El Dorado Cantina
Nachos with Three Salsas
Queso Fundido – Mexican three cheese blend with chorizo, topped with grilled veggies & pico de gallo. Served hot on a skillet.
Queso Fundido – Mexican three cheese blend with mushrooms, topped with grilled veggies & pico de gallo. Served hot on a skillet.
Chapulines – Garlic lime sautéed grasshoppers
Grande Feast – Steak, carnitas & chicken burritos, pulled chicken & cheese quesadillas, beef & chicken taquitos, Sliced carne asada, grilled chicken, grilled shrimp & chorizo with queso fresco, cactus, grilled onions & chiles, served with beans and rice.
Flan – Chef’s 80yr old recipe of traditional sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, organic eggs & natural cane sugar cooked to perfection.
Tres Leches Cake – Vanilla cake with rum & three milks, topped with whipped cream & fresh cut fruit.
Spicy Salted Peanuts
Chocolate Covered Graham Cracker Bites
Open 24/7 and helmed by Chef Paco, a Mexico City native whose dedication to quality sourcing cannot be overstated, El Dorado Cantina had long been on my Las Vegas culinary to-do list, and although the Industrial Road location adjacent to Sapphires Gentleman’s Club is unlikely to win the restaurant any awards both the interior of the space and the quality of cuisine are the very definition of ‘diamond in the rough.’
Originally slated as a small birthday lunch with an old friend visiting from Phoenix, but eventually growing to a party of nine ranging widely in age, ethnicity, and culinary experience it was just prior to noon that we entered the softly lit cantina and with televisions showing conference tournament action juxtaposing heavy woods, vibrant colors, and a well-appointed bar it was with the service of a young man named Jesse that the experience would commence, all beverages kept brimming throughout the nearly two-hour stay while plates were presented with excellent pacing and descriptions befitting the excellence of the Chef’s food.
Beginning with warm chips and a trio of spicy salsas at a pair of tables pushed together in order to accommodate our group it would not be long before an order was elected and with most selecting water as their beverage of choice a trio of appetizers emerged from the kitchen after a mere fifteen minutes, the sautéed grasshoppers a novelty plate that neither wowed nor appalled with a slightly funky flavor somewhat similar to frog legs faintly perceptible beneath acid and spice while two plates of melty cheese served with tortillas were absolutely reference standard, the request for more shells briefly forgotten but soon rectified leaving not a drop from either skillet behind.
Happy to share-and-share-alike it was with little indecision that the table decided our best bet for experiencing a wide swath of El Dorado’s cuisine resided in one of the signature “Feasts,” and briefly doing the math only to realize that cost-per-person would be a mere $20+ it was in the “Grande” offering that we invested our appetites, a pair of enormous platters more than half-filling the large table with not one dud amongst the items to be found.
Truly a glut of food, the total number of items trumping a dozen while likely weighing in at just as many pounds, it was with the meat selections that tasting began and although the carne asada was ever-so-slightly overcooked for my tastes the shrimp, chicken, and chorizo all impressed while tender vegetables including grilled paddles of cactus more than made up for any perceived lack of moisture – none of this an issue when taking a look at plate two, each overstuffed burrito amongst the best I’ve tasted in recent memory while taquitos were light and greaseless, the chicken quesadilla also quite special with onions adding a smoky, aromatic punch.
Admittedly full, to the point where a solid meal or two’s worth of food was boxed up to go, it was still without hesitation that dessert was ordered and although the boozy tres leches was quite excellent beneath whipped cream and fresh fruit it was Chef Paco’s ancient flan recipe that stole my heart, the texture far more thick than many would associate with the dish, but each caramel tinged bite proving as good as the last until each plate was clean, the chef himself standing tableside and offering gifts from a care packaged straight from Mexico while discussing his passion for cooking as the meal reached an end.
FOUR STARS: Organic + Non-GMO + 24/7 + Authentic Mexican Food + Next to a Strip Club = an equation only Las Vegas could dream up, and like many things in this fabulous city it works like a charm.
RECOMMENDED: Mushroom Queso Fundido, Flan, Grille Shrimp, Carnitas Burrito.
AVOID: Cheese Quesadillas were a bit plain, and Carne Asada was a bit tough on its own.
TIP: Offering free Flan via Social Media Check-In, those using Yelp or Foursquare are encouraged to take advantage…and for those looking for a real deal El Dorado offers half-off for locals on Mondays with BOGO Seafood Entrees on Fridays – other specials offered through their Facebook account on nearly every day of the week.
WHAT THE STARS MEAN: 5 World Class, 4 Excellent, 3 Good, 2 Fair, 1 Poor
http://eldoradovegas.com
