A rich blend of flavor and cultures are woven into La Roma in Port Richmond

The arancini at La Roma is a curious creation — an irresistibly crunchy starter of fluffy-hearted rice balls intended to disorient our expectations, then realign them through a tasty multicultural lens.

They seem Italian, at first, in their obvious reference to the classic Sicilian street food. But when you crack one open, the garlicky smokehouse aroma of fresh kielbasa and Gouda greets your nose. Swipe one through the green squiggles of sauce on the plate, and it takes yet another global turn. The expected flavor of basil has been replaced in this “pesto” with the dusky, herbaceous tang of Mexican epazote.

There’s a lot going on at La Roma, but those arancini encapsulate several of the identity threads weaving through this good-looking newcomer to Port Richmond. First off, it’s not an Italian restaurant, but, rather, named for a neighborhood in Mexico City called Colonia Roma. But there are no tacos on the menu, despite the fact that co-owners Jesus Garcia and Alejandro Fuentes have been successful with Nemi nearby, one of my favorite takes on contemporary Mexican food in Philly.

Colonia Roma is a trendy neighborhood known for its rich blend of international cultures and fusions, say Garcia and Fuentes. That’s given them the latitude for the menu to roam far and wide, from Korean to French influences, and also the Polish flavors that once anchored Port Richmond as an enclave where many aging institutions — including now closed Syrenka and Krakus Market — have been fading for more than a decade.

The New Wave Cafe, which occupied this corner taproom at Mercer Street and Allegheny Avenue with standout borscht and golabki, was one of neighborhood’s Polish survivors until the pandemic. (Dinner House Polish Cuisine a block away is one of my remaining favorites). Garcia, Fuentes, and their other partner, Cristobal Valencia, have been mindful of that legacy as they crafted this considerably more upscale menu. The kielbasa for those the arancini was smoked in the 84-year-old brick ovens at nearby Czerw’s. And the pierogi stuffed with mushrooms and spinach are made with the dairy-rich dough recipe from one of Garcia’s Polish friends. Of course, it gets a La Roma twist — a garnish of cilantro sour cream for a whiff of “Instant Mexico!” says Garcia.

The Mexican accents often don’t go much deeper than that. I believe embracing a clearer vision and common thread would benefit this menu. The owners’ determination to present a flexible project that’s difficult to categorize reflects a desire to do something distinct from Nemi, and whose warm welcome by neighbors has encouraged them to embrace the changes occurring in this gentrifying, diversifying neighborhood.

“We want to be welcoming to everyone. But the new generation is moving in,” says Garcia. “We have to keep moving with that wave.”

They’re hardly the only player in the neighborhood’s evolution. The nearby Lunar Inn, opened in 2019 in what seemed like a hipsterfication for Richmond Street with a natural wine shop in back (Tiny’s!) and live DJs spinning vintage vinyl (but no TV), has since settled into the kind of high-quality gastropub I wish was closer to my neighborhood. La Roma’s owners, meanwhile, see their new spot as a potential special-occasion destination, filling a niche that Allegheny Avenue has lacked.

By removing the New Wave’s drop ceiling and disco ball to reveal a historic tin ceiling, and exposing the brick beneath the once-mirrored walls, they’ve given the century-old space a handsome makeover that glows with date-night elegance. The service staff is friendly and crisply dressed in black, but still finding their footing on the finer points of describing and delivering the menu.

The cocktail program is already hitting some cheerful high notes. There are a handful of agave-spirit drinks (try the muddled pomegranate margarita riff called Zona Rosa) as well as a focus on subtle twists to other classics, like the coffee-kissed La Roma Old Fashioned and a caipirinha with roasted pineapple puree so refreshing it disappeared from my glass far too quickly.

Garcia’s menu, meanwhile, delivers solid takes on the diverse world of flavors that have inspired him since moving to Philly from Toluca, Mexico, in 2002, when he got started at Alma de Cuba. The ceviche-forward kitchen of that now closed Nuevo Latino standby, perhaps, influenced La Roma’s tuna crudo, whose ruby raw cubes are laced with sesame oil, soy, and rice puffs, then ringed by a vibrant green salsa of poblanos and avocado. It was one of the more memorable small plates on the list of starters that are this menu’s most engaging course.

I would have loved grilled octopus even better if the portion had been a little more generous, but its garnish of romesco sauce, caper berries, and olives did not lack for gusto. A guisado seafood stew was a true value, its broth with mussels, shrimp, and squid notable for the Peruvian boost of aji amarillo and lemongrass. Slivers of grilled boneless short ribs marinated in Korean barbecue sauce and perched on skewers over kimchi reflect one of Garcia’s favorite off-hours snacks.

La Roma serves only five entrees, a limited selection that realistically reflects the staffing challenges many restaurants currently face. But most of them are well done. A whole branzino that had been conveniently deboned through the middle was a tribute to polished minimalism, the fish marinated a day with herbs and lemon before getting crisped on the flat-top grill then topped with a gremolata whose usual parsley is subbed with cilantro (”Mexico again!” Garcia said).

Unlike most restaurants where the chicken is the boring, safe choice, La Roma’s plump and juicy annatto-marinated breast is boldly spiced with a harissa-infused wine sauce. Sweet potatoes lend a fall touch to one of the few Italian-inspired dishes here, an eggless gnocchi tossed in truffled brown butter that can easily be made vegan.

A French-inspired steak au poivre with classic Cognac sauce would have been fantastic with a higher-quality cut of beef — our N.Y. strip was sinewy, with a metallic aftertaste. But I can’t stop thinking the opposite about the succulent pork chop, a superbly tender rib cut from Esposito’s that came with lime-flavored tempura onion rings and a tomato-caper sauce with raisins that scored extra style points thanks to a long-ago mistake. At a previous restaurant, Garcia once asked a fellow cook to add garlic to the mix, but he accidentally reached for the slivered almonds instead. It worked! And they now add a nutty snap to the juicy diced tomato mix that lands something like a sweet-and-sour bruschetta amandine.

The limited dessert selection of a white chocolate panna cotta and a peanut butter cheesecake are brought in from Nemi’s pastry chef, Miguel Sandoval. While they’re fine, their generic quality does little to help crystalize the character of La Roma’s identity. That chameleonlike concept can be both a blessing and a curse. It can cover to some extent the process every new restaurant goes through while calibrating its strengths to hone its edge, while offering the leeway to evolve alongside a neighborhood as dynamic as Port Richmond. But at some point, La Roma’s owners may discover that a restaurant with distinctive character can define its neighborhood, as much as the other way around.

2620 E. Allegheny Ave. (at Mercer St.), 267-500-2283; laromaphilly.com

Dinner Sunday through Thursday, 4-10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, until 11 p.m. Brunch Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Entrees, $20-$32.

Bathrooms are wheelchair accessible, but entrance currently is not. Management plans to add a mobile ramp this month.