After hearing so many good things about this little boutique restaurant, I decided a visit was imperative.As aforementioned on my TIDbits page, I love these type of establishments. They’re like miniature  restaurants with their limited menus, relaxed service styles and are almost always reasonably priced. But the raves I’ve been hearing about Pepenero, especially with the pizza, made me feel like I’ve been missing out.

So I took a drive down to Limegrove to investigate.

I’m a tad bit embarrassed to admit that I didn’t realize it was a place where you just choose the seat you want and wait to be served. I walked in the door not realizing, it was set up for an open kitchen lol but I quickly made wise of the situation after I was greeted with stares suggesting I must be out of my mind. Then, Finally a  quite welcoming voice addressed me. “Hey, How can I help?” Totally flushed by now, I anxiously replied “Table for 1 pleasee!”

He escorted me to a table and presented me a menu which I immediately perused. Bruschetta  was the first thing to catch my eye. Bruschetta with fresh tomato and mozzarella, arugula and shaved parmesan. I was salivating at the thought. As I continued down the menu …Mussels!!! No brainer .. I ordered those two and a glass of Cotes de Provence.

The bruschetta was lovely. Everything was fresh and paired so well. I’m not a fan of arugula but I was pleasantly surprised at how tasty the combination was. Though I believe actual shavings of parmesan would have made it a hit, it was good nevertheless.

The mussels were niceeee. There was an unexpected kick to them.  Even though I read the menu, somehow I missed the part where it mentioned chilli sauce. It was only after nearly biting into a jalapeno that I was aware. But I probably should have deduced that from a name like PEPERnero lol.

I had a nice evening. I would give my experience 3/5.

There was an inconsistency between the price of the bruschetta on the bill($18) and the price advertised on the menu($15). I didn’t acknowledge it then but had I received actual parmesan shavings instead of grated parmesan on my bruschetta, those would have justified the increase in price on the bill.