Authentic Mexican cuisine comes to the Del Amo Fashion Center
I have expectations for good Mexican restaurants, and for mall Mexican restaurants, and there isn’t a lot of crossover between the two. The good Mexican restaurants are usually small and family-owned, and often the décor consists of Mexican flags, beer ads, and travel posters. Mall Mexican restaurants usually look like Hollywood’s idea of a hacienda and are big on pictures of Pancho Villa and sombreros as wall hangings.
When Frida opened at the Del Amo Fashion Center, it added a new layer: I thought there might be Mexican surrealist murals, or at least some portraits featuring Frida Kahlo’s confrontational stare. It was quite a surprise when I stopped in and discovered that none of the usual stereotypes are at work here. With the possible exception of serape-style stripes in the upholstery there’s nothing to suggest that this is a Mexican restaurant, and the environment resembles any stylish contemporary place. Frida Kahlo’s work or visage aren’t present, which is unfortunate as the space is very pretty but doesn’t have much character.
The menu hits all the bases you’d expect, plus a few: along with the taco plates, burritos, and salads and a steak so that someone who doesn’t like Mexican food can still dine here, there are some items I’m used to seeing at the places with beer posters on the wall. Most South Bayans don’t know what pozole stew, cochinita pibil, or molcajete are, and the fact that they were here was a surprise.
Chips arrived with red and green salsas while we studied the menu, and after some deliberations we decided to split an appetizer platter while we figured out what else to order. It included chicken and potato taquitos, cheese quesadillas, sopes, and guacamole, and it was perfect as a starter for four people. Sopes, thick corncakes topped with beans, cheese, salad, and a dollop of sour cream, are a traditional meal of the poor and usually very heavy, but this mini-version provided a light but satisfying two or three bites. The other items were standard but well made, the guacamole thick with chunks of avocado and mildly seasoned.
For main courses we had two taco platters with five different meats, a mango, grape, walnut, and goat cheese salad with passion fruit dressing, and a molcajete. For those who don’t know that last item, a molcajete is a type of bowl made from lava rock that is heated to a very high temperature and then filled with chicken, steak, cactus paddle, cheese, and avocado, along with a spicy tomatillo salsa. The bowl arrives at the table too hot to touch and stays that way for longer than you’d expect (and I have proof in the form of burnt fingertips). As with any such dish it’s all about the sauce, and this one is delicious, citrusy and boldly spicy. Rice and beans are provided to give you a break from the heat, and you will use them. The portion is enough for one extremely hungry person or two average appetites, and I took about half of mine home despite help from the person who ordered the salad.
That salad was the only letdown of the meal as it was curiously bland, the passion fruit dressing very light in flavor and used sparingly. Grilled shrimp are offered as a topping and we paid the extra for them, but they appeared to have been steamed instead because there was no flavor from the fire and none of the oil from a sauté pan. The mix of fruit and vegetables was a fine platform for a bolder dressing, but this one didn’t make the cut.
The taco tasting platter offered the option of trying as many as five different meats, which we of course did. They were ribeye, chicken with and without mole sauce, carnitas, and cochinita pibil, made with pork marinated in a mix of chillies, annatto seed, and sour orange juice. The pork is traditionally cooked in banana leaves, which infuses a slight additional flavor, though it is also sometimes grilled to caramelize the sauce. The version here had probably been oven roasted and shredded, and if you think of pulled pork that took a vacation to Yucatan you’re in the ballpark. Cochinita pibil is sometimes powerfully spicy and citrusy to the point where you can’t taste the meat, but this one had a fine balance. The more conventional items like chicken, beef, and carnitas were all very competently done, and the chicken mole poblano was a standout, richly chocolatey and spicy. The handmade tortillas were abundantly stuffed, and if you are watching carbs you can ask for the meats to be served in lettuce cups.
The bar at Frida offers a wide selection of tequilas and mezcals either straight and in cocktails, plus the usual American and Mexican beers and some wines. We tried the flor de vida cocktail (tequila, pomegranate, and lime) and Chamuco (tequila, ginger, lime, and blackberries). The chamuco is named after a Mexican pitbull, which you would expect to imply a strong, somewhat rough drink. Perhaps the person who named this drink likes those dogs and was remarking on the dog’s sweet disposition, because the cocktail was on the sweet side. I preferred the flor de vida, which had a better mix of smoky alcohol with tart and sweet flavors.
Dinner ran $43 per person with a total of four cocktails and two beers, and we felt that it was well worth it. Frida exceeded our expectations, and it’s a worthy addition not just to the mall dining options, but to the neighborhood.
Frida is at 21438 Hawthorne Boulevard in Torrance. Open Mon-Sat at 11 a.m., Sun at 10 a.m., close 9 p.m. Sun, 10 p.m. Mon-Thu, 11 p.m. Fri-Sat. Parking in mall lot, wheelchair access good, patio dining, full bar. Corkage $15. Menu at fridadelamo.com, phone 310-371-0666.
