Emrie S.
Yelp
This place is like taking a mini vacation to Mexico. People are friendly, assume you speak spanish, food is incredible, prices are fair for the amount of food you get, and the ambience (mariachi band) is wonderful. This is NOT typical Mexican food, so don't come in expecting tacos or enchiladas... this place is all things fish... GLORIOUS fish.
For starters, they give you what I believe was a crab tostada with OMFG HOT sauce. Like... move you to tears out of pain sauce. Like, I dipped the tip of my chip and wanted to die, hot. In all fairness, our server did warn us. I can't attest to the tostada as it had raw onion on it, and I'm one of those people with a freakishly rare allergy to them... but my husband said it was pretty good.
We ordered:
Piña colada en su piña natural (with alcohol)... it was one of the best piña coladas I've ever had, but you may want to ask for them to double up on the rum. Mine was pretty faint in the booze department. Presentation is gorgeous (a whole pineapple complete with a mini parasol).
Pacifico beer.... one of my favorite Mexican beers. They do NOT have Sol though.
El Filet Rey: Perfectly cooked filet of fish topped with shrimp, crab, octopus, bell peppers, onions and cheese. When I say perfectly cooked, I mean melt in your mouth, you-could-gum-this-if-you-had-no-teeth type of perfectly cooked. Flavor was excellent, the accompaniments were no let down either... the rice was actually more like a sticky rice than the tex-mex crap rice we are accustomed to... fries were crispy and slightly spicy, the small "salad" on the plate was fresh and crunchy, and the delicious garlic bread on a slice of baguette was a beautiful touch.
Piña Rey: HAMIGAWD I WANT THIS EVERY DAY. We were gluttonous... overinduldgent even. This is a half a pineapple hollowed out, on a plate, stuffed with crab, scallops, shrimp, octopus... all perfectly cooked and drenched in a mushroom cream sauce with chunks of (not overly sweet) pineapple which is then covered in bubbly cheese. Mix it with the aforementioned rice, and this is possibly what orgasms are made of.
To top off our uncomfortably full dinner, a very sweet violinist from the mariachi band came by, super apologetic for interrupting our meal, asking (in spanish) if we'd like them to play a song. They didn't know Chan Chan by Buena Vista Social Club, but we happily forked over 20.00 to hear them play Granada.
I was trained in opera, and let me just tell you that their singer does NOT belong in a restaurant, singing for cash. This guy is so talented that he puts Placido Domingo to shame. The accompanying musicians are equally as good... making 20 a massive bargain to have world class musicians serenade you with a song of your choice.
The restaurant was clean, cool, and had plenty of tvs playing soccer (or futbol to everyone else in the world). Service was super friendly, albeit relaxed, so don't expect to get in and out quickly. I don't think our server spoke much english, which wasn't an issue for us as I speak Spanish well enough, but it may be for others. The manager's English was impeccable though, so don't let the potential language barrier run you off.
I love this place with all of my other-culture-craving heart. It turned a spontaneous dinner date into one of the most fun date nights we've had in a LONG while.