I love, no….really love Mexican food. Have I mentioned that already?! So I was really excited that La Bamba opened another restaurant in downtown Saskatoon in the old Sawadee building on 2^nd Avenue (which I am sad to say, closed – such great Asian food!). The La Bamba on Boychuk Drive makes a great chile relleno, so I was insanely excited that I didn’t have to travel as far to have one of my favorite dishes (which unfortunately isn’t on the new restaurant’s menu – bah!).

I shared La Bamba’s new location post on Facebook a couple of weeks ago and a few friends suggested that we try it out, and so we did, last week. I am saddened to report that it was just average, maybe even slightly below average.

The menu options were few and fairly unexciting. The four of us had beef tacos, chilaquiles, and enchiladas, all with beans and rice. I can only speak for the tacos, beans, and rice which were, as I mentioned, all good…but very few things stood out. The tacos had too much meat and sauce, so I couldn’t really taste the cilantro, tomatoes, or even the hot sauce I added (other than I felt the burn!). There wasn’t any queso fresco (cheese) or crema, or jalapenos, or really any other ingredients to ramp up the flavors – like an authentic taco should be, according to my mouth and TV. These tacos were just one note. The rice was actually the most flavorful part of this plate. Whatever broth-y type of liquid it was cooked in was very tasty and the rice was cooked properly.

To drink, we had lime margaritas (fake flavor and the crushed ice kind) and Nerga Modelo in bottles……nothing too exciting to report here. I prefer an authentic margarita with cubed ice and real fruit.

The high points, if I had to find a few, were the free homemade nachos and salsa, and the service. Each table starts with nachos and an amazing salsa (the best part of this experience, other than my friends’ company – haha). The servers were good; friendly (one had an accent which I love!), and on time but forgot our sides of guacamole and charged us for it (we didn’t notice until we left – so, oops).

Unfortunately, I would not go back to downtown La Bamba unless this was the only Mexican/Central American food place in Saskatoon. I would easily choose Mi Tierra (once it reopens in its new location), or EE burritos (now on Central Ave), or the other La Bamba, in that order. My friends felt the same about their food and we agreed this place likely won’t stay open too long.

They can’t all be winners!

Happy bites – elsewhere…….