La Cantina

La Cantina was recently reviewed in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Riverfront Times so when I sent the articles to my friends, I figured it would just be added to the bottom of my “restaurant to visit” list for a time in the future. But my friend suggested we go right away and I was nervous that it would be packed, especially since they don’t take reservations.

My friends and I got there right at 6PM on a Saturday night and that worked out perfectly since there were still quite a few open tables both inside and out.

While La Cantina has the usual quesadillas and assorted tacos, I really wanted to try some of their botanas, or small plates. There are quite a few items to choose from so you need to take the time to read all the descriptions. I knew I didn’t want any pork items so that narrowed it down a little bit. Unfortunately, I do not see the items I selected on the menu on the website but I know I ordered a fried portabella mushroom surrounded by cheese along with a dish of six small, crispy chicken taquitos.

My friend ordered a stuffed green pepper…stuffed with a lot of cheesy goodness that is! I also got to try one of his fish tacos that you got to build yourself. The fish itself was very soft and light and I ended up putting the guacamole from my chicken dish and the salsa from the table in the middle of the taco. My fish taco creation was definitely my favorite!

I also started with the white sangria, which had a strong citrusy flavor to it and the red sangria was also overpowering so I quit after one drink, even though I was eyeing my friend’s Mango Frozen Margarita.

I was way too full to have any dessert, so I was impressed with my friends who ordered the Xangas (pronounced changas - cheesecake wrapped in a flour tortilla then fried so that it’s crunchy) that came in a mango sauce. I could only handle one bite due to the rich mango flavor!

Resources:

La Cantina = http://www.lacantinawebster.com/

STLtoday.com Review = http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/dining/restaurants/reviews/la-cantina-aims-for-a-unique-mexican-niche/article_cc114d54-c3d9-11e1-882a-0019bb30f31a.html

RFT review: http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/gutcheck/2012/07/review_preview_la_cantina_webster_groves.php

Diablitos Cantina

Update: Diablitos has moved inside of Sanctuaria.

I recently picked Diablitos as a pre-Fox show dinner location because I kept hearing so much about their drinks and their patio. While the patio isn’t huge, I did enjoy the fast-spinning fans to help keep me cool in the warm St. Louis summer. Now inside the restaurant, it IS quite spacious and there were plenty of tables, even with a large birthday party going on that night.

Since I arrived early and hungry, I knew I had to get an appetizer and I had my sights set on the guacamole. There were huge chunks of tomatoes and onions in every bite! This was only $5 but it would barely be enough for two.

Diablitos are known for their various tequila drinks and I was happy to find so many foo foo sweet drinks that I love. I started with the El Pepino Grande since it had a lot of fruity ingredients (raspberries, lemon, lime, pineapple, and coconut nectar so I felt confident it would be mostly sweet tasting! With my meal, I then switched to the El Pelo del Perro, which is an orange infused tequila cocktail with a lot of orange-flavored ingredients. I could not taste any alcohol in either drink, and they’re quite refreshing to cool down the spice in the food.

When my friends arrived later, they ordered the salsa bar and I had to try it myself out of curiosity. For $2 per person, the unlimited chips and salsa bar has a rotating selection of quite a few salsas! There were a couple of hot ones, a few different types of fruit salsas like mango and pineapple, and then a couple of salsas that were completely different than anything I’ve ever heard of before. What’s smart is when you find the salsa you like best, you can fill a few containers of it and use it for your meal!

I ordered my favorite, Baja Fish tacos, and it worked out well that they only came with two tacos on the plate because I was already so full from guacamole and the salsa bar. I probably could have made a dinner out of another appetizer, especially the generous portion of Queso that my friends shared with me.

Resources:

Diabolitos Cantina = http://diablitoscantina.com/

Broadway Oyster Bar

After looking at the menu, I knew I was going to have a problem because I really wanted to try one of everything at Broadway Oyster Bar. Luckily, my FAC friends helped out by ordering a lot of food as well. Sunday was definitely the best day to go down there since all the crowds had dissipated from the weekend activity and we had no problem finding a spot on the patio so we could enjoy the weather.

Of course I got to try a few types of oysters and I didn’t realize that you could even order some of them as “cooked”! Between a few of us, we split oysters on the half shelf, chargrilled, and fried. Each order came with six oysters and I didn’t realize how filling they could be!

I am not sure where the raw oysters were originally from, but they were quite large and for the first time, I had them with cocktail sauce. I think I like that even better than hot sauce since it added a sweet flavor.

The fried oysters had a weird texture with the crispy outside and gooey inside. The grease was too much for my stomach but using their homemade tartar sauce helped a little bit.

The best ones were the Chargrilled Oysters and that’s mainly because they came with a layer of parmesan cheese on top of them! These oysters had the most flavors with all the butter and spices in addition to the cheese.

For tradition’s sake, I ordered the crab cakes as a starter and I probably should have stopped at appetizers. The two crab cakes were about the size of my fist and were covered in a rich sauce. With very little fishy flavor, I mostly tasted the sauce. I was ready to trade a crab cake for my friend’s fish taco but he was too stuffed to even dare look at a crab cake, so I got to take it home.

I am also a huge fan of fish tacos, even though it was the typical fried tilapia, the Cajun cole slaw on top really added a kick to the taco. I just had one and by this point I was already quite full. My friend didn’t make it too far through his other fish taco since it came with a side of red beans and rice, and he had started with the Crawfish Bisque that looked fantastic as well.

Even though I was stuffed, I still had a main course to eat but I had no room for it! Even worse, I ordered the sampler so that I could taste some of everything. I only got half way through the Crawfish Etoufee, which was not too spicy but again, very filling.

I did finally get to try the sampler as leftovers a few days later and it came with Gumbo Ya Ya, Jambalaya, and Red Beans and Rice along with the Crawfish Etoufee. At this point, it was all mixed together so I’m not sure which was which.

Just be aware that all the dishes are filling and you might just want to split oysters and appetizers and call it a day. Or perhaps just split a main course along with some oysters.

Resources:

Broadway Oyster Bar = http://www.broadwayoysterbar.com/menu.html

Pueblo Solis

I was excited about Pueblo Solis because I had read such a great review about it from a foodie friend and had the inside scoop. I was a little nervous because I have been so loyal to Flacco’s, but I never want to miss out on a chance to try a new restaurant. I was very proud of my St. Charles friends who hiked all the way into the city, way down Hampton to try it with me.

I was just going to order the fish taco dinner since it was recommended in my friend’s blog but I was worried when I didn’t see it on the menu – only chicken or beef tacos were listed. So I asked the waitress and she said that it was not a problem! I was relieved but am not sure why it isn’t on the menu. Is it a super secret probation entrée?

Anyway, I got four small soft tacos along with rice and beans and at first I thought it’d be too much but the tacos were small and disappeared very quickly. We even started with the traditional chips and salsa – three kinds – spicy tomato, mild green, and a black bean!

The fish tacos here are all shredded tilapia while at Flacco’s you have more variety of fish and flavors, but I thought the tilapia and sauce gave the fish tacos a sweet flavor that was very.

Luckily, my friends are super nice and let me try a gordita (chicken inside and lots of cheese on the outside) as well as their homemade guacamole. WOW! Everyone gave the guac an A+ all around the table and I would highly recommend ordering it as an appetizer. You could probably make a meal of just that!!

My friend Dawn did not like the chicken Flauta in her combo entree but she gave the rice an A+, while I thought it was typical Mexican rice.

My buddy Curt also gave the margarita a thumbs up…he said he couldn’t taste the alcohol at all! hehe

I'm not sure when I'll make the trek back to the city but it was worth the trip at least once. Very reasonably priced as well.

Pueblo Solis = http://www.pueblosolisstl.com/

Best of Seafood Class

After many months of waiting, we finally had the first seafood class of 2011 at Whole Foods (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/) and the theme was “Best of Seafood Class” so you knew it was going to be awesome! I was going to try and dig up my old blog posts for these courses to see what I had said in the past, but I actually have way too many posts to go through! So I decided just blog about them again and apologies if this sounds familiar at all.

We started with a Clam Chowder, which I do not remember having the first time, and I was surprised that the broth was so thin instead of thick and creamy. Yet, it still held a lot of flavor and it was easy to find the clam chunks. Unfortunately, it was also a little too easy to find the bacon chunks too and it invaded the clam flavor. Not exactly a “best of” for me.

Next up was the Chipotle Cod Cakes with Lime Mustard and I definitely remembered these because they are incredibly spicy! I knew in advance to DOUSE the cod cakes with the lime mustard sauce as if I were attempting to put out a fire. While they cod cakes were delicious, the heat was actually a bit too overpowering. Of course all the spice lovers in the class were just thrilled.

I had better luck with the Mahi Mahi tacos with fresh pico de gallo. There was a little bit of cayenne pepper but I didn’t have any problems with heat thanks to the pico de gallo. The melted Chihuahua cheese was also a nice addition. It probably helps that I’m in a “fish taco” mood these days too. Hehe

But probably one of my all time favorite dishes was the Chilean Seabass with a garlic and bread topping. I immediately shared this recipe with friends! Hehe The fish is so light and buttery flavored that it just melts in your mouth. The bread topping gives it just enough texture as well. Outstanding!

In other happy Whole Foods news, the next cheese class, a goat cheese theme, will take place on Tuesday, March 29th. You can check out the March Galleria callendar here: http://wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/st-louis/store-calendar/

Flaco's Cocina

Unfortunately, Flaco's Cocina has closed.

I had being hearing about some great fish tacos from my friends so I had to go and check it out for myself. Flaco’s Cocina (http://flacoscocina.com/) has a great location at 170 and Delmar and you can’t miss the rainbow-colored patio area, which is heated in the winter.

Anyway, I was dead set on having fish tacos but I immediately got tripped up over the appetizers. For a split second, I almost went with an appetizer meal…one of each please: crab cakes, seared tuna, baked goat cheese, hot crab dip, and mussels. But I was good and stayed on my true path. I am thinking that I need to round up some friends and make it a “tapas” night.

Flaco’s has a lengthy menu and I am a sucker for seafood. There are a couple of shrimp and lobster dishes, but I finally made it to the taco section of the menu, only to find out that there are quite a few to select from and was feeling a bit overwhelmed. There are five different kinds of fish tacos as well as a couple types of chicken, beef, tofu, and veggie tacos. Tacos I had never even heard of! But I was fortunate in that I was sitting at the bar and was able to get some personal advice from an off-duty server.

Her recommendation was the tempura baja and the seared tuna fish tacos. The baja came with chunks of mango on top but both tacos tasted light and sweet. Both tacos came piled high with pico de gallo and sauce, so I expected to be wearing most of the taco home with me. The soft taco shells held up well and I barely spilled at all.

I was also told that Flaco’s has “killer drinks” and I figured I would probably have to break down and have a margarita instead of sticking with my safe, favorite Mexican beers. I went with a Raspberry Margarita so I could still have something fruity although the Sangria drink looked really tasty as well. A bar neighbor was on her third or fourth so I know they went down easy.

This is definitely someplace I plan on going back to but be aware that it’s pretty small inside. There are maybe only eight tables so they rely on the outside seating on busy nights. The bar has quite a few seats too so it’s a good place to sit if it’s crowded. Luckily, Flaco’s takes reservations so you can ensure you get a spot.