When I heard that the former Riviera Mexican Grill owners had taken over the former Samba Restaurant just north of the Redondo Pier, my first thought was that it was about time someone did something there. The Brazilian restaurant that occupied that space had been rudderless for years, making a prime waterfront location a low-energy backwater. Anything that replaced it was bound to be an improvement.
Their original Riviera Mexican Grill in South Redondo was a popular favorite for good food at modest prices, and the location by the Redondo pier offered a golden opportunity to create a more upscale version. Like any place with an ocean view, they’d specialize in seafood, and it would not surprise me to see a tank full of lobsters and crabs like some other Pier eateries. Glitz up the décor, bump the prices up to capture the tourist dollars, and watch the money roll in.
On my first visit to Riviera Cantina, I peered around looking for the lobster tank in vain. It doesn’t exist, and while the interior has had a very stylish redesign, it’s California casual rather than high concept. As for the menu, it’s not an exact copy of the one in South Redondo, but the price point is similar. An ocean view meal at the same price as a place with a view of PCH traffic? Inconceivable, but there it is.
There are two principal dining environments, the bar area and the main dining room, plus some private rooms for corporate and social events. On our first visit we were seated in the bar, which is somewhat louder and has smaller tables than the main dining room. I preferred the larger tables with more comfortable seating in the architecturally interesting main room, which is cleverly adorned with colorful Indigenous baskets and light fixtures that resemble an impressionist evocation of a tornado.
On one visit we ordered guacamole, on our second, an item that isn’t on the South Redondo menu, min-sopes filled with carnitas and topped with guacamole, black beans, lettuce, pickled red onions, pico de gallo and queso fresco. The mound of salad mixed with a generous helping of slow-roasted pork shoulder made it hard to tell how many of the thick masa cups were below, but after some investigation we figured out that there were three. I would suggest that the restaurant make the default number four while retaining the same volume of fillings and toppings, because there was plenty to go around.
As for the guacamole, it was the standard item freshly made and served in a molcajete, the Mexican lava rock mortar traditionally used for pounding spices. The avocado mash with citrus, tomato, and onion was topped with queso fresco and roasted pumpkin seeds, a pretty presentation that had some enjoyable flavor and texture variation.
That molcajete, or one much like it, was back as a serving bowl for one of the entrees, which is confusingly listed only as a molcajete. The easiest way to explain this is that any mix of items and sauce that you bake and serve in a casserole dish is called a casserole, and the same is true of a Mexican molcajete. The thick rock dish is heated to high temperature and then filled with various meats or seafood, spring onions, chunks of Oaxaca cheese, and whatever else takes the chef’s fancy, then allowed to simmer in a chili sauce. The hot dish melts the cheese to make a gooey, delicious mess. The variant at Riviera Cantina includes skirt steak, grilled chicken, and shrimp, adds a large grilled jalapeno, and tops the whole thing with avocado chunks and cilantro. The red chile sauce was very zippy and delicious when mixed with the melted cheese, but the steak was overcooked and tough. It had been grilled to the point where it was ready to eat, rather than ready to be cooked again for a while in the sauce. I’d order this item again but would ask for the beef to be added when rare rather than medium, and to be cut smaller before serving.
The other items we ordered were blackened sea bass tacos, crispy chicken tacos, and a half chicken in Poblano mole sauce. The amount of blackening spice on the seabass was modest, enough to impart some flavor but not much heat. That’s probably right for a mainstream Mexican restaurant rather than a place that is trying for some kind of Cajun-Mexican fusion, and those who like it extra hot have good red chile sauce on the table. The crispy chicken tacos were not quite what we expected because we were confused by the description – rather than the chicken being fried crispy, they were served in a crisp shell. Crisp shell tacos are an Americanism but a delightful one, and these were good. They came with our choice of cilantro rice or Spanish rice, and I preferred the cilantro but liked both.
The bone-in chicken with mole Poblano sauce had been grilled and then topped with sauce rather than being stewed together, and the slight smokiness from the grill and the spicy, chocolatey sauce were an excellent pairing. Prepare to get messy when you eat this. Like most entrees, it’s served with your choice of cilantro or Spanish rice and black, refried, or charro beans. The refried and black beans are vegetarian, while the charro beans contain bacon – something they might want to mention on the menu. I didn’t try the black, but liked both of the others – they had real flavor.
The Riviera Cantina has a full bar that is well-stocked and a bar staff that knows what to do with it. I don’t always agree with their decisions, such as making their Paloma with a fat-washed tequila, which softens the flavor of the agave spirit to the point where it’s a whisper. The bar manager offered to make something else instead, and I had a mezcal-based drink called a smokey blood orange that was beautifully balanced. My wife had a classic margarita on one visit, and one called burning passion made with mezcal, passionfruit juice, lime, and ginger beer, which was delightful.
We debated between churros and flan for dessert and ordered the flan, which was decidedly different from the usual. It was pale rather than yellow, had a firm texture, tasted very creamy, but without much egg custard flavor. The topping of caramel and crema was not over-sweet, and it was an interesting alternate take on a classic.
The management at Riviera Cantina has done what they know how to do well, and for that they are to be commended. It’s a sound business decision and good culinary choice, and should please their existing and new customers.
The Riviera Cantina is at 207 North Harbor Drive in Redondo. Open daily 11:30 a.m., closed 9 p.m. Su-Thu, 10 p.m. Fr-Sa, full bar, wheelchair access OK. (310) 374-2689. TheRivMexCantina.com. ER
