http://www.cactusrestaurants.com
I asked Ryan if he'd be willing to try an authentic Oaxacan restaurant for dinner. He said it sounded like a place with creepy menu items. I commented it was "Oaxacan, like Mexican but authentic," to which he replied, "Why can't they just call it Mexican food then?"
I eventually confessed that I wanted to try Chapulines, a Oaxacan dish that features grasshoppers in chili powder. (Yes, the insects.) For some strange reason that ended the Oaxacan food conversation, so we looked on the Passport website to find a Mexican themed restaurant we could both agree on. It wasn't until we got in the car that we realized the restaurant we chose was in north Seattle and it'd take forever to get there during Friday rush-hour traffic. Thankfully, Becky (Ryan's portable car navigation system) came to the rescue and recommended a Mexican restaurant in West Seattle: Cactus.
With locations in Madison, Kirkland, and West Seattle, numerous "Best of" awards for its Mexican food, and being recently featured on Rachel Ray's "Rachel's Vacations" on Food Network (http://www.foodnetwork.com/rachaels-vacation/seattle/index.html), we thought this would be a guaranteed great meal. Unfortunately, when you come away literally saying, "The salsa was the best thing we had to eat tonight", it's tough to swallow that so many people think the fare is outstanding.
Apparently because we went appetizer crazy at Dragonfish the night before, improvising a "tapas night" seemed like a great idea at Cactus.
In a Mexican twist on an Olive Garden classic (God have mercy on our souls!), Ryan ordered the Chorizo Queso Fundido. Ironically, it features Oaxacan cheese (which I vigorously and with much revenge in my heart pointed out to Ryan), house-made chorizo,
The Crispy Coconut Prawns were possibly the best of the appetizers.
The other appetizer vying for "best of the evening"
Oddly enough, the Chicken and Corn Flautas are not on the online menu, but are featured at least at the Alki Beach location.
Despite all of the appetizers, I didn't feel I could get a real sense for Cactus' offerings without at least trying one entree. I asked our waiter, "Assuming your food is being reviewed by a critic, what is the absolute best dish on your menu?" I had already been looking at Butternut Squash Enchiladas and was happy when he mentioned it was probably that dish.
The "enchilada" is not a traditional corn tortilla wrapped around filling and served in a sauce, but rather more like stacked tostadas and includes sauteed spinach, caramelized onions,
Even though traditional "mole manchamanteles" is made with plantains and pineapple and can be sweet, it literally tasted like a berry coulis you'd drizzle over a slice of cheesecake or chocolate brownie which made me happy I had ordered the far too sweet sauce on the side. Ryan mentioned he thought the sauce "tasted good" and could see why people would like it, but it just did not work on that dish for me other than as a way to help mute the goat cheese. The plate also contained the ubiquitous beans and rice. Ironically, the black beans were spicy with plenty of cumin and was the best tasting item on the plate. The rice, even with pumpkin seeds, was as boring as the enchilada.
I'm not sure if the kitchen staff was just having an off night or not (we did see a table of two get their entire meal comped for some reason), but for now I have no intention of giving Catcus anything above 2.5 Stars and probably will not dine there again anytime soon. Ryan mentioned his margarita was good, but I doubt that'd be enough to really make a meal here worthwhile.
UPDATE: My good friend Carrie said that her absolute favorite menu item at Cactus is the Butternut Squash Enchiladas, so we'll chalk this experience up to a bad kitchen night.

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