Oh my lordy, I’ve been terrible about posting lately.\u00c2\u00a0 In my defense, work has been busy, personal life has been busy.<\/p>\n
Here we go, though.<\/p>\n
There is a (relatively) new Mexican restaurant in town called La Reyna, and I’d heard really good things about it from friends, so the gang and I checked it out last night.<\/p>\n
1.\u00c2\u00a0 Ambience:\u00c2\u00a0 pretty typical Mexican, a notch above “hole in the wall” but not luxurious by any means.\u00c2\u00a0 I wasn’t crazy about the clear vinyl table covers.\u00c2\u00a0 When you go in, the restaurant is to the left and the bodega (shop) is to the right.\u00c2\u00a0 There was no one stationed at the entryway, but they weren’t busy, and someone acknowledged us quickly and seated us.<\/p>\n
Ambience score:\u00c2\u00a0 3\/5 <\/strong><\/p>\n 2.\u00c2\u00a0 Chips\/salsa:\u00c2\u00a0 we received them quickly.\u00c2\u00a0 The salsa was very good—strong fire-roasted and tomatillo notes.\u00c2\u00a0 It was definitely spicier than an average salsa (in Iowa anyway).\u00c2\u00a0 Denny thought it was a little too spicy.\u00c2\u00a0 I disagree, except that we didn’t get any water right away, so it was a little hot without any liquid balance.<\/p>\n The chips were nothing special.\u00c2\u00a0 They were a little on the hard and greasy side, like maybe the oil wasn’t quite hot enough, but they were edible.<\/p>\n Chips\/salsa score:\u00c2\u00a0 3.5\/5<\/strong><\/p>\n 3.\u00c2\u00a0 Drinks:\u00c2\u00a0 we both got water and I got a margarita, which was only available on the rocks.\u00c2\u00a0 It was really bad.\u00c2\u00a0 I mean, seriously crappy.\u00c2\u00a0 It was too sweet, extremely artificial-tasting like Kool-Aid, with no discernible real lime or tequila flavor.\u00c2\u00a0 I did get a slight buzz, so I’m pretty sure it contained alcohol, but I wouldn’t put money on it being anything better than grain alcohol. On the wall by our table they advertised their margaritas and strawberry daiquiris, featuring photos of the pre-made mixes the use.\u00c2\u00a0 Um…?\u00c2\u00a0 I don’t harbor delusions that most casual Mexican restaurants have people in the back muddling limes or anything, but at least their mixes are reasonably tasty. Drinks score:\u00c2\u00a0 1\/5 <\/strong><\/p>\n 4.\u00c2\u00a0 Entrees:\u00c2\u00a0 Denny got enchiladas and I got mole poblano.\u00c2\u00a0 I didn’t try his enchiladas, but they looked pretty good and he seemed to enjoy them.\u00c2\u00a0 They came with rice, beans, and some lettuce\/tomato\/sour cream toppings.<\/p>\n My mole was a mixed bag.\u00c2\u00a0 The sauce was very good—it hit me first with the sweet and chocolatey notes, and it lingered nicely with more complex chile and spice flavors.\u00c2\u00a0 It wasn’t very spicy-hot at all.\u00c2\u00a0 The chicken was in large chunks.\u00c2\u00a0 It was all white meat, and the chunks were a little dry and tough on the interior.\u00c2\u00a0 It would have been better if the chunks had been chicken thighs, which would have stayed moister, or if the meat had been shredded so the sauce had covered it better.<\/p>\n It was served with flour tortillas.\u00c2\u00a0 I don’t actually know whether flour or corn tortillas are traditional with mole, but my impression is that corn are the default for most of the less-Americanized dishes.\u00c2\u00a0 Other items on the menu indicated that the diner could choose between corn and flour, but the waiter didn’t ask my preference.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe flour is what’s supposed to go with mole.\u00c2\u00a0 Anyway, the tortillas were good, warm and freshly (what’s the word I want?\u00c2\u00a0 I want to say a la plancha<\/em>.\u00c2\u00a0 Like…toasted on a griddle).\u00c2\u00a0 There was also rice in the center of the chicken\/sauce situation.<\/p>\n The waiter warned us before we ordered that there were no tamales, which disappointed me because I love tamales.<\/p>\n I sopped up all the mole sauce with my tortillas.\u00c2\u00a0 It was good stuff.\u00c2\u00a0 We were too full for dessert.<\/p>\n Entrees score:\u00c2\u00a0 4\/5 <\/strong><\/p>\n 5.\u00c2\u00a0 Service<\/p>\n The place wasn’t busy, which was good because there seemed to be one owner\/manager type person and just one server.\u00c2\u00a0 The server did a good job, though.\u00c2\u00a0 He checked on us several times and brought the bill promptly.\u00c2\u00a0 He flirted with Miles nicely.<\/p>\n My only criticisms of the service were that it would have been nice to have water immediately and place settings already at the table when we sat down.\u00c2\u00a0 I brought some fruit for Miles that I needed to cut up, and it was a fair amount of time before I got silverware with which to do it.<\/p>\n
\nThe water tasted like water.<\/p>\n