Is This Cheating?

As Summer outlined in her introductory post, the purpose of this blog is to record our year of eating out at new places. So this may be a bit cheap, but I suppose I don't much care because, well, I'm writing this. And because the food was good.

On New Years Eve, as part of our impetuous trip to Las Cruces, we stopped in historic Mesilla, where we ate at La Posta. This meandering eatery, made of several adjoining rooms, all of which feels like the places has been expanded a number of times since it opened in 1939 (and more than a few times in the century before that, when the structure was first built). As a result, it has a cozy feel but is big enough that you can get a table pretty quickly (at least we did, arrive around 5:30; when we left an hour later there was a healthy wait for a table).

Finding the place was a bit of a challenge. It's a block off the plaza, and we missed the signs (if there were any) on our way in. Once we found a sign for La Posta, we were a bit confused, as the restaurant is part of a larger building, with a gift shop and some other spaces, so the entrance is a bit doubtful. But we got in from the cold and got a table right away.

Inside, La Posta is a bit kitschy, but cozy. Christmas lights were still up, and the feel was comfortable. The lobby had a large bird enclosure with a toucan and several fish tanks, one of which housed piranhas (at least in theory; I didn't see any). The tables were basic tourist-dining stuff, but the place was clean, well-lit, and inviting.

The food is pretty standard New Mexican fare, with a good sampling of enchiladas, burritos, tacos, chiles rellenos, and the like. There was also a good selection of steaks and burgers for those folks who go to Mexican restaurants to get standard American food.

The eating experience started well, with some crunchy and tasty tortilla chips and great salsa. Often at this kind of place you get a wimpy salsa, something that will make the folks from Des Moines or Columbus feel good that they can handle "real New Mexican salsa," but this was hearty, with a good front-of-the-mouth kick and some lingering spice in the back of the throat. And unlike many salsas that trade flavor for bite, this was full of flavor.

The kids had quesadillas (except for Ryan, who had a burger--see above for my thoughts on this), which were simple, but very heavy on the cheese. It must have been good (or they must have been ravenous), because the kids devoured their food.

Summer ordered flautas (I have a soft spot in my heart for fried Mexican food), and she let me have a bite (it had guacamole on it, and, even though she loves the green stuff, she can't eat it without getting an awful stomach ache), so I can vouch for it. Not great, but crispy, tasty, and fattening, which is all you can really want in this life anyhow.

I wanted to be adventurous, but I couldn't pass on the enchiladas. So I ordered the Sour Cream Enchilada, which was really just a flat enchilada (I had chicken, but it came with red chile, which is always an odd pairing), covered in about a cup of sour cream. Now, I'm not a huge fan of sour cream, but it was appropriately decadent for the end of the calendar year, so I ate it up.

The enchilada was good; the chile was moderately hot, and the tortillas were good. The rice was disappointing, but you don't go to place like this hoping for great rice (when you do get the good stuff it's like a little treat).

Overall we were impressed and pleased. It's better than most of the similar places in Albuquerque's Old Town, and certainly among the best New Mexican restaurants we've been to. And, even though we were charged $1.95 for each kid's milk (I'm a sucker for the drink being included with the kids' meals), it was a good deal; we came in around $50 with tip, and the entrees we had were very reasonable at $8-10 each.

So, using our handy-dandy rating system (as outlined in the sidebar; I'm giving a score for each area on a scale of 1-36, for a total between 6 and 36 for each establishment we choose to patronize), La Posta rates as follows:

• Yumminess: 5
• Budgetability: 4
• Table-for-six-ness: 6
• Kids-will-eat-it factor: 6 (but perhaps skewed since they had eaten a lousy lunch)
• Non-ickiness: 4
• Would we bring people here to show off ABQ?: 4 (since it's not in ABQ, this is hard to rate, but if ever we go to Las Cruces with family, this will be the spot to eat)
• Total: 29