Mekinta Mexican Grille (Lutz)
Let’s face it, the Tampa Bay area can’t get enough good Mexican cuisine. For years, the middling Mexican food in our metropolitan area left us awash in bad margaritas and blankets of oily orange cheese. The increasing Mexican population in the the bay area has brought a few good places, but has yet to stabilize. Sometimes our bashful suburban dwellers need to experience ethnic food “once removed” from its rustic roots.
Mekenita (once known as Mariposa) is casual, the prices are reasonable, and the decor is kinda groovy. “Chef Rand and Tiffany Packer” have created a manageable business model, with a simple menu and solid flavors. For squeamish suburbanites and fans of the flavors of Mexico, Mekenita is definitely several notches above Chipotle or Tijuana Flats. To raise this restaurant further, a couple details should be addressed.
The salsa bar is appreciated. The best variety was surely the guajillo salsa (center), made from the tough, dark chile found in Mexico. It is tangy, with enough spiciness to keep me interested.
I have a major weakness for tamales (among many other things), so I ordered one of Mekenita’s Oaxaca style tamales with mole. The smoked pork adds wonderful deep notes to the mole sauce and tender masa. I must commend chef Rand on the presentation. Very little of the mole pool on this plate remained two minutes after serving.
The “crispy tiger shrimp salad” was a rather unfortunate affair. See those weird slugs sitting on a lump of refried beans and rice? Those are the shrimp, which were more spongy than crispy. There is ostensibly a salad under this mess. I was hoping for an actual salad, with no rice and no refried beans. Make it lighter and brighter. When you want shrimp, you don’t want these lumpen beasts. When you order a salad, you don’t want a burrito in a bowl.
The enchilada special was quite good, but i soon tired of the sauce, which was plenty tangy but could have used more body. Although I’ve quibbled about some of the details, Mekenita’s does a good job, and I look forward to trying more of their food. I’ll post an update soon.