As mentioned, it’s currently Dine in Brooklyn 2012/Restaurant week. My girlfriend and I checked out Bogota Latin Bistro in northern Park Slope. We chose the restaurant because they prominently offer a couple of Gluten Free and Vegan options, plus I love Latin food.

We caught happy hour and had some excellent mojitos which were clearly made with love. In fact, they have a daily happy hour with awesome drinks like Capirinhas as well. They provided fried plantain chips as an appetizer to the appetizer which we cleverly packed away for at home snacking. (Hey, they provide it already in a paper bag for a reason).

For appetizers, my girlfriend got and amazing arepa topped with guacamole. The guacamole was lightly seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, and cumin but did not overpower the delicate sweetness of the arepa. I got the Chorizo Encebollado, which as the name says is onions and chorizo. They presented it in a cute little skillet with a generous amount of the sausage, olives and onions. It’s not an appetizer I would likely get again. It was delicious but I’d probably get the arepa with guacamole instead.

For the main course, she got grilled chimichurri tofu steak with kale and the most amazing black beans and rice. The rice and beans are actually “gallo pinto,” cooked together with onions, cilantro and tamarind sauce. I highly, highly recommend. The kale wasn’t very interested. It was steamed with very minimal spices and they also includes pieces of the stem which was odd.

I got the pernil which was marinated with beer and orange garlic mojo. This was very impressive. The meat was slow roasted and shredded so all the flavors penetrated throughout. For this dish alone I’d go back to Bogota.

For the desert I got Tres Leches cake. The senior citizen in me wanted to complain about the small portion but the flavor is so rich it’s actually perfect. My girlfriend got fruit salad which unfortunately was the only gluten free/vegan option for desert.

We discussed going back some time just to get some arepas and drinks. Overall we’re very impressed with the restaurant for the clearly labeled menu, food and happy hour. Note for after restaurant week: Don’t let the regular high prices for entrees scare you. They have lots of affordable side dishes too.