LTT: Camarones Mi Casita from Casa Mendoza

It’s always hard reviewing Mexican Food restaurants. I feel like I’m spitting in my mother’s face.

Onward!

Casa Mendoza is this new Mexican Restaurant that opened up in our neck of the woods out here in the Desert. It’s located at the University Village in Palm Desert off of Cook Street. I had no idea “University Village” existed. While driving there, I was convinced that I was going to get raped and murdered. I was told about this place by my buddy’s girlfriend, whose brother was opening up the restaurant. Her brother had heard about my site, and asked me to check it out. Upon arrival, though, I made it very clear that I wasn’t in the “doin’ favors” business, I was in the “eating delicious food” business, and if his place’s food wasn’t up to snuff, I wouldn’t tell white lies about it.

Business is boomin’…

The first thing you’ll notice about this place is the atmosphere. The name of the place literally translates to “House of Mendoza”, or “Mendoza Residence”, and it certainly feels homely. There’s a nice china hutch to the side. Beautiful Spanish wall art hung neatly around the room. The bar looks like a gorgeous well-kept bar in someone’s private home, with a LCD screen mounted nearby, playing the current game. Gorgeous place. You feel as if you’re over at someone’s house for a nice dinner. It’s a lot more intimate.

We got started with some complimentary chips and salsa. Sadly, the salsa was a cold salsa. I’m a sucker for warm salsa. Cold salsa goes very well with guacamole though, so I ordered a batch of the creamy Kryptonite. The guac is very fresh and tasty. Afterwards, the food came out. I ordered the House Special: Camarones Mi Casita, or “The House Shrimp”. Rene, the owner, told me that they worked hard to get the shrimp to be as close to the amazing seafood he remembered as a child during trips to different parts of Mexico. They achieve this by importing Mexican shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico

The shrimp are big on taste. They marinade the shrimp in a chipotle-based marinade, stuff them with chipotle, then wrap bacon around them and cook ‘em up. As everyone knows, once bacon is involved, you almost definitely have a winner on your hands. After cooking, they melt a combination of cheeses over the hot shrimp and place them in a boat, where a creamy chipotle sauce is poured over the sinful seafood. The spiciness of chipotle is balanced with the cheese. A light fire starts in your mouth, but is quickly put out by a blanket of cheese. The smoke of the exhausted flame billows in your mouth afterwards; a reminder that you are, in fact, at a Mexican restaurant.

Beans and rice are good. With this combo, it’s usually a make or break when it comes to Mexican food. I can’t count how many times I’ve been to Mexican restaurants that have had horrid, bland rice and beans. If I had a nickel for every time, I’d have enough scratch to do this as a living for a good year or two. Alas, the world does not reward subjugation to failure. But I digress! The beans and rice at Casa Mendoza have a great home-cooked flavor. The beans taste fresh and the rice taste almost jalapeño-kissed. I was impressed.

We were stuffed, but our waitress had to come and entice us with their fairly large dessert menu. Typical Mexican desserts like flan were present, but more exciting treats like Banana Chimichanga and Upside-Down Pineapple Cake jumped from the menu, screaming for attention, and making deals with my taste buds. I slapped my taste buds back in line and settled for a flan.

Excellent flan! A rich vanilla flavor, velvety and creamy texture, and a presentation that almost makes you not want to eat it. Another member of the LTT crew went with the cheesecake, and I was too tempted not to sneak a bite. Delicious! Creamy is an understatement for this cheesecake. A delicious crust. The desserts were amazing. Even nicer to know: the family’s grandmother makes all the desserts from scratch. That’s how you know it’s good! If grandma’s in there bakin’ up a storm, you’re in for a treat!

Check out the restaurant. They have a FaceBook page, and a Twitter page that I’m told will be put to use soon. I also have it on good authority that these will be outlets for coupons and daily deals, so make sure to follow/fan them.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to call my mommy and apologize for turning my back on her cooking…