Kat's 9 Lives

Mango, Coconut, and Banana Split were back for more Mexican food! Aren't we a fruity bunch! I also have to pay homage to Tofu for the name Banana Split. So after the fiasco with Taléo Grill, we decided to get Mexican food again. This time we ventured over to the Kaleidoscope for some El Torito Grill. Their decor was very festive and colorful. As you will see the dishes were plated on very colorful plates. The ambiance was very similar to a family restaurant, down to earth. Service was friendly and pretty prompt.
A great thing about this place would be the free delicious fresh flour tortillas with sweet butter and fresh salsas! There's no limit to how much you can get too. They really do a great job with the tortillas. It's soft, chewy, and flavorful! I love buttering the tortilla and dabbling some salsa then wrap it up to eat it like a taquito. Watch out for drippage!
Mango had to have her favorite dish the Lobster Quesadilla. Tender lobster, jack & cotija cheeses, pastilla chiles, mango salsa and chipotle sauce in a flour tortilla served with fresh guacamole. It's an appetizer but the size was tremendous. You can definitely make a meal out of it and more! Mango was in heaven and wants everybody to know that the dish was superb. I have had this dish before a long time ago and I can't really recall much about this dish except that it was huge. If you don't share it with a big group, then it's really a meal in itself.
Coconut ordered Carnitas Soft Tacos. Two flour tortillas tacos with carnitas inside served with homemade beans, avocado relish, and sweet corn cake. She opted to substitute the beans for rice, which they made a mistake of the corn cake and took a while to get the rice. I guess the good thing was she got more of the corn cake!
I ordered the Carnitas Yucatán to see how they measure up here at El Torito Grill. Tender pork with garlic, achiote, fresh lime, orange juice, and spices that's slow roasted and later topped with citrus-habañero marinated red onions served with red & black beans, rice, avocado relish, and sweet corn cake. If you don't all know yet, I HATE BEANS of any sort. So I definitely had to substitute and what better place than here! I LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE their sweet corn cake! It's almost like a sweet corn tamale, which is one of my favorite things. I just love the sweetness that the corn has and the soft texture of the cake. It's a blissful blend of flavors. Man I want to go back again soon and just eat plates & plates of the sweet corn cake for a meal! For people who know me, it must be good for me to forgo meat and want to eat this!
The carnitas were decent, definitely better than the ones at Taléo Grill. At least the carnitas here looked like carnitas, the other place just looked like a big drumstick de-boned. The meat was a little bit saltier but blended well with the compliments. I didn't really like the sauce at the bottom because it was heavy and smokey. This was almost the exact same dish as Coconut except that I had to wrap my own tacos/burritos. The dish was good enough that I'd get it again, but I think I would substitute the rice for more YUMMY sweet corn cake!
All in all this place was good and reliable, consistent. I haven't really found a dish that is to die for in my opinion, except the awesome tortillas and sweet corn cake! Who can say no to free delicious tortillas? What really sells me is the fabulous sweet corn cake! Overall it's a good place for group gatherings, a quick bite, or just 'cause you crave the sweet corn cake. Can you tell I love the sweet corn cake yet? O=9