According to Gail Shepherd's Dish column
this week, Palm Beach County residents have at least one more joint
where they can sate their cravings for authentic Mex (though Ameri-Mex
fans should clearly look past Cottonwood). But Gail also mentioned a
host of great Broward places to get either iteration of Mexican food in
her column: Canyon
is one place where you can enjoy a prickly pear martini along with some
upscale Mex. Any serious fan of Baja-style cuisine should be
well-acquainted with Zona Fresca by now -- if not for their fish tacos, then for the outrageous, grilled-fresh-daily salsa. And there's plenty to be said for Taqueria Doña Raquel, perhaps the best option in these parts for folks looking for Mexican food as eaten by actual Mexican people.
Now
that's a wide enough list of bean-and-cheese covered eats to keep you
happy for weeks on end. But in the interest of diversity, here's a few
more Broward Mexican joints you may want to add to your repertoire:
East Coast Burrito Factory:
This tiny dive on Commerical Boulevard near Andrews Avenue has been
around for ages, and for good reason. They serve some amazingly
overpacked "Floritos," a portmanteau of Florida and burrito as
delicious as it is fun to say. The pack their burros with a mixture of
rice and beans, lettuce, tomato, made-daily salsas, and a cornucopia of
awesome proteins like chipotle pork, slow-roasted carnitas, grilled
steak and chicken, shrimp, Caribbean-inspired jerk fish, and so much
more. The burritos come in two sizes, both of which are gigantic for
the price, and the staff couldn't be friendlier. If anything, East
Coast is the one-and-only testament to Florida-style Mex.
Lime Fresh Mex:
This Miami-borne chain of fresh Mex restaurants just opened a new
location in Coconut Creek at 4425 Lyons Road to go along with its
Pembroke Pines outpost. The best reason to check out Lime is its salsa
bar, with half-a-dozen fresh made salsas including a fabulous and
original suave salsa made with sauteed corn chips and chipotle. Some
menu options are better than others, but the prices are pretty good and
the burritos are huge.
Finally the picture at the top: That's a "One Fish" Mahi Mahi taco courtesy of The Whole Enchilada, a little slice of Mexican heaven sitting on Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale. Much, much more on TWE after the jump.
TWE takes its inspiration from California-style fresh mex eateries,
where natural and sometimes organic ingredients are prepped daily and
served on the quick. And there's lots to like about the place. For
starters, these fish tacos (and burritos) are served a bit differently
than those at Zona Fresca, in that the fish is not fried, but grilled.
What you get is a meaty, juicy piece of Mahi that has some bite to it.
The toppings are all very good as well, with whole pieces of fresh
avocado, cabbage, shredded jack cheese, and two kinds of sauces (One
Fish gets a cilantro crema sort of like the yogurt sauce typical of
Baja fish tacos, Two Fish gets a chipotle sauce). The result is
something of an even fresher take on Baja tacos -- it's especially good
with the shrimp as well (though it'd be nice if TWE chose something
local instead of tiger shrimp, which usually arrive from overfished
stretches of Southeast Asia).
Other
notably great things about TWE: It has a very health- and
lifestyle-concious approach to Mexican food. For example, you can
substitute your dairy-based sour cream for tofu sour cream on any dish
for just $.50 extra, and seared-tofu is always an option in place of
ground beef, grilled steak, or grilled chicken. The Bob, seen above, is
an overstuffed beast of a burrito filled with lettuce, tomato, sour
cream, cheese, rice, beans, and (in this case) grilled steak. It's
basically two meals for its $7.50 price tag.
Any
complaints about TWE? Well, yes. The ingredients, while extraordinarily fresh, are sometimes under seasoned -- what those Mahi
tacos really need to kick them into the stratosphere is a careful dose
of salt. Also, the salsas at TWE are a real disappointment. A roasted
tomato salsa, with charred bits exemplary of Baja-style salsas, lacks
any real kick in the flavor department. The mango salsa, bottom left in
that pic above, is not too sweet and just savory enough. It'd be great
if it didn't have the consistency of tap water, which makes it
impossible to dunk a chip in and get any significant amount. The same
problem plagues the "hot" orange salsa made with habaneros, which is
too watery to even come close to spicy. No, the only really satisfying
salsa in the bunch is the rather plain, everyday cantina-style tomato
salsa, which is only the winner by default.
you can get pats those few snags, The Whole Enchilada is definitely
worth a visit, and probably a spot in your Mex rotation as well. Check
them out at www.twefreshmex.com.
