Regalito Rosticeria

[Carolyn Tillie]

Four of us went to Regalito and ate through almost half of the menu. Ordering a carafe of white Sangria, we settled in with two appetizers; Quacamole con Tostadas and Papas con Chorizo. The quacamole is ample with fresh salsa and served with whole fried corn tortillas. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would considering I'm not a huge fan of salsa (I'm getting better at this). But the fried potatoes with the chorizo, queso fresco and crema was a clear winner amongst all of us. I could eat a whole plate of this...

Another carafe of the fabulous sangria came with the four entrées of the evening. One special of the evening, roast lamb with New Mexico chili sauce, Enchiladas Verdes, chile relleno de Calabazas y Maiz, and Cochinita Pibil. The enchiladas were served with whole pintos and fine, but too cilantro-laden for enjoyment by yours truly. The Chile Relleno was my order and was stuffed with queso Oaxaca, squash, corn and garnished with ranchera sauce and cream. I could tell that it was good, but a bit on the spicy side for me. I also ordered a side of carnitas just because I tend to always want to taste a restaurant's carnitas. It was very good and served with some black beans. The lamb was very tender and quite rich. But for me, the dish of the evening was the Cochinita Pibil; slow-roasted, banana leaf wrapped, citrus and achiote marinated pork with habanero pickled red onions. LOVED that dish...

Two desserts were shared over coffee; the churros with hot chocolate and Capirotada, warm bread pudding with apples, raisins, nuts & jack cheese - topped

with Mexican vanilla ice cream. The bread pudding was HUGE and while I enjoyed the caramel sauce, it was a bit on the gummy side. Everyone loved the churros as well. They were obviously very fresh, but a still a bit gooey on the inside, I thought. The hot chocolate was superb. With tip, $50 a person.