I use the term "Mexican" loosely

One of the joys of traveling to different regions of the country is learning the subtle differences in the ways locals cook and view their food. Having recently moved to Pittsburgh, D and I have been doing our best to discover the very best (or at least the best we can afford) that this city has to offer. On a recent Saturday date night, D taking a break from his endless hours of homework, we ventured over the Mexican restaurant, Cuzamil, for dinner. The place was surprisingly small, with just 10 tables on the restaurant and 10 on the bar side. The restaurant was full so we opted to eat at the high tables on the bar side. The servers couldn’t be more friendly. It seems that when you dine at Cuzamil every server is your server. This sounds a little bothersome, but we found it charming that every server wanted to know if we were enjoying our food or if we needed something else to drink. It was just a lovely indication that the restaurant wanted to you enjoy yourself and have a fantastic experience.

They have just three beers on tap, Dos Equis, Bud Light and Corona, but a much longer list of bottles. It wasn’t anything fancy, but you should be able to find something that you like. Carta Blanca was on special for $3, sol we opted for a few of those. With our beers was delivered the standard chips and salsa. The chips were a little greasy, but not overly salty. The salsa, however, was amazing. It is obviously house made, mild, but with a smoky bite to it. It was a refreshing change from the bland tomato sauce with Tabasco salsas I’ve had before. You could tell that they were catering to the sensitive taste buds of the locals, but not compromising flavor for lack of spice. I also liked the fact that you only receive once free basket of chips and salsa with your meal, any more costs extra. This proves their commitment to using quality ingredients, something that doesn’t cost 5¢ to make.

I ordered one of the vegetarian platters, getting a cheese enchilada in a rancho sauce, a bean burrito in a sort of bastardized mole sauce (it was similar to the enchilada sauce you can get in a can at the supermarket), and a tostada.

What is it with Mexican restaurants slapping everything together on a plate and not quite distinguishing between flavors? This restaurant did a great job of adding subtle spice and flavors, but everything was a bit runny. The tostada consisted of refried beans on a once-crispy corn tortilla that was completely impenetrable. I think the liquid in the beans made the tortilla soggy and sort of gluing it to the plate. On top of the beans was a mound of shredded iceberg lettuce, Pico de Gallo, sour cream, and two tiny pieces of avocado. As unappetizing as it sounds, it added a nice lightness to the otherwise heavy plate of food.

The bean burrito was actually just refried beans wrapped in a flour tortilla. The favor wasn’t bad (I have a soft spot for refried beans) but having expected some whole beans in my burrito, I was a little disappointed. What is usually my most favorite dish at a Mexican restaurant, maybe because it is so difficult to screw up, the enchilada proved inedible. I have a zero-tolerance policy for heavily processed cheeses (I can handle Kraft cheese, but not Velveeta), and the enchilada was completely filled with it. After the first bite I could feel the cheese coating the back of my throat in a thick waxiness of “cheese” flavor. Needless to say I didn’t touch it after that bite.

For dessert we ordered the fried ice cream, a throwback to when my family used to go to Chi Chi’s when I was a child. Unfortunately, the ice cream wasn’t actually fried. As far as I could tell, a ball of ice cream was rolled in corn flakes and then put back in the freezer to be taken out when a customer orders it. Out of the freezer the cornflakes are soggy and strangely cold. This rock hard ice ball is then placed on a delicate bowl of fried dough. This shining star of the dish is what made me not send it back. I hate being the person who sends back food, but isn’t the point of fried ice cream to FRY the ICE CREAM? The dough was thin and crispy and almost melted in your mouth.

Overall, I’d say go for the service and not for the food. It would be a really fun place to go for apps and drinks.

The bit of trivia that I learned was that it you order a Chile Relleno in Pittsburgh, you will get a strip of green bell pepper battered and then deep fried. You’ll have to order a Chile Poblano to get the real deal. I asked the server about this strange phenomena and she said that when Mexican restaurants first opened in Pittsburgh you couldn’t buy Poblano peppers in the area so they made so with that they had, green bell peppers. I’m looking forward to learning more about these local culinary specifics.