New Restaurant Sukhumvit 14 - Los Cabos

[kyb789]

Ummm... getting BACK ON TOPIC,

I ate there today and found the food excellent. Very California style Mexican and a cut way above Sunrise and Coyote's. The tacos and enchiladas were great. However, due to price I won't be visiting there too often.

Too bad the resaurant wasnt in the center of a tourist location (kao san, etc), it would do great.

[SpoliaOpima]

I ate at Los Cabos last week. My expectations weren’t all that high, mainly because it's named for one of the most American-ized resort areas in Mexico. I wonder about the connection now, having enjoyed a meal at Los Cabos that couldn’t have been more different, ie, better than most Mexican meals I've had in Los Cabos (and I've had many there, most of them unremarkable). I met and talked to one of the owners at Los Cabos, an American who has a lot of restaurant experience as well as a credible amount of experience travelling in Mexico. Most of that travel has been in Baja, and that, he admits, is the major influence on the Los Cabos menu. Although advertised as ‘California Mexican,’ that could be interpreted as Baja Californian

The menu is long and varied, with a non-traditional -– or one might say innovative, because the differences, for me (even as a devotee of traditional Mexican cuisine) -- approach that I thought worked quite well.

The first dish my companion and I tried, cheese enchiladas, showed more of a Texan approach than a (Baja) Californian one, to my mind. The sauce was thick, brown and rich, very much like the classic Tex-Mex enchilada sauces you see in Austin, San Antonio and points south. The kitchen used a good-quality white cheddar which reminded me of good queso chihuahua, and in fact I was reminded of enchiladas I’ve eaten in that state. Excellent, easily the best enchiladas I’ve yet eaten at a Mexican restaurant in Thailand.

The refried beans that came with the enchiladas were also excellent, in fact every bit the equal of those at Tacos & Salsa – the gold standard for refried beans in Bkk, IMO. Just the right consistency and balance of flavors. The Mexican rice was good, again as good as any I’ve tried at other Bkk Mexican restos.

I forget the price of the enchiladas platter but it seemed like it cost about the same as at other restos in Bkk, around 300 baht.

The real star of the meal was a grilled rock lobster platter, not on the regular menu and available only on Wednesdays. Six rock lobsters, perfectly grilled, and sliced down the middle to provide 12 meaty lobster halves, an incredible value at 550 baht, ie, 92 baht each . Definitely enough for two, possibly three people, to share. It came with three sauces, two of them Mexican salsas (more on those below) and one of which was a traditional beurre blanc. It was the best lobster butter I can remember eating, anywhere. The owner told me he was inspired by the famous lobster platters at Puerto Nuevo, Baja, but IMO his are much better (grilled instead of deep-fried to begin with, and tastier overall).

The one significant weakness was the salsas, as jfchandler has already noted. Way too weak for anyone who likes spicy food, too weak even for Tex-Mex or Cal-Mex. I can’t understand why they would have been conceived that way unless the owner himself has a wimpy palate when it comes to chiles. There was a small bottle of hot sauce on the table that contained a homemade salsa picante similar to Cholula or Tapatio. I mixed that in with the two fresh salsas on the table (salsa verde – made from fresh tomatillos grown in Thailand- and a salsa chipotle that had almost no chipotle kick). At any rate, unlike jfchandler, I addressed this weakness while talking to the owner and he promised to up the heat. I suggested that rather than provide the bottled hot sauce at table (which tasted fine on its own but when mixed with the other salsas, to try and pick them up, tasted terrible), they should provide a small dish of sliced fresh chiles, whether Thai or Mexican, and provide one medium-hot salsa casera.

The atmosphere is by far the most pleasant of any Mexican restaurant I’ve been to anywhere in Thailand. Set in a large, two-storey teak house that’s over a century old – it was built as a residence for the French ambassador -- with spacious gardens and verandas for outdoor dining, comfortable indoor seating, and a rustic outdoor tequila bar that already seems to be a popular rendezvous spot. This is a restaurant to take a group of friends to for an evening out – a destination restaurant, rather than somewhere you stop for a quick bite. Great selection of excellent tequilas and other cocktails.

I’ll definitely go back for more, especially to try the chiles rellenos (Los Cabos had run out of chiles poblanos when I visited) and for ‘Taco Tuesday,’ when the restaurant offers tacos for 25 baht each. You read that right, 25 baht each. On Fridays there’s some kind of all-u-can-eat buffet but I don’t remember the details as I’m not a buffet kind of guy.

[bkkjames]

Great review - thanks!

[thaihome]

Going to have to give it go for lunch one day soon. I'm easy to please and it is half the distance to Sunrise.

TH

[Tejas]

Going to have to give it go for lunch one day soon. I'm easy to please and it is half the distance to Sunrise.

TH

Wonder if the chef (Robb?) uses dried or fresh poblanos for his relleno dishes. I think either one would taste great.

I wish they were readily available in Thailand.

Making chile rellenos is so easy if you have the right ingredients.

[SpoliaOpima]

He uses fresh poblano chiles, flown in from California. That's why he was out that Wed, and was expecting more, he said, that Friday. Talking to him I was impressed by his knowledge of Mexican cuisine, and his experience establishing 30+ restaurants, dating back to a little hippie cafe on the Hawaiian island of Kaui called Magic Mushroom. He showed me a copy of the original menu there (dating to the 70s, I think), and it included tacos and enchiladas.

Edited February 5, 2010 by SpoliaOpima

[Ulysses G.]

Would you go to a TEX Irish place??? NO so why is TEX /MEX good?.,,,,.Gest ....CAUSE

Maybe because they are right next to each other and their are plenty of Mexicans in both places and the quality of food ingredients is often better in Texas.

[BackinBKK]

Really informative review SpoliaOpima. Judging from some of your earlier posts, you seem that you were pleasantly surprised by your meal and experience. Hopefully thats a good sign that they are doing something right by being able to please someone who has the knowledge of the different mexican cuisines as you seem to.

It's funny....I was in on Wedensday eve and I saw a couple having the rock lobsters. I remember Robb the owner saying he was going to do that sometime in the future, but I didn't realize they were already doing it. We of course orders those (to split between three) and they came out very nicely done with the three sauces/salsa as well as a side of Margarita butter. At that price (550 Baht) I don't think is another restaurant (Mexican or otherwise) in town that has rock lobsters that are done this well. Kudos to Robb and Los Cabos for getting creative and offering something different.

I remember a few months back when I first talked to him about Los Cabos, the concept, and the menu. He said that of course they would have all the most popular dishes like Tacos, Burritos, enchiladas, etc., but wanted to also offer the Chilli Rellenos (which I believe he said are flown in fresh) as well as move more toward the Baja inspired seafood dishes. So, along with the fish tacos, Yellowfin Tuna, and the monster prawns, he has now added the rock lobster. For me, this is great as while I do love a good burrito, tacos, and enchilladas it is nice to have something special that you just won't get anywhere else in town.

I agree that the atmosphere is really nice there as well, especially at the bar on the patio or upstairs on the balcony. One of my only problems with the place is they only have 2 beers on tap. I know its not really a pub, but I wouldn't mind a cold draft Asahi to wash down my food (especially if its on happy hour!). I've found the happy hour to be quite a good deal, and only wish that I could actually start at 2PM (they go from 2pm-7pm!).

Will have to try taco tuesdays and this Friday deal you are talking about as well.

Quick question.... anyone know why the food/restaurant threads are getting moved/spilt up? Some are still in the Western Food forum while others are being moved to BKK? Anyway, hope that they all either go one way or another so we can keep track.

[Tejas]

Quick question.... anyone know why the food/restaurant threads are getting moved/spilt up? Some are still in the Western Food forum while others are being moved to BKK? Anyway, hope that they all either go one way or another so we can keep track.

I know but if I state the reason here the Mexican restaurant review police will ban me

Many of us would like to talk about all Mexican restaurants in Thailand here:

Western Food in Thailand

That means all of them, not just in Bangkok or Pattaya or Chiang Mai, etc.

We would like to post reviews along with pics of the foods the various places are selling and the places themselves.

Feel free to start such a thread.

That way we don't have to jump all over the place.

That makes sense.

[powderpuff]

Copyright 2009. 2010 - Los Cabos, California Mexican Grill

Edited February 9, 2010 by powderpuff

[sabaijai]

Quick question.... anyone know why the food/restaurant threads are getting moved/spilt up? Some are still in the Western Food forum while others are being moved to BKK? Anyway, hope that they all either go one way or another so we can keep track.

I know but if I state the reason here the Mexican restaurant review police will ban me

Many of us would like to talk about all Mexican restaurants in Thailand here:

Western Food in Thailand

That means all of them, not just in Bangkok or Pattaya or Chiang Mai, etc.

We would like to post reviews along with pics of the foods the various places are selling and the places themselves.

Feel free to start such a thread.

That way we don't have to jump all over the place.

That makes sense.

Makes perfect sense. Mexican cuisine discussions are treated like discussions on any other cuisine, filed into the appropriate subforum. Threads about Mexican food in general will go under Western Food in Thailand. Any threads started about specific Mexican restaurants, like this thread, will go under the appropriate city.

The topic of this thread remains Los Cabos California Mexican Grill. BTW I believe the official opening party is this Thurs night.

[BackinBKK]

Tried the taco tuesdays last night! Can't beat the bargain and its a great excuse to sip down a few margaritas or beers while enjoying the tacos (although smaller than the normal offerings, but what would you expect for 25B each!). Tempted to go get the rock lobsters again today, but apparently there is a launch party tomorrow as Sabaijai mentioned. Didn't get all the info, but I guess they are having a party and so that would make it three days in a row for me. Decisions decisions decisions......

[Tejas]

Quick question.... anyone know why the food/restaurant threads are getting moved/spilt up? Some are still in the Western Food forum while others are being moved to BKK? Anyway, hope that they all either go one way or another so we can keep track.

I know but if I state the reason here the Mexican restaurant review police will ban me

Many of us would like to talk about all Mexican restaurants in Thailand here:

Western Food in Thailand

That means all of them, not just in Bangkok or Pattaya or Chiang Mai, etc.

We would like to post reviews along with pics of the foods the various places are selling and the places themselves.

Feel free to start such a thread.

That way we don't have to jump all over the place.

That makes sense.

Makes perfect sense. Mexican cuisine discussions are treated like discussions on any other cuisine, filed into the appropriate subforum. Threads about Mexican food in general will go under Western Food in Thailand. Any threads started about specific Mexican restaurants, like this thread, will go under the appropriate city.

The topic of this thread remains Los Cabos California Mexican Grill. BTW I believe the official opening party is this Thurs night.

Following this logic you may have to introduce 100 more city threads if they open Mexican restaurants in cities not on your list.

We tried to open a discussion on Mexican Restaurants in Thailand--not Bangkok, not Pattaya, not Chiang mai--Thailand. It was removed.

Why make this so difficult?

I will try, again, to open a general thread on Mexican restaurants in Thailand.

[getgoin]

I have to say that this location is great. The building is beautiful. The food is good but needs to be better for the location.

[BackinBKK]

Getgoin.... I think Coyote came in at a time when there hadn't been any new Mexican food on the BKK scene and their flashy or corporate branding seemed to draw people in. I always thought it was a bit expensive, especially the margaritas, and the food a bit generic but they did have a "nicer" decor and atmosphere than most of the other options. Now it seems there is a few more options so maybe they are being squeezed a bit or their customers are looking elsewhere. They still do well for ladies night as it seems, so at least the girls are drinking and the guys following on those nights! I go for that once in a while, but rarely to eat or drink otherwise.