Casa Medina recently took over the location where Papa Lacho's used to be, with no break in service. We came in the other night to try out the new place, and got some of its story from the friendly and voluble manager (might be the location owner). Apparently the owners took over the location about three months ago and have been "using Papa Lacho's menu". They have now switched to the Casa Medina menu and changed the signs. The Mexican restaurant market in this area is very crowded, so this restaurant is trying hard to stand out. A couple of notable things off the top: 1) They use very little salt in their dishes. For me, I think not enough for proper seasoning but if you're trying to avoid salt it might be a good option. And you can always add some. 2) The Casa Medina menu is very large, much larger than the Papa Lacho's menu. Nice for choice if all those dishes can be executed well.
We started off with the Mexican Street elote. This is a white corn served on the cob with the traditional spices. With the lower salt level the tajin and lime stood out. A good start. The salsas with the free chips were quite good, nice depth of flavor and not real spicy. The red salsa is served warm, the green chilled.
For mains we got the Chicken Chipotle Enchiladas and the Fish y Camarones a la Diabla. The enchiladas sounded quite promising but I have to say the flavor was a little off for me. Slightly sweet with not enough salt to balance. But the food was well prepared and I would be confident in trying something else. I usually do not take a Tex-Mex place seriously when they say a dish is hot. That would be a mistake here. The fish and shrimp dish really brought the heat. For fish you have five choices--the cheaper ones are tilapia and basa. I have never had basa so gave it a try. It's an Asian whitefish that substitutes for tilapia. It had a soft texture like tilapia, if you weren't told you might not know the difference. The shrimp were cooked properly with a nice snap.
For dessert we got the sopapillas. These were nicely done, not greasy and crisp on the outside. They are served with whipped cream and honey.
For drinks we got a jamaica and an avocado martini. The jamaica is a good representation--no free refills, but the glass is very large so you wouldn't want one. The avocado martini came recommended to us by a customer of their Shenandoah location. There's just enough avocado to make the drink green and opaque. You get the creamy overtone and just a hint of avocado flavor, not too much. I liked it.
The interior is appealing, with nice representational paintings of food scenes. The bathrooms were clean and ready. Service was attentive and friendly. I'm giving it a 3.5 and rounding up. It's not perfect but definitely worth a try. It's very convenient to our house so I know we will be back.
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