Cantina Tequila Mexican Restaurant and Fiesta, Blundell Street, Liverpool

May 23 2008 by Emma Johnson, Liverpool Daily Post

Cantina Tequila is something of a mixed dish for Emma Johnson to digest

AS REGULAR readers will be aware, I love Mexican food. I love burritos, I love tortillas, I love nachos and I could happily climb inside a giant bowl of enchiladas and make like the proverbial.

Mexican food has every culinary element I adore and an awful lot of the things that the diet doctors hate. But who cares? Loads of cheese, loads of meat, herbs and spices and a good old clutch of carbs in virtually every dish. If I am ever feeling down, plonk a big bowl of albondigas in front of me, and watch the endorphins kick in.

So when I heard of a new Mexican restaurant in Liverpool opening its doors, I was there.

For while we are not short of Spanish, inundated with Indian cuisine and covered when it comes to Chinese, the Mexicans haven’t quite been so speedy to take over Liverpool’s dining scene.

So it was on a very warm spring evening, my husband and I ventured into the dark of Cantina Tequila. My other half tells me the restaurant used to be part of its neighbour the Blundell Street restaurant, but it has now undergone a full conversion to Mexican.

Set over two floors, it is typically cantina-like with dark wood floors, brightly coloured tiles and fabulously flamboyant posters. There’s a dancefloor and a DJ booth upstairs and sombreros hang from the backs of chairs, marking it out as an ideal venue for big party nights like birthdays and – whisper it – hen do’s.

We were seated swiftly, if oddly, at one end of a table set for six. With the restaurant still fairly empty it seemed strange but, as we hadn’t booked, we assumed it was all they had available and indeed tables soon began to fill up.

With a large glass of white (£3.60) and a beer on the way (£3.20) we pondered the paper menus. For Mexican fans they are pretty comprehensive, every which way with a flour tortilla is present from fajitas to tacos to my favourite, burittos.

There are also sides-a-plenty ribs, stuffed peppers, patatas bravas, refried beans (yummy) and, for the brave, stuffed jalapenos.

To start I went for the albondigas (£4.95) – to the uninitiated they are beef meatballs served with a medium spiced tomato sauce. He opted for the chilli prawns (£5.50) and I’m guessing there’s no translation needed there. We also chucked in a portion of garlic bread, Mexican-style (£4.95).

As we neared the end of our first round of drinks, the dishes duly arrived. The meatballs were a feast for the eyes and the tastebuds. Three big chunky balls of mince, mashed together with crunchy peppers and onions and smothered with a thick but not too hot sauce, they really hit the spot and the crunchy garnish made a cooling accompaniment.

The garlic bread, done French stick-style, was also a winner. Overflowing with pepper-speckled cheese, it made an interesting change from the traditional.

Across the table the chilli prawns weren’t quite such a hit. Where my husband had been expecting perhaps half a dozen big juicy prawns, there was a smattering of tiny ones, and the Mexican fused rice looked distinctly unfused. Still it wasn’t a disaster.

Plates cleared and a second round of drinks en route, the restaurant had really started to fill up by the time our main courses arrived around 10 minutes later.

My dish turned out to be an interesting interpretation of burritos. In my experience they generally come as wraps but the chef had gone for a pancake approach instead. The spicy chicken filling was sandwiched between two tortillas rather than wrapped up in them, with the cheese and sour cream plonked on top.

It looked seriously strange but was rich and creamy and most satisfying.

My husband, a lover of Spanish meats and chicken, ordered the pork and chorizo casserole (£11.95) and by the way he cleared his plate, I expect he will do again. It came in two parts, a big bowl of steaming, thick and meaty casserole and a side order of patatas bravas.