Viva Mexico

Where: 1455 Willmington Dr., DuPont, 253.912.4730
Hours: 11 a.m.-9  p.m. Monday through Friday, 12 p.m.-9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Cuisine: Mexican
Scene: Casual, family friendly
Drinkies: Full bar, standard non-alcoholic, virgin mocktails
Prices: $3.50-$14.75

ANNOUNCER: A sister to restaurants in Des Moines and White Center, Viva Mexico in DuPont sits a bit apart from the rest of the planned shopping/dining/lifestyle oasis for nearby military installations, travelers of Interstate 5 and employees at the massive State Farm building. Moderately priced and with almost 60 items on the menu, this restaurant claims to serve authentic Mexican cuisine. Let’s see what the boys thought of the nine they sampled.

JAKE: Real Mexican hot chocolate is made with rich ingredients such as heavy cream, unsweetened chocolate, eggs, and cinnamon — and takes more than five minutes to make. Mine arrived in three crowned with deflated whip cream and tasted watery. Sigh.

JASON: You should have had a margarita, whiner. Olé!

JAKE: You mean or four, like you? Bah. Someone had to drive us back from DuPont. However, it was fun handing you off to your wife. She looked thrilled. But anyway, complimentary chips and salsa hit the table immediately. Chips tasted fresh and were lightly salted. Salsa was a decent red puree with a slight zing though definitely could not be called hot.

JASON: Camarones mojo de ajo, an appetizer of shrimp sautéed with cooked mushrooms, carrot rounds, red pepper, and minced garlic was heavy on the salt and garlic. Good thing both of those are my favs. The mushrooms lent an earthy quality. The small salad accompanying the camarones was utterly unimpressive. I think a dead giveaway of unauthentic Mexican food is shredded cheddar cheese. Exactly that and mozzarella or Jack were all over this salad of shredded iceberg and flavorless diced tomatoes. Weak.

JAKE: Yeah, you said that in the parking lot before we even went in: Cheddar cheese equals Americanized Mexican food. Caldo de res is different everywhere though always based on beef. Viva’s is a huge hearty stew with boneless chunks of fatty beef, 3-inch long carrot sections, a surprising two quarter pieces of corn on the cob, and the equivalent of two whole red potatoes in beef broth. A side plate held raw chopped white onion, minced jalapeño and lime, which I immediately dumped into the bowl. Viva la Revolution!  Mucho fantastico!

JASON: Oh, that’s right — eating raw jalapeños was your attempt at living dangerously, wasn’t it? I was torn, so I ordered a combo plate, #21 to be exact. Chile relleno, enchilada and chimichanga. Again, loads of cheese, this time melted over just about the whole plate. I was shorted on the chimichanga, receiving a beef chalupa instead. That’s a fried taco — think Taco Bell. The enchilada was a sauce-drowned soggy mess while the relleno was made with cooked egg as the outer layer, which was tasty even if the green chile pepper was cooked till mushy. Rice and beans were forgettable. Where were my pickled veggies? Where was the cilantro? Where was the flavor? Argh. Like many Mexican restaurants in the Northwest, flavor and spice seem to have been muted for general public consumption. I sound like a broken record.

JAKE: I hear you, but calm down there, tiger. It’s not all bad. I usually enjoy pollo en mole poblano; it’s packed with flavor, so I felt safe ordering it. Man, I did not expect the sauce to taste like peanuts; my fault for not reading the menu.  I kept trying to like it, but it just wasn’t right for me. I’m certain some people dig it, though. I understand the appeal, but I missed the deep silky taste of the cocoa that’s usually prevalent. It just didn’t shine through with so much peanut in there.

JASON: I agree. The peanut taste wasn’t bad necessarily; it just didn’t work with the mexi-rice and refried beans. Call me crazy, but I prefer my peanut sauce in Thai dishes.

JAKE: That would be the least of the reasons I would call you crazy.

JASON: The dessert menu spelled it out that Karo syrup is the topper for sopapillas here. Pass. I don’t think the person who wrote the Web site description of Viva Mexico has actually tasted the food.