owner recommended 8 different varieties of Anejo tequila (aged for 3 years) for us to try including Corzo and Don Julio.  Which resulted in most of us sipping on tequila to try the different varieties, rather than doing proper “shots.”  Tequila tasting was a unique experience, though I cannot say that I am now a tequila lover… however I will give them this – the tequlia shots came in the cutest little 2 ounce bottles of various shapes and colors.

Red Lulu’s Final Verdict:

Would I come to Red Lulu’s again?  Absolutely!  In fact, I think this would be a great place in Fairfield County to have a Girl’s Night Out, a Bachelorette Party or even a Saturday date, without driving all the way to Manhattan.  Next time I come, I will definitely get the lobster guacamole and the banana-rama dessert, my two favorite dishes of the evening.  But I think I will try the lobster enchilada as my entree, instead of the carne asada.  When you go eat at Red Lulu’s, don’t forget to come back here and leave a comment with what you loved or hated too!