In a 400-plus year old city riddled with hidden treasures, the Sena Plaza is one of the most delectable. It's original new-urbanism, a retail/mixed-use center since the 1880s when doctors and hairdressers, even a taxidermist and a piano tuner, all plied their trades there. Now it's known for an almost criminally lush garden courtyard and the best way to enjoy it is eating at La Casa Sena. The restaurant is elegant and beautiful inside, and famous for its piano bar and singing staff, but sitting in the courtyard with trees, food and friends is its most precious offering. Almost as soon as you sit, you'll be blessed with one of the best appetite primers in the business: a basket of warm blue
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corn muffins that dissolve especially well with a bubbly water, a Pilsner or a selection from the formidable wine and cocktail list. The flash-fried crabcakes are better than they have a right to be, so far from the sea. Perhaps it's the pickled papaya and cilantro pesto that makes the dish. For lunch in the courtyard, a slow-roasted pulled pork po'boy or the New York asado is just about perfect for bigger appetites, while taquitos de pescadito (with more pickled papaya) or the small but perfectly spiced casa enchiladas will serve the less famished well. A full and more expensive menu serves dinner guests, too, but it's harder to enjoy lemon and fresh mint raspado (shaved ice) after dark.
Sena Plaza, 125 E Palace Ave., 988-9232. Lunch and dinner
daily. $$$.
SFR Pick:
Sena sampler with mushroom asadero tamale, tortilla crusted shrimp, chicken empanada and mango salsa.
