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Y! MyWebRestaurant Review
Cena Brazilian/Mediterranean Steak House
Come for the beef, stay for the buffet
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
MIAMI TWP., Montgomery County — Independent restaurant operator Eva Christian strolled right into the lion's den by opening a brand new steakhouse on the Dayton Mall's front porch, surrounded in all directions by busy chain restaurants.
But she's got plenty of meat and swordlength skewers to keep the lions at bay.
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You can order Tapas at Cena's bar.
A skewer of short ribs is cut tableside at Cena Brazilian/Mediterranean Steak House.Cena Brazilian/Mediterranean Steak House
- WHERE: 2854 Miamisburg-Centerville Road (in front of the Dayton Mall, entrance facing Elder-Beerman). [Map]
- HOURS: Open seven days: Lunch is served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, until 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and until 9 p.m. Sundays. Tapas are served from 3 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
- COST: Lunch feast $18.95 ($14.95 for feast table only, no meats), dinner feast $28.95 ($23.95 for feast table only). Tapas $2.95 to $7.95.
- DISHES TO TRY: Among the meats: Swordfish, lamb chops, Parmesan-encrusted chicken and the picanha — the restaurant's signature meat, marinated sirloin. From the tapas: cilantro-lime shrimp ($7.95), shrimp and chorizo fritters ($6.95), spicy sweet potato fries ($3.95).
- MORE INFO: (937) 438-2362.
- MORE: Reader ratings, complete profile
More information
Cena Brazilian/Mediterranean Steak House brings a new dining concept to the Dayton area — churrascaria, a Brazilian-style, continuous-service feast. But the restaurant also offers a second option of several different types of tapas for those not enamored with the endless-meats-and-buffet strategy.
Cena — it's pronounced SAY-nuh and is Latin for Roman meal or feast — pulls off both concepts well.
The Dinner Feast ($28.95) is quite a culinary experience: You won't leave hungry. Diners can first serve themselves buffet-style at a "feast table" of 40 to 50 salads, soups, cheeses, vegetable dishes, salmon, prosciutto and seared tuna.
But that's just the warmup for the main act: the meats. There are as many as 15 preparations, delivered by carvers who circulate through the restaurant with large skewers and cleave off a slice to your specifications. The selections may include bacon-wrapped beef tenderloin, Parmesan-encrusted chicken, chorizo spicy sausage, Brazilian sausage, swordfish, beef ribs, lamb chops, beef sirloin — you get the idea. Diners can accept or reject any offering, and the offers keep coming.
The meats are marinated and grilled, and come to the table moist, properly seasoned and flavorful.
The Lunch Feast ($18.95) follows a similar format, with a few less items on the feast table and a slightly less extensive selection of meats — "only" eight to 10, for example. Diners can order the "feast table" without the meats for $4 less at lunch, $5 less at dinner.
Or diners can forego the all-you-can-eat approach and choose from among 60 tapas selections that are individually priced. Don't miss the cilantro-lime shrimp ($7.95), served in a spicy pineapple-and-peppers sauce, or the shrimp-and-chorizo fritters ($6.95) served with a chipotle mayonnaise dipping sauce. The spicy sweet potato fries ($3.95) are a generous serving, more sweet than spicy and served with a banana dipping sauce.
One practice that diners should be aware of: Cena adds a 15 percent gratuity to every check — no matter the size of the party. Christian said she decided to do so to protect servers and avoid confusion on the part of customers who may consider the buffet-style nature of Cena's "feast table" a reason to leave little or no gratuity. The 15 percent is added to the total bill, including drinks and wine, which may surprise those who ordered an expensive bottle of wine and weren't planning on tipping 15 percent of the wine's cost.
Questions of servers and carvers suggest that the staff has not yet had a chance to taste all of the restaurant's offerings and familiarize themselves fully with the menu.
The wine list carries some intriguing South American reds and boasts a strong selection of half-bottles, while the beer list features brews from Brazil to Belgium. The restaurant has a happy hour from 3 to 6 p.m. weekdays that features $3 tapas and reduced-price cocktails.
An extensive drinks list starts with various versions of Caipirinhas, described as the "national drink of Brazil," made with Cachaca, a sugar cane rum. Some of the martinis are made from house-infused vodkas in flavors such as cranberry, cherry and habanero pepper.
