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| - If you're looking for a great New Mexican joint with delicious food, strong and tasty drinks, and a friendly staff...SKIP THIS PLACE AND GO TO CANTEEN, just a couple of blocks down the street. (See my review on Canteen's Yelp page.)
My husband and I had such a disappointing experience at Bel Air Cantina that we have decided not to give it a second try. We came here for dinner a couple of Fridays ago around 6pm. The place was full, but we managed to get seated right away. Our server came around just as we were starting to wonder if our table had been assigned to anyone. The chips that he brought were fresh and tasty (this is the only reason I increased my review to two stars), but the salsas were pretty flavorless and weak. When I asked our server what was his favorite taco on the menu, and he seemed pretty unenthusiastic about his recommendation: "I dunno, I guess I like the ninja pig." I reluctantly ordered the recommended taco, but by this point, I already had pretty low expectations.
Our food came very quickly--too quickly for anything to have been prepared fresh. I had three tacos: the ninja pig, the Korean beef, and the mango tilapia, while my husband ordered a Korean beef burrito. Every one of my tacos was dry and flavorless, as if my food had been reheated in a microwave. The hoisin glaze on the ninja pig was so cloyingly sweet, it overpowered the entire taco. The tilapia was very fishy and dry, which indicates to me that it wasn't very fresh. And the Korean beef was totally inedible--the chunks of beef were so chewy and hard that I lost my appetite. We also shared a margarita that was on special that day, and found it watery, bland, and awfully weak. Neither of us were able to finish our food, and our server picked up our plates and left without asking whether we enjoyed our meals.
I should also mention that the environment wasn't very inviting. The neon lights were too bright and harsh to create a comfortable dinner environment, and the music was so loud I had to shout across the table.
Bottom line: This place isn't worth the hype. The food and drink were disappointing, the service was mediocre, and the venue is not a place I would like to stay for more than 20 minutes. We wish we would have just gone to Canteen instead.
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