Rayuela

Rayuela, pronounced rye-u-well-a, is a freestyle Latino restaurant on the Lower East Side and derives its name from the novel by Julio Cortazar and is the Spanish word for hopscotch. The chequered theme runs not just through the décor, but is woven into the bold and innovative menu that captures the abandon with which executive chef Máximo Tejada taps into Spanish, Mexican, Caribbean and Asian cuisines.

This spacious and glitzy restaurant has several comfortable lounge and dining areas with subtle lighting and pulsating music. The high point of the décor is a beautiful olive tree on the first floor, with its long leafy arms reaching the main dining rooms on the second floor, through an opening. In the dining room upstairs, soft couches nestling up to the tables and linen curtains spell style as well as comfort.

While the menu is in sections for soups, salads and appetisers or mains, a few of the dishes, defying classification, like in the game of hopscotch, would move categories, depending on whether one stops here for brunch, cocktails or dinner.

Some of their specialties are the grilled scallops with lobster coconut rice and the tuna rellena, made up of thin slices of tuna forming a pouch around crab, shrimp and a chipotle aioli to tickle the palate.

Similarly, the lobster revolution yields layers of effects - the sweetness of grilled pineapple and the tropical waft of coconut and lemon grass giving way to a blaze of jalapeño while the tremendously flavorful arroz con pollo comes with slices of chicken breast fanning out around paprika-seasoned rice, generously laden with chicken sausage and cubes of  meat.

The homemade bread cleverly combines yucca flour, cheese, milk, butter and leaves a lingering taste in your mouth, as do the desserts, particularly the apricot tart. The great food is ably supported by the creative cocktails and the extensive wine list leaning mainly towards Spanish and Latin American varieties.

Mealtimes here can be quite crowded so we recommend booking a table well in advance, their Website should help you to make that decision.