| One of the many cultural lessons to be learned when you cross the American border is that Americans have fantastic Mexican food, and we, as a nation, generally don't. In the most out-of-the-way place in the U.S. (Walla Walla, Washington, for example), there's invariably a taco van or stand serving good quality enchiladas and super-sweet Mexican soft drinks.
An insatiable Mexican food craving is the reason I broke a cardinal rule – never go to a restaurant in its first month. But Tios (on the corner of 16 Ave. and 14 St. S.W.) was too tempting. Tios has only been open a week or so, but the prospect of chiles rellenos, tostadas, enchiladas and some chorizo washed down with a few Dos Equis always makes me weak-kneed. An evening of Mexican food and Y tu Mamá También on the VCR, and you can pretend you're in Heaven's Mouth yourself.
Tios is a family operation with about six tables and an open kitchen. It serves straight-ahead, traditional Mexican food – our dinner was quite filling, as every main dish is accompanied with rice and beans. It's not the most complicated-tasting food ever made, but it's hearty.
Our appetizers were interesting – retro takes on traditional appetizers that come from the school of "cover it with cheese, bake it and it'll taste good." The pulpo al Tio Pepe ($6.95) is sautéed octopus covered with cheese and baked. It's normally a rule that seafood and cheese never mix, but the octopus's strong flavour was evened by the cheese and the accompanying homemade fresh salsa was full of cilantro and tasty tomatoes. The chorizo con queso ($6.95) was essentially the same dish, with chorizo instead of octopus, but the chorizo had an intoxicating, smoky, spicy flavour.
The main courses were similarly rib-sticking and tasty – a little heat (spice, not temperature) would have balanced everything out, but that's easy to add. The beans are very rich and have lots of fat; this isn't a criticism at all, but some hot sauce would have made them seem lighter, and I found I couldn't eat too many. The rice is tasty and cooked in chicken stock, so it's also very flavourful.
The chiles rellenos ($12.95) were the stars of the show. Poblano peppers covered with a great tomato sauce, and filled with a soft goat-type cheese (this didn't taste like mozzarella, even though that's what's advertised). I could eat about 50 of these, but they, too, would have benefited from a little hot sauce. The game hen with mole (a Mexican chocolate-based sauce, $16.95) was fairly dry, but the mole made the dish more moist and the meat was really good wrapped with some of the accompanying white corn tortillas – a little sour cream and habanero sauce made the perfect little burrito.
The beef enchiladas with mole ($10.95) were also good, but next time I'd have it with the homemade salsa verde (a tomatillo salsa) – it would have made the meat more moist, and mole itself is quite rich. A crème caramel for dessert finished me off for good, and it was homemade, rich and creamy.
Tios doesn't have a liquor license yet and only takes cash for the moment, but it's worth supporting – good, cheap-ish Mexican food is so hard to find in Calgary, especially in a casual environment. |
