Tuesday, December 13, 2011

the cantina at border grill

This past Friday, Josh and I were starved and ready to blow off some steam from a long week of work. It was past 8pm and were in no mood to cook or whip up some cocktails, so we headed over to the Cantina at Border Grill. They have late night happy hour drink prices from 9-11pm on Fri and Sat and affordable bites every night of the week. So we figured we'd get dinner and a round of drinks and hang around until happy hour for a second round of cocktails.



We started off with a Blanco Margarita and a Caipirinha. Our bartender was Brazilian and sold us on her Caipirinha recipe. She did not leave us wanting - both cocktails were amazing. The margarita was salty and potent and the caipirinha was the perfect medley of sweet and citrus.


Our drinks came with a basket of homemade chips and a trio of salsas (roasted, smoked, and verde). I could not get enough of the salsa verde. It was limey with just a bit of a kick.



The food was delectable. The tacos were $3 each (or 3 for $8) and came adorned with the perfect mixture of garnishes and delicious creamy sauces. The crispy potatoes rajas tacos (with chipotle cream and corn relish) and beer battered fish tacos (with avocado crema) were two favorites.




We also got an order of the green corn tamales and Peruvian ceviche. Josh was surprised that the tamale was a bit "looser" than he was used to. I loved that - often I feel like I'm eating stale polenta with most of the tamales out there. This was somewhere between corn souffle and polenta. I was thrilled about the ceviche. I'm allergic to shellfish and this was one of the first non-shellfish mixtures I've come across in a while.


To wrap up the meal, we snacked on a plate of churros with bittersweet chocolate, caramel, and whipped cream. Crispy cinnamon sugar exterior with a soft doughy center. Yes, I will be ordering these again.

I could come back and get a happy hour marg ($4.5) and a plate of 3 tacos ($8) and be happily content for about $15. I would call that a really good deal.

Border Grill
445 S Figueroa St
Los Angeles 90071

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