Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Cantina 1511 CHARLOTTE 74


After a long and lazy labor day weekend the bf and I decided to keep our "mexican food streak" going by trying out Cantina 1511 on East Blvd. It was a good experience, but the food was just okay. There was a 10-15 min wait for a table for two so the bf and I bellied up to the bar to try out a cocktail before dinner. I was a little disappointed with their specialty margaritas. They had an interesting selection, but most seemed fruity and sweet. I must say that their actual tequila selection was off the chain, in fact, it took up a full page on their large cocktail menu. The bf was not feeling tequila shots so I went with a patron cosmo, which was simply perfect. Our table was ready pretty fast, but they wouldn't transfer our drinks to our tab and the bartender was busy so we had to wait to tab out. We made it to our table and our friendly server came to us promptly. We decided to start out with the shrimp and crab ceviche and the top shelf guacamole. The guacamole was made fresh at our table with avocados, salt, and some pico de gallo, and it was my favorite thing ordered. I did not care for the shrimp and crab ceviche... It was served in a small glass with shredded crab and whole shrimp drowned in a sauce that tasted pickle-ish. I hate pickles, and that seemed to be the dominating flavor. For dinner I decided to try out the "Pescado Yucatan"(pictured above), grilled fish of the day (mahi) with spicy habanero pico de gallo, pickled red onions, and black bean and plantain mash, served with corn tortillas. It also came with a corn salsa, and it was pretty much a "build your own taco" set up. The fish was cooked nicely, but there was no "wow" factor. It was good, but not amazing. The bf decided to try out three different tacos; they have seven you can mix and match from. He tried the "al pastor" (slow cooked pork), "guadalajara shrimp", and "carne asada steak". The steak was a little on the greasy side, however the pork and shrimp were pretty good. Nothing was terrible, except for the ceviche but that's my opinion. I would definitely go back and try out some more tacos, but probably wouldn't make this a regular spot. Overall I gave Cantina 1511 a 74.

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