When my gorgeous girlfriend mentioned she had a yen for a fish taco last night, I got all excited because I thought it was her coy way of making a pass at me. Turns out she meant she wanted to try Nacho Mama's for dinner. Mexican sounded good to me though, and Nacho Mama's seemed like a good pick for those of us who are tired of the almost exhaustively cookie cutter consistency of the other Mexican restaurants in town. I do enjoy the Mexico Restaurant(s) but once you have been to one, you've pretty much been to all of them. Same menu, same stuff, cooked the same way, and they all taste the same. And while I'm complaining, I have to mention that there is a saltiness issue with that food that leaves me drinking gallons of water, and feeling like a human water balloon for hours after a dinner at one of these places.
Nacho Mama's has some problems, but they have so much potential (I hate that word). I admit though, that they have been in operation long enough that that they should be well past the stage of working out the kinks. We really wanted to like this place. Firstly, we love that they have the outdoor dining option. You have to get there fairly early on a weekend night to get a seat on the patio, but for us, it means hassle-free smoking area. And they have a tempting selection of cocktails as well... for a good summer Mexi-type cocktail that is a little off the beaten bath, I have two words: pomegranite margarita. Yum. If you get them top shelf, they are made with 1800 tequila, which really does make a difference.
The requisite chips and salsa was close behind our drinks and were tri color chips that really should have been fresher. I don't want to say they were stale, but it was a close call. That's one of the things I feel like every Mexican place worth its salt should be able to do- put out a perfect basket of chips. And since I'm a self admitted tortilla chip fiend, I am picky about them. The salsa though, was a little more to our liking. It tasted homemade and was not too chunky - just your basic tomato, onion, peppers and cilantro concoction. It needed more heat though.
One of the best things about Nacho Mama's is the menu. There's a big variety that is gloriously different from the usual suspects (the standard beans-rice-enchilada/taco/burrito combos). While you can get the "normal" selections, there are tempting sounding selections such as a spinach florentine quesadilla combo, coconut shrimp, a red chile shrimp dish, and an assortment of wraps. We were excited by the choices and had a hard time deciding, since so much of it sounded really good
We started with the 'holy guacamole' since I had been nursing an avocado craving for several days. The guac came out looking great- a decent sized bowl of nice chunky green guacamole, spiked with diced onions and tomatoes. It was disappointingly bland though, and left me wanting to run home and make it myself. It was accompanied by another basket of the substandard chips.
For my entree, I decided on the "Homemade chile rellenos." There were two of them on the plate and they came with rice and beans and a little shredded lettuce. The breading was a little on the, well... bready.. side, and the rice was dry. While the chiles were stuffed with lots of cheddar, they didn't have much zing to them. I found myself trying to dump all sorts of other things on them to pep them up a bit.
K's entree looked really wonderful on the menu. Unfortunately it did not really live up to the anticipation either. She got a combo that was a fish taco, a crabcake and a skewer of the coconut shrimp. Sounds great, right? The coconut shrimp were heavily battered and a little greasy, but came with a really tasty little cup of mango salsa. That was probably the best thing on the plate. The fish taco was "okay" and was a soft taco filled with a mild cheese and grilled fish with spring onions. It was supposed to come with lime and sour cream, but they were nowhere to be seen. Probably the biggest offender was the "crabcake." It was unrecognizable to the extent that she was pointing at it with her fork,asking "what's that?" It resembled more of a soggy crab pancake than anything else. It was flat- literally, and salty as well. You just don't serve that to a Baltimore girl who is used to the thick lump crab filled Maryland crabcakes.
Our service was fine- the waiter was polite and attentive, and it's lots of fun to sit and watch the Carytown sidewalk traffic. It's just such a shame that the food doesn't live up to the menu here.
Nacho Mama's
3449 W. Cary Street
804.358.6262
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