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| - Just about every food guide for Phoenix pointed me towards Barrio Cafe as a "must try", so I decided to check out that award winning restaurant. But after being told there was a minimum one hour wait for a table and seeing $22 enchiladas/$12 tortas on the menu that included a heavy fusion-spin, I decided that it wasn't for me.
I looked up a similar Mexican cafe nearby that also serves traditional Yucatan and Mexico City style dishes, and ended up outside a building painted in purple-flamingo pink called "Asi Es La Vida". From the color of the building to the surreal Frida Kahlo paintings that adorn the walls to the countryside Mexican music, this place had the vibrant and inviting personality that I liked. In addition, the prices were a little more reasonable compared to Barrio Cafe, so I gave it a try.
Based on what I found on the menu, I determined Asi Es La Vida prepares regional Mexican cuisine with a Mexico-City flair. I ordered the recalendato because it combined two of my Mexican favorites, mole and cochinita pibil.
My lunch began with thick corn chips that reminded me of tostada. It was accompanied with two of the best tasting homemade salsas I've ever had. The red salsa was my favorite because of its predominantly smoky profile, while the green salsa appeared to be a more bright, a verdant puree of coriander-mint and green chile. They're more like thick dips rather than the typical salsas at taco stands which I find to be either too chunky or too thin, and overly one-dimensional (simply variations with increasing intensity of heat and no distinct smoky tones available).
I did not do my research so I got "hustled" by the waitress - I said yes to guacamole when asked (who would say no, I later realized guac and chips were not a complimentary side). It came with another plate of chips. The guacamole wasn't assembled tableside, but tasted like it was made one by one to order with lots of avocado pulp, so it was actually worth the extra $3.95. The amount of lime flavor added was just right, not too bright.
The main course was decent but not exceptional. It tasted like a comforting dish prepared at someone's home. The rice was super light and bland, the beans were not refried with melted American cheese (thank goodness not border-style) but instead slow cooked with white cheese sprinkled on top like it is done in Mexico. I thought that the cochinita pibil was prepared better than the mole poblano. For the cochinita, the meat was served in chunks rather than like pulled pork, but the marinade was balanced between acidic and sweet. The only improvement I would suggest is to cook it more "picante", it was flat and missing an accent. On the other hand, the mole was a big disappointment since it was overly sweet without a hint of spicy flavor. It didn't have layered, complex, or intense bittersweet tones of the mole poblano that I have eaten before. The mole wasn't something I wanted to lick off my fork.
Overall, Asi Es La Vida was a pleasant change of pace from the Sonoran, Tex-Mex, and Southwestern food that is popular in Phoenix. The service was attentive and the restaurant is family-owned. It's not a loud place like Barrio Cafe plus there is tablecloth, so it could work as a cozy date restaurant. The food was more traditional than contemporary-fusion style. To best honest, I wasn't blown away by the food, but it tasted better than the other Mexican food I ate while staying in Phoenix.
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