The Florida Foodie
The Mexican Mixed-Bag
By Saucy Sarah
Solo Cantina ~ Wellington Green Mall
10300 W Forest Hill Blvd Wellington, FL 33414
(561) 791-8886
I have a sordid love affair with Mexican food. I have been a Rick
Bayless (who is, if you don’t know, the king of authentic Mexican cuisine) follower since the ripe age of ten years old and have made the pilgrimage to his flagship restaurant “Frontera” in Chicago. So it is safe to say I have tasted the best Mexican food north of the border. I am always excited to try a new Mexican restaurant in South Florida, hoping to find a place to fall in love with. When I found out a new Mexican restaurant had opened in the Wellington Green Mall, I gathered my hungry group of girlfriends and we set off to Solo Cantina, at sit-down establishment, located in the mall across from the food court. What could be better, we all thought, than a trendy Mexican Cantina inside the mall?
The atmosphere at Solo is hip, sexy-modern. Fat bare light bulbs clustered together make up interesting chandeliers above the long tables quasi-banquet-bistro style seating in the dining room. Large white square and rectangle plates, white cloth napkins, sleek tan granite table tops are a fresh and welcomed new take on the “Mexican Cantina” theme we are all used to (fake wood rafters, brightly colored sombreros… You know what I’m talking about).
Waiting for us on the table was an extensive list of margaritas. I prefer mine with a splash of orange juice, and was happy to find one that fit my taste on the list. It was a good drink – not overpowered by the tequila, the fresh squeezed orange juice smoothing out the acid of the lime perfectly. A nice basket brimming with colorful tortilla chips came to the table with a fresh tomato salsa that was nicely balanced and not too bitter or spicy. So far, the evening was looking to be in our favor.
But, when it comes to the entrees at Solo Cantina, there is great room for improvement. As a place for a quick pause for a drink and some nice salsa, it is a great Mall pit-stop, but for a truly great dining experience, Solo Cantina has a good deal of work ahead of them. I chose the shredded beef enchiladas, served with refried beans. The beef inside the two corn tortillas could have been leftover pot roast. There was no flavor to the meat and was void of any juices or a sauce. On top of the tortillas, there was little sauce or cheese and so I had to use the salsa from the appetizer to help lubricate my meal. The steak Fajitas, one of my companions ordered, were more flavorful, but again, dry and lacking juiciness. I found the shrimp ceviche another friend ordered lacking the right balance of acid from the lime juice and overpowered by the tomato slurry it came served in, though the shrimp were plump and not overcooked. The house salad that came to the table was really just a pile of fresh mixed greens with a bit of corn sprinkled on top and served with thousand island dressing with some chipotle added to make it seem more “Mexican”. Some Queso Fresco would have helped the salad a lot and maybe some pumpkin seeds.
On the other hand, there were some high notes to the meal. The Tortilla Soup came out steaming hot in a beautiful white bowl and was complex in flavors and delicious. The star of the night was the Avocado Fries. Deep fried wedges of perfectly ripe avocado arrived in a martini glass with fresh pico de gallo and two types of dipping sauce. It was like biting into hot, crunchy, perfect guacamole. I could have eaten five servings and been perfectly happy with my night.
While the appetizers and soup shine, Solo Cantina obviously needs to focus more on the main entrees, giving them the care and respect needed; rendering juiciness, and complexity to its flavors. I recommend it for a quick stop for an appetizer and a drink, but I suggest holding off on going for a special meal or when you are craving a dynamic Mexican experience.
In her previous life, Sarah, a Palm Beach County Native, spent ten years working in various high-end eating establishments around South Florida. She is currently a fiction thesis candidate in the MFA program at Florida International University where she also teaches creative writing and rhetoric. If that is not enough, Sarah is also the owner of Cakes by Sarah, a local custom cake shop. Sarah lives in Lake Worth with her husband and two beautiful boys. “Food, fiction, and family are my life.”