This is the first time I have rounded up a group of Mexican or Latin-themed restaurants for Fifi’s Best. There are lists of the Best Tacos, the Best Margaritas, the Best Mexican Restaurants, and more in so many publications and online. I’m taking another avenue.
My focus is on restaurants that have provenance, a personal reason for existing, places where families are involved. There are no big chains on this list and just a few that have more than one location.
I find quite interesting the stories of how and why these restaurants began, why they endure, and why we feel so at home in them. I am hoping it will give you a familiarity that will add to your dining experience.
Each has a theme or certain dishes that set them apart from the others. I love finding the menu items that are part of the soul of each place.
Several of the restaurants serve breakfast, a few of them combining the American and the Mexican experience for the early morning meal. Many serve brunch on Sundays, a few on both Saturdays and Sundays. All are places where fresh and handmade daily are important components, both in their concepts and in our enjoyment of the bright and meaningful tastes.
There are now hundreds of tequilas and other liquors and liqueurs that come in the most colorful and interesting bottles. In the more modern, upscale venues, all of that color on the back-bar shelves provides part of the happy ambiance. We are in the days of trendy cocktails, and a good mixologist can enhance a meal with an interesting affair in a glass or a pairing of a drink with bar snacks. Of course, beer and wine can serve as a food complement at the fancier and the smaller restaurants.
Great Mexican food is beloved by most foodies. Have fun delving into the unique dishes within this missive.
Anepalco’s Café
3737 W. Chapman Ave.
at the Ayres Hotel
Orange
(714) 456-9642
Lunch, dinner
Just hearing that a restaurant is a Mexican-French hybrid ups my curiosity. Add a pile of good reviews and feedback from palates that I trust implicitly about how very interesting the food is, and it goes to the top of my “to do” list. I have to give high credit to chef/owner Daniel Godinez for having the vision to take Mexican food to this level.
Remember that there was the French intervention in Mexico from 1861 to 1866. That resulted in culinary influence in the upper echelons of dining.
Chef Daniel, born in Alcapulco and raised in Mexico City, comes from a background of traditional homemade food from his mom’s fonda, or small restaurant, in Mexico. Family members worked in the restaurant throughout their youth.
His energy is apparent when he explains that this restaurant’s philosophy comes in a package. The goal is to deliver unique flavors and experience by combining what he refers to as the exquisite and bold flavors of Mexican cuisine with the finesse of French techniques. He uses unique Mexican ingredients to present delicate dishes like the French would.
The pleasant location came about in 2012 as a restaurant deal that gave the Ayres Hotel a unique dining facility. Anepalco is its own entity, attached to the hotel but with its own exterior entrance.
The decor also unveils the unexpected. It combines sturdy wood Mexican-style chairs with gem-colored upholstery and a back wall of one dining room the color of ripe plums. Tile floors fit the Mexican genre. The main dining room is flooded with light by day, thanks to dual walls of windows. And the patio seating is very easygoing and nice for this time of year.
Daniel is picky about the products he uses, seeking out the best, the healthiest. His menu is filled with absolute intrigues, including bone marrow perfumed with red onion and cilantro, a beet salad as boldly colorful and beautiful as any dish can be, and Sous Vide Veal tongue complemented with tomatillo jam, picadillo and onion rings. A perfect cylinder of chopped ahi sings with the flavor of assorted chiles mingling in the tartare.
I can’t imagine who would pass up the deconstructed tacos of delicious pork belly, avocado and corn as main ingredients served with fresh tortillas. Cordoniz is game hen glazed with the essence of chorizo; Holy Mole is demi-glace and mole-braised short ribs; Lomo de Res is a rib-eye steak singing along with chile rojo sauce; and Barra Vieja is barramundi fish in a broth perfumed with costeño cheese, all of which puts this food in a genre all its own.
From the food to the cocktail program to the wine list, the French-Mexican concept is pridefully carried out. Cocktails are handcrafted using French and Mexican spirits. The wine list covers the major regions of France—Bordeaux, Burgundy, Sancerre, Rhone, Champagne, and Alsace—as well as Mexican wines from the Guadalupe Valley, Santo Thomas Valley and other regions in Baja California.
Carmelita’s Kitchen de Mexico
217 Broadway St.
Laguna Beach
(949) 715-7829
Lunch, dinner
31441 Santa Margarita Parkway
Rancho Santa Margarita
(949) 709-7600
Lunch, dinner, Sunday brunch
This restaurant in Rancho Santa Margarita dates to 2009, and the hot little spot across from Main Beach in Laguna has been casually serving up surfers and sophisticates since 2012. They are part of a four-restaurant family operation; the other two are upstate.
These two are owned by Clemente Heredia. His grandmother, Carmen, opened the first restaurant in Roseville way back in 1962. It’s still open, still run by Clemente’s parents, and unchanged.
Steeped in the restaurant background, Clemente decided Orange County was still ripe for some fantastic Mexican food, and he chose to give Rancho Santa Margarita an eatery that was actually much needed in that territory. He named it after his beloved grandmother.
Clemente’s style is more modern, but with a philosophy that authenticity never goes out of style, and he does not lose sight of where the recipes originated.
If you happen to notice that the staffers are both professional and seemingly very happy doing what they do, that is because Clemente complements his food philosophy with a reputation for taking care of employees better than anyone else. Guests are in turn respected and get caring service.
Each restaurant is tailored for its location. Laguna is casual and beach-town oriented, while RSM is a fuller, more family and all-around community affair. Some featured items are the same in both places, but others are geared to their specific locales.
Chef José Colin is plating food that’s in step with the times in looks and tastes. Try the Marisco Trio comprised of a lobster enchilada, shrimp taco, and a shrimp and crab relleno.
Tender Steak Tacos are all-around favorites, and the hefty Grilled Chicken Chimichangas are crunchy-crisp on the outside, oozing good taste inside, and certainly hark of authenticity. Carnitas are made from special Kurobuta pork from Snake River Farms, one of America’s stellar meat farming operations. Thus the meat is rich and juicy. Tamales made of pork, corn and cheese are, like all the food, made in-house daily and are delicious.
At the Rancho Santa Margarita location, relaxing with one of the very good margaritas is recommended. The wine list is succinct, but there are some impressive labels on it at really friendly prices.
Coyote Grill
31621 South Coast Highway
Laguna Beach
(949) 499-4033
Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Kim Bryant always loved to be in the kitchen creating tasty food. His cooking skills served him well. He moved to Maui in the ’70s and worked in several restaurants in Lahaina, ultimately returning to Orange County with hopes of opening his own restaurant. In 1978, he established Café del Coyote in San Clemente.
Kim had traveled to Baja often in his youth, acquiring a taste and desire for Mexican food till it became the staple of his kitchen. By 1989, he was ready to change locations and opted for a smaller, more intimate footprint. That was the birth of Coyote Grill. He and the family decided to serve three meals a day, and all these years later, they still do.
Hawaii cast its magic spell on Kim over all the years he was back here in South County. He’s now retired on his own ranch on the Big Island there growing organic Kona coffee. Daughter Desiree is now the general manager of Coyote Grill with a sister and brother working there with her.
The philosophy/concept/vibe is that of Baja California hospitality and cooking done from scratch daily. The hugs that customers and staff share are quite visible. This kind of community connection speaks volumes.
This is a place with ocean views—Catalina is also visible—and marvelous sunsets. Locals come in with their kids—it’s a popular place for non-Mexican pancakes for the small-fry crowd. It’s easy for us adults to gravitate toward the palapa bar. After all, margaritas and signature cocktails beckon.
Fresh seafood comes in every day. Oysters are locally sourced, and produce purveyors are also close by. Have American-style breakfast or chorizo and eggs, beef machaca, huevos rancheros, breakfast burrito or even various tacos. The lunch menu is filled with Mexican classics and even some burgers. Some items that jump out at me are the Calamari Taco, zucchini enchilada, Baja Ceviche and Coconut Shrimp. For dinner, just wander through even more south-of-the-border tastes.
El Adobe de Capistrano
31891 Camino Capistrano
San Juan Capistrano
(949) 493-1163
Lunch, dinner, Sunday brunch
There is no place more iconic on the Orange County dining scene than this bastion of Mexican food just down the street from the Mission San Juan Capistrano. The name flew into the headlines when President Nixon took a liking to it, and he and his family ate El Adobe’s food frequently when he was staying at the nearby Western White House.
But the story goes back so much further. Good thing we didn’t hang around there in the early 1800s—it was the jail and courthouse back then. The building itself began in the late 1700s as a private residence, and the walls that now form the cocktail lounge were part of the original home. Stagecoaches used to run beneath the building on their routes. The wine cellar is housed in what was once the jail’s dungeon-like cell.
A private owner turned the location into the El Adobe restaurant in 1948. Over the years, the restaurant/building gained California Historical Landmark status.
In 2003, local restaurateur Steve Nordeck, acquired the restaurant. Steve took on El Adobe to preserve its status, and as soon as he stepped in, he hired Hatch Brothers, one of the nation’s famous restaurant design companies, to do a remodel.
The main architectural elements were kept, with antiques, style-appropriate furnishings, and decor all chosen to go with the genuine Mexican-Californian ambiance. El Adobe’s kitchen received a complete overhaul, incorporating a new mesquite-burning grill and hood system so that fresh steaks and seafood could be added to the menu.
The menu focuses on a well-rounded list of all-time favorites, now including south-of-the-border seafood and steak preparations. Try the Chile Colorado in red sauce, Lobster Fajitas or Arriba Solomillo—grilled sirloin steak topped with two enchiladas and chimichurri sauce.
Matador Cantina
111 N. Harbor Blvd.
Fullerton
(714) 871-8226
Lunch, dinner, Saturday and Sunday brunch
People in North Orange County got tremendously lucky when Matador Cantina came along in 2009. It gave diners a superb Mexican restaurant that pleases on every level. I love the comfy booths in this good-looking place.
This restaurant, in fact, has racked up a lot of honors, one of them being chosen by the 2013 Golden Foodie Awards as the Best Mexican Restaurant in Orange County. Add to that recognitions by other publications for its margaritas, happy hour and much more, and certainly everyone should be getting their Matador fix.
The food keeps pace with the looks. Each dish arrives with so much attention paid to the eye appeal. There are so many dishes that have made a deep impression on me. David Dennis was initially hired to open the kitchen as chef and was later promoted to chef/general manager.
The background story finds a man from Croatia, not a country where one finds Latin venues as part of the overall culture. But Mario Marovic is a second-generation restaurateur and bar owner. His parents owned and operated venues in their homeland before moving to the states about 40 years ago and opening restaurants in Southern California. Nevertheless, they proved that with the right attitude, the right staff, and respect for the tastes of any cuisine, a successful restaurant would emerge. Mario decided to build on his parents’ philosophy.
I like their long bar so much. Lots of colorful bottles holding those special tequilas, vodkas and more. It’s rather fun to sit there and eat, and the margaritas are compelling.
The ingredients the chef uses are authentic. Some typical Mexican dishes appear, but much of this menu is unique, with innovative selections such as the Latin-inspired Chorizo Ravioli drizzled with chipotle cream sauce; chile relleno stuffed with both Oaxaca and cream cheese and chicken; Short Rib Burrito; Drunken Shrimp on terrific cilantro-lime rice; and Bahn Mi Tostada—pork with pickled vegetables topped by a quail egg. The steak a la plancha is also impressive—grilled flat steak topped with cilantro chimichurri sauce and pickled red onions served with plantains and grilled vegetables. Stay in the game long enough to have cookie fundido for dessert.
Raya
in Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel
One Ritz-Carlton Drive
Dana Point
(949) 240-2000
Lunch, dinner
This is glamour, the truly chic end of the Pan-Latin culinary spectrum. Raya has recently ensconced a new chef de cuisine, Steve Wan, and the food I’ve had is pretty spectacular. For those who have been to this restaurant in the past, you will immediately notice the beautifully enhanced presentations—almost too bad we have to demolish them—and the compelling flavor combinations that now blanket the cuisine.
This restaurant uses the former large lounge space overlooking the Pacific. It’s a collaboration with acclaimed international chef Richard Sandoval, who has restaurants in eight locations stateside and abroad. His restaurants have different names and themes, with extreme attention paid to each. He came up with the idea for Raya, and here we are today.
This is a very modern multilevel room, with no kitsch, just an artistic flow of space. When you think of calm and beauty, this room sums it up.
Each of Sandoval’s restaurants has a chef in charge to deliver the concept on the plates, and Chef Wan is undoubtedly at the top of his game. This is a place where fresh local produce and sustainable seafood, the highest-quality meats, and even spices are of major importance in the kitchen, and that respect sings in his dishes.
We began one recent meal with a trio of tiny Lobster Tacos enhanced with chile de árbol salsa, avocado and black bean puree. Next was Beef Huarache, or prime New York strip steak with caramelized onions, manchego cheese and chile toreado. There was Ibérico Ham mingled with grapes, almonds and pickled mustard seeds. Halibut with truffled corn salsa and Tempura Jalapeño was another astute dish. Ever the gourmands, we trekked on with an entree of Chipotle-spiced Lamb Loin—hands down, one of the best things I have ever eaten. With just a hint of Mexican sugar glaze and the attendant spices, it made an indelible impression.
We finished that meal with a California Citrus Torte encompassing a gaviota strawberry salad, a soupcon of yuzu curd, and a scoop of strawberry margarita sorbet.
Wait until you meet the Charred Fig Mole Enchilada, jicama Ceviche Roll of dungeness crab and tiger shrimp with avocado and sweet chile nuances; Achiote Salmon; and the Seafood Risotto that takes on extra depth with the addition of Spanish chorizo. This is cuisine to love and remember.
Sabroso! Mexican Grill
13129 Harbor Blvd.
Garden Grove
(714) 537-7080
Breakfast, lunch,
dinner, brunch
There’s a big surprise waiting in the wings for OC diners with this one. It has been filmed and will be featured on TV celeb chef Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” on July 11. He had a great time, said owner Paloma Munoz, and had great things to say about the quality of the food, the family and the enthusiasm of the customers.
The emphasis is clearly on the food. The place is squeaky clean but very simple. At first glance, it appears you’d order your food at the counter. Not so. You are actually handed printed menus at the table before full service ensues.
Paloma, who is also an elementary school teacher for Garden Grove Unified School District, manages the restaurant for her family. Her parents migrated from Guerrero, Mexico, and her dad, Norato Munoz, managed an American restaurant for 22 years. His career as a restaurant manager ended in 2012, and Paloma and her siblings and their partners decided it was the perfect opportunity to make his dream of owning a restaurant a reality.
They all invested their lifetime savings and felt certain that the restaurant would prosper because of her father’s passion for cooking and desire to satisfy hungry patrons. The public now has the best Guerrero-style meals anywhere I’ve found in this county. The kitchen focuses on recipes that have been handed down for generations.
The family is totally dedicated. Pamela’s two younger siblings are also servers, even though they are currently in college.
Menudo is served every day here. A rich chile-infused broth harbors the uniqueness of cilantro, the sweetness of onions and of course tripe. Try the nopales salad with cotija cheese and pico de gallo. You must have a side order of the Simmered White Beans, like mashed potatoes and as compelling as any dish in recent memory.
Quail in Red Sauce is a culinary surprise, as is slow-cooked beef in red chile sauce; or camarones; or shrimp in a refined creamy mushroom sauce. Imagine the tastes that will float so pleasantly in your mouth when biting into a massive burrito bursting with your choice of meat or seafood fillings. Chile Verde and Chile Colorado are superb. Sopas, enchiladas and tostadas also continue the high-flavor profiles. This place is such a winner.
SOL Cocina
251 E. Coast Highway
Newport Beach
(949) 675-9800
Lunch, dinner, brunch
Take two guys and a lady chef who worked together at a sushi restaurant but had some vision for their own style of a restaurant, and put them in some exciting, serious, probing conversations, and the result becomes SOL Cocina. This Baja-inspired restaurant, launched in 2007, was conceived by partners Matt Baumayr and Rich Howland as a way to build upon Chef Deborah Schneider’s book “Baja! Cooking on the Edge” that introduced the public to her collection of the best of contemporary eating in Mexico.
SOL Cocina features Chef Deb’s bold, modern interpretations of traditional coastal Mexican cuisine.
It also has an open exhibition kitchen that mimics a Baja taco bar, with counter seating for guests who like to watch the bustling kitchen.
SOL’s menu changes throughout the year to present the season’s freshest offerings, along with its billed commitment to sustainability. The menu features meat and seafood that is humanely raised and caught. Chef Deb seeks to feature organic and locally sourced ingredients whenever possible. Naturally, everything on the menu is made from scratch daily.
There is so much that is unique on the menus. For a starter or small plate item, do not miss the Coconut Calamari singing along with the tastes of sesame, dried orange peel and spicy sauce. Try the White Corn Soup with the perfume of spicy roasted poblanos upping the ante.
Get into entree territory with a Taco Bufalada with a heap of mixed chicken, carne asada and carnitas on melted cheeses with onion, guacamole and radishes. You will have to happily truck through a lot of menu items with unique names. Tacos: gobernador, xolo, vampiro, chorizo and rajas, garlic ribeye steak, cucarachas and a lot more. Fun reading at the very least. My goodness, there’s also the Chicken and Menonito Cheese Enchiladas folded in fresh corn tortillas, with Chef Deb’s signature mole verde, and Guadalupe Grilled Quail that you should order.
Finish off the repast with the sublime Galletas de Chocolat, featuring Ibarra chocolate, pistachios and pecans.
Solita
7631 Edinger Ave.
Huntington Beach
(714) 894-2792
Lunch, dinner, brunch
And then there was Solita. After four years of success with Sol Cocina, the same partners debuted this sister restaurant in 2013. Solita is sophisticated and yet simple, a restaurant built around a custom wood grill inspired by Mexico’s best. It delivers a level of attractiveness, good and friendly service, and tasty food that resonates its perfect fit between a sleek and down-home aura. Imagine a sense of understated Mexican ruggedness and timeless warmth.
Much of the interior detail and furnishings were handmade by Mexican artisans and craftsmen, and the space reflects the charm, sophistication, and hospitality of modern Mexico.
Similar to SOL, Solita builds on an appreciation for fresh ingredients, big flavors, and seasonally changing menus. It delivers a Mexican-food experience in a way that represents the soul of coastal Baja California. Ingredients are carefully chosen, and everything is made fresh each day with choices all made to order.
Lovable starters for me have been the Tequila Shrimp and Avocado Sundae presented as lightly cooked shrimp with Blanco tequila, salsa fresca, lime juice and chipotles layered with plateaus of creamy avocado sauce; Chicken Taquitos—the best I’ve had anywhere; and the Grilled Corn Elote—with the whole ear of sweet corn roasted and grilled with butter, chipotle salsa, California chiles and melted cotixa cheese.
There are so many interesting tacos. Order the Taco Tasters: four street-size tacos with your choice of filling in each. The Lazy Enchiladas are cool: three corn tortillas folded over Mexican cheeses and meat with complementary toppings. Be sure to have one of them filled with the crispy fresh fish. The hefty Mushroom and Red Chile Meat Burrito is such a tasty thing, and you will probably take half of it home for a second pleasing meal.
They serve all of this stuff as camera-worthy art. That’s way above what we would expect from something called a simple restaurant.
The bar menu at Solita takes an equally fresh approach to traditional Mexican cocktails, featuring fresh-fruit-based and agave-sweetened margaritas made with 100% blue agave tequilas. All recipes are made in-house with fresh citrus juices and sugar, and contain no high fructose corn syrup, preservatives or coloring.
Taco Maria
3313 Hyland Ave. at Sunflower
OC Mix at South Coast
Collection
(714) 538-8444
Costa Mesa
Lunch, dinner
You do not go to this place for the decor. It’s proficiently casual and smallish, with a few stools in front of a small kitchen cooking space and some tables inside and out on the patio. You go for the totally unexpected take on food—the chef calls it modern Chicano cuisine—that is very colorfully and strikingly presented, and the unique and chic tastes that follow.
The food is so different that it hits me and many others as seriously creative California cuisine. It is definitely the most forward-thinking Latin-influenced cuisine you will find.
Trained as an engineer, chef/co-owner Carlos Salgado did a 180 in life. He took a short-term culinary program in San Francisco and walked out of that and into the kitchens of a few high-end Bay Area restaurants for a few years. But in the back of his mind was the urge to cook the savories of Mexican cuisine born of memories of childhood meals prepared by mom at home and at a family touchstone of that cooking in his parents’ own restaurant.
He began this personal culinary journey by launching a food truck with his sister in 2011 that became pretty famous.
Last year, he gave that up for this smallish restaurant that is part of the eclectic scene at OC Mix.
Lunch and dinner are different affairs. At the beginning, it was only about prix-fixe meals whereby one chooses four courses for $52 with wines to match for an additional $26. Now, those are really the reasons people are fascinated with dinnertime, but at lunch, when a shopping and business crowd vies for every seat, there’s a pretty luscious a la carte menu.
Menu items sound intriguing: Duck Leg Carnitas; Scallop Crudo with serrano, guava and Ensenada olive oil; Cashew Mole Chicken; Golden Corvina Fish with charred scallion aioli, cabbage and grapes; Dungeness Crab Tostada with kumquats; Pork Cheek with Cattle Beans, orange and fresh chamomile; Wild Sturgeon cuddling with new potatoes and fava leaves.
The wine list is surprisingly good for such a small place, so you might want to have a glass of red or white to enhance your experience even further.
Taco Mesa
647 W. 19th St.
Costa Mesa
(949) 642-0629
Lunch, dinner
22922 Los Alisos Blvd.
Mission Viejo
(949) 472-3144
Lunch, dinner
3533 E. Chapman Ave.
Orange
(714) 633-3922
Breakfast, lunch, dinner
27702 Crown Valley Parkway
Ladera Ranch
(949) 364-1957
Breakfast, lunch, dinner
This story’s roots go back about four decades, although the first Taco Mesa in Costa Mesa opened only 23 years ago. Ivan Calderon, the patron/founder of this mini restaurant chain and the subsequent Taco Rosa restaurants says, “I was blessed to have worked for Larry Cano during the two most important decades of his leadership and influence in our industry.” Larry is the respected visionary who introduced America to full-scale Mexican dining.
With that background, Ivan set forth in 1991 to make his own mark on the industry. He opened the first Taco Mesa in a former fast-food drive-in on a very tight budget but with determination to introduce even more cultural depth via Mexican dining. That restaurant is still operating on 19th Street.
Taco Mesa is committed to delivering an up-to-date casual experience that gives the consumer healthy, authentic and innovative Mexican food at bargain prices through over-the-counter, friendly and knowledgeable service. Diners are treated to an innovative, better-quality Mexican food experience through a combination of daily specials that are updated regularly, plus the most desired a la carte items.
Ivan introduced us to aguas frescas, the beloved flower- and juice-flavored waters of Mexico and other Latin countries. From day one, he made them with fresh, natural juices. Today, he even has the most advanced technological juicing equipment to keep all of the nutrients intact, so the health factor is all the more important.
Taco Mesa was the first in the county to introduce the public to stuffed jalapeños; Blackened Calamari Tacos and Shrimp Tacos; and Quesadilla Morenita, blackened, grilled natural chicken breast on a whole-wheat tortilla with grilled onions, avocado and tomato, served with sour cream. Fascinating taste continues with the Tacos de Salmon with papaya butter. The Seared Lobster Burrito or the Mexican White Shrimp, lovely with their sautéed mushrooms, sweet peppers and onions on a cayenne cream sauce, are teasers, too.
I remember the very first time I went to the original location. I saw food on tables, all of which looked like something I should try. It was my introduction to Ivan’s world of Mexican cooking, and I am still enticed by this friendly, tasty and real world of Mexican cuisine.
Taco Rosa –
Mexico City Cuisine
2632 San Miguel Road
Newport Beach
(949) 720-0980
Lunch, dinner, Sunday brunch
13792 Jamboree Road
Irvine
(714) 505-6080
Lunch, dinner, Sunday brunch
These are full-service restaurants featuring full bars and a big-city feel—Taco Mesa restaurants by the same owner are more casual venues. Ivan Calderon, with his shareholder and brother, Marco, found themselves warmly welcomed in the dining field when Taco Mesa stepped into the industry scene with the improbable combination of high-quality Mexican food, authenticity and progressive thinking.
Taco Rosa is the concept that ups the cosmopolitan atmosphere and the food, taking into consideration the pre-Hispanic food influences of the French and Spaniards and refinement in presentations. It pays attention to serving the food with grace and to cooking flavorful, quality cuisine reflective of Mexico City. Part of its mission is to remain ahead of the competition with regard to product innovation and development.
Open kitchens, pretty cantina-like décor, and interesting architectural elements provide the settings in Taco Rosa restaurants. It all lends itself well to private or family dining.
Americans are no longer aghast at the thought of things like Octopus Ceviche. It’s being served in several national restaurants. This version is a superb one drizzled with lime juice and strewn with red onion, tomato and cilantro. As a back note, the heat of serrano chile soon creeps in. Queso Fundido may be on menus at other restaurants, but here it’s quite elevated in
status. A mélange of cheeses is placed in the bottom of an iron casserole and placed in the oven to melt. Next comes a layer of sauteed mushrooms, onions and sausage, all of it topped
with another layer of the cheeses. Then back into the oven to get it crusty hot, and finally to
the table to be flamed with rum. Now that’s yummy.
Chile Relleno Pie takes us down another deliciously sophisticated path: Roasted chile poblano is wrapped in flaky puff pastry and filled with chicken, mushrooms, carrots, and peas, baked pot-pie style and served on a bed of tomatillo cream sauce. Tacos Alambre—grilled steak with bacon, red onion, pasilla pepper and cheese, topped with marinated onions—is forward thinking, as is Kurobuta Pork Shank En Chile Negro.
Wild Mediterranean sea bass and wild salmon are also recommended, along with the hefty Dos Puercos Burrito and Jidori Mole Chicken. Steak Fajitas have all the requisite ingredients with great flavor; the icing on the cake is the topping of brie cheese and flaming the dish tableside with rum.
The chefs and cooks at Taco Rosa have been widely recognized and awarded for their food ideas. Well deserved.
