Salty Senorita

Yesterday's outing with my son landed us at the Salty Senorita for lunch. Jeff and I had been in the place only once several years ago to have cocktails at a promotion party, but I have long wanted to stop in for a bite to eat and finally got the chance.

Upon pulling into the parking lot, patrons are greeted with an outdoor eating area decorated like a Mexican beach shack. The entrance to the building is flanked with mermaids and glossy surfboards in neon colors. Inside, the theme continues with capiz shell chandeliers, driftwood flooring, and columns adorned in blue mosaic tiles. A fresco of painted fish and coral runs around the base of the ceiling and cartoon-y posters of salty characters hang at the end of each booth. Ours displayed Jose (a rank-smelling fisherman) and his pet mouse, Cuervo. Opposite our table was a tourist named Rico and his dog, Suave; and a few seats over was Margarita.

Apparently, all this cheesiness costs a lot of money, because lunch for the  my son and I set us back $32 including tax and tip (and we didn't even order anything fancy). The boy had a two-enchilada plate (shredded beef and cheese) that came with black beans and rice. I had the house nachos, which were delicious. They appeared to be layered: the bottom stack of chips had black beans and melted cheddar cheese; the center stack had diced onions and a spunky "fundido" sauce; the top layer had fresh tomatoes, sour cream, and two liberal scoops of guacamole. It was more than I could eat, which is probably good since 6'3" was eyeing my plate greedily as he finished off his own. In addition to these goodies, we each had a drink (one soda and one iced tea). The quality of the food was excellent, but perhaps not so good as to warrant the price tag.

However, I did walk away with a couple of lessons. First, next time I make nachos I plan to layer the ingredients to create the kind of stack I received. Next, I scanned the menu for interesting items to try at home. Since Jeff didn't get to spend the day with us, I tried to find something he would like that we could reconstruct for dinner. This turned out to be a successful tactic since I spied shrimp and mango quesadillas. While mangoes were not available at the store last night, I did pick up some of my favorite mango salsa (which has large chunks of the fruit). Jeff put the dish together while I was on the computer, by sauteing some defrosted shrimp in chili oil (for a little kick), and then adding the shrimp, mango salsa, and cheese to large flour tortillas. (He added just a tiny bit of oil in the bottom of the pan to help the tortillas crisp up.) The result was easy and delicious. We used pre-packed mixed cheese, but I think the flavor might be better served with a mild white cheese like Swiss or mozzarella. In addition, some chopped onions and bell pepper sauteed with the shrimp might be nice.

While I don't think we'll be eating at the Salty Senorita again soon, the boy and I enjoyed our meal together and left sated. (As a matter of fact, we just had to go to the mall to walk off lunch.)