Ooviña is a wine bar in Hell’s Kitchen with an interesting motif of white leafed tree 
branches cascading from the ceiling. I was invited there to sample their traditional Latin cooking, with many of the dishes being Guatemalan.
I stopped by between two Broadway show — the tear-jerking Allegiance, a story about the Japanese internment after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and The 
Color Purple, the Pulitzer Prize-winning story about an African women. Both are musicals.
We started with margaritas ($15), mine a spicy jalapeño one, my friend’s with an added splash of house-made sangria. Both recommended.
As we were rushed for time, as our evening’s performance began at 7, we asked our host to bring out the
dishes as they were ready, in no particular order. We wanted to sample as much as possible.
Don’t miss either their pan-roasted Brussels sprouts in a rich champagne butter ($10) or the fork-tender artichokes sauteed in herb and spices ($12 ). Also delicious are the pan-seared scallops with crispy bacon, artichoke leaves and diced olives, all in a herbed butter ($18); the handmade cassava (yucca root) gnocchi with bacon in a garlicky parmesan lemon sauce ($15); and the pollo guisado ($16), tender chicken in a tart tomatillo broth filled with lots of soft hominy.
Two dishes disappointed — the crisped pork loin taco ($15), as I found lots of good tasting red cabbage, avocado aioli and tomatillo salsa, but not much meat; and Mama Sonia’s Albóndigas as the meatballs were 
too hard to eat.
Do try the shrimp ajillo, with the shrimp cooked in a sriacha and garlic herbs served around an cake of corn masa to soak up the sauce ($16) flavored with cilantro and rosemary. Do not miss the irresistible hand-cut spiced papas fritas (AKA fried potatoes) with drizzled with white truffle oil, parmesan and herbs ($9).
We skipped dessert as we needed to run the the theatre.. But I’d go back when looking for a pre-theatre place to dine.
– bonnie
BonnieBOTB
Follow @BonnieBOTB
Ooviña Latin Kitchen & Wine Bar
Hell’s Kitchen
496 9th Ave
New York, NY 10018
(212) 967-3892
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