Alvarados Mexican Cantina

In the uncoordinated scramble for new venues in post-quake Christchurch many cafes and restaurants ended up in the most unlikely places. Alvarados is one of those as it is now inauspiciously tucked in behind a pokie-machine encrusted sports bar/pub. In fact, it is part of the same building and, I suspect, owned and operated by the team from Alvarados itself. The main entrance to the restaurant is off Wilsons Rd yet the advertised address is 77 Stevens St. We entered via the Stevens St entrance only to walk in to the Sports Bar/Pokie-heaven environment and felt just a tad crestfallen that our decision to dine at A’s was a seriously flawed one. There seemed to be a complete absence of the ‘desired’ atmosphere and the noise from both the large wall-mounted televisions and the slot machines was unrelenting and offputting.
However, we were quickly advised that the restaurant was through a pair of swing doors, down a corridor and to the right. Talk about a revelation! The restaurant itself was convincingly themed in reassuring Mexican style, complete with adobe coloured walls, mood lighting, a lot of chunky wooden posts, multi-coloured striped yellow and red table cloths and more. It was well executed in my view and a pleasant change from some of the bland decor of competitors out there.
Waitress Andrea, from Columbia, was well spoken, friendly and a delightful help to us throughout the evening. She added an excellent touch of regional authenticity by way of accent, appearance and dress.
A glass of Chilean wine(Montes Classic Merlot) was an acceptable way to start, followed by a soup described on the menu as Caldo de Pollo, “Our Mexican Grandma’s chicken soup recipe. This soup is envigorating! Zesty, mildly spiced, traditional chicken style soup.” This piquant prize was heavily decorated with shredded chicken and well accompanied by tomatoes, onion & slices of lime. The flavours were clean and tantalising, the colours vibrant and appealing with small additions of rice, capsicum, corn and more, each adding fine flicks of flavour to the mix. In its fiery red bowl the soup look amazingly full bodied, so rich in aroma and very much a meal in itself. A good winter pick I’m sure.
As for the main t'is true I wanted to try something different but with the benefit of hindsight I should have chosen something else! The chocolate coated chicken, or Mole Poblano, arrived like an indescribable, dark, mini cow pat; the chocolate is said to be a complex Mexican sauce, covered in sesame seeds and reputed to “originate from an incident in Puebla involving a nun and a visiting priest....”Perhaps the word "incident" should read "accident". The mind boggles and I’m not certain this is the right place to go further on this.
With some trepidation I seized my knife and fork and commenced the dissection. After my first bite I wondered whether I would be transported to another time or another place but the consequences were less miraculous. My tastebuds were indeed challenged and I wondered what on earth I was doing eating such a rich, unusually paired duo – chocolate and dry chicken – however, a certain je ne sais quoi was at play here and when the other components on the plate melded effortlessly with the choco chicken the experience was somewhat tempered, for the better in my view. The spicy diced vegetables, the salad greens and the melted cheese took some of the focus away from the dominating chocolate on the plate.
I will return in winter as felt this would be an excellent venue for a fiery dinner in the depths of the Arctic blows but I will not reorder the Mole Poblano!