Rate-A-Restaurant, #57 in a series

Restaurant: minibar

Location:3413 Cahuenga Blvd. West, Los Angeles, CA 90068

Type of restaurant: Tapas

They stipulated: That you order several dishes. This is tapas, afterall.

What we ordered: We were with a large group, so here is just a sampling of all the plates we ordered: chicken reggae satay (Jamaican jerk chicken served skewered with a fresh mango relish, $9); Katafi crab cake (lump crab cake topped with a katali cup and homemade tartar sauce, $13); yucca bread (golden puffy yucca flour biscuits with smoked gouda, served warm, $6); wings marrakesh (chicken wings dredged in moroccan spiced flour, cooked crisp and glazed with a pomegranate-orange reduction, $9)

High point: The chicken reggae satay was a must; drinks were tasty (I tried a pomegranate martini) and it was a lively, hip place to celebrate Jess' final days as a single woman. (Yes, it was a co-ed bachelorette party. And yes, I had to suck a wintergreen lifesaver off of Jess' t-shirt.)

Low point: Service was slow at times; the pesto risotto we ordered never came (we finally told them to forget it). And here's the downside of tapas restaurants: You're encouraged to order many, many plates. And that spirit comes back to haunt you when the bill comes.

Overall impression: Nice addition to the area -- but for tapas, Cobras & Matadors still has them beat. (Minibar has a leg up when it comes to bar culture, however. The pomegranate martini was delicious.)

Chance we will go back: It's close to several of our pals, so it's a distinct possibility -- and we'd welcome trying it again with a smaller group.

For a complete archive of our Rate-A-Restaurant reviews, check out our companion ratearestaurant.blogspot.com website.