The Landwehr Report

April 10, 2007

CAPTIVATING FARE AT LAST

Lakeland, Florida

*** Put aside any Mexican preconceptions. Abuelo's, a national chain of 38 high-quality Mexican restaurants recently unleashed their first Florida venue discovered in Lakeland (mid Orlando and Tampa).

Abuelo's undisputedly delivers authentic Mexican fare with exuberance and flair via a menu listing a diversity of styles of cooking tastes and textures, only a few of them blisteringly spicy-hot, and all of them arranged with tantalizing craft. The bill-of-fare draws from a multitudinous repertoire of recipe characteristics clearly prepared from scratch daily and not infrequently twice a day.

Abuelo's spaciousness offering seating for 240 guests, is by far the most artistically festive and charming place to linger over topical cocktails or dark or light frosty Mexican brews, shared by Abuelo's Dip Sampler -- a flamboyant, light and fresh, richly seasoned trio of dips to be slathered on paper-thin shells of crispy nachos. Well-spaced tables allow privacy amid its classical Mexican architecture including a center courtyard festooned with imported stonework, life-size sculptures and Diego Rivera paintings.

Traditionalists should latch--on to The Grande, a colossal, preeminent uniting of three enchiladas (beef, cheese, sour-cream chicken), cheese chile relleno, tamale, crispy beef taco all adroitly orchestrated by piquant, rich guacamole. Abuelo's likewise serves an uppermost Chile Manzanillo -- crab skillfully stuffed in a fresh roasted poblano strewn with shrimp, scallops, mushrooms and red peppers in a creamy, lightly herbed lobster sauce. Its aromatic flavor and texture merge triumphal, thus abundantly benefiting one's palate.

Among eight homemade soups we found the cautiously seasoned, full-bodied shrimp chowder irresistibly flavorsome, floating nuggets of shrimp, roasted green chiles and kernels of corn.

While food here in the main is creatively aggrandized, misfires occasionally occur. The filling Fajita Trio, for example, a sizzling medley of steak, chicken as well as a half-order of Yucatan BBQ shrimp, its steak portion might be disappointedly dry and tough, having been exposed too long to the fire. Pescado Guerrero, another example, is an exceptionally distinctive concoction marred by over-grilling the thick slab of fresh mahi-mahi, consequently turning it dry and crumbly.

On the flip-side, a flawless, delicious, substantial, exciting dish is the high-and-mighty Los Mejores De La Casa, a luxurious admixture of wood-grilled bacon-wrapped tenderloin medallions side-by-side with bacon-wrapped shrimp stuffed with jalapeno and blended cheeses, accompanied by papas con chile and frijoles charros. Pechuga con calabaza is the juiciest sautéed chicken breast we ever encountered. It arrives chicly adorned with sliced zucchini, roasted red peppers and corn in a softly- spiced cream sauce. A standout fish entree, Tilapia Veracruz, comes to table thickly cut, sensitively sautéed and prettily garnished with generous amounts of shrimp, scallops, tomatoes, roasted poblano strips, chile and olives sided with rice and fresh broccoli.

Don't snub Abuelo's happy endings. Don't miss the glorious homemade, shimmering, silky flan or perhaps the satisfactory tres leches cake.

All-in-all, the food is fresh, vivid in flavors and colors with intriguing textural interplay and unexpected tastes. Sauces are far from the pasty, homogenized Taco Bell' sauces.

This is sophisticated food, albeit the reasonable prices do not reflect it (entrees range $12.79 to $17.49), served by a well-trained, young staff with ready answers for all questions, rendered with ability and energy.

Some dishes are so unfamiliar that they are an acquired taste, but most likely you will be fully pleased.

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• The Landwehr Report, August 12, 2008
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