Old Town Mexican Cafe, San Diego ~ Nooschi

I got a call telling me that two friends were landing in San Diego tonight, and that they were all meeting up for dinner near their hotel at Old Town Mexican Cafe. Being from Canada, real Mexican food is hard to find, so naturally, I accepted the offer.

Old Town Mexican Cafe was a packed restaurant. I've read that that the line ups get pretty long here, but we were lucky, and didn't have to wait very long. The look and feel of the place was like a family style restaurant with a mexican flare. The decor was very festive and the walls were covered with colourful mexican paintings.

As soon as we sat down, our waitress brought us a basket of hot corn tortilla chips with salsa. The salsa didn't look like anything much but it was was fresh, and had a real spicy kick to it. Their salsa definitely doesn't cater to the average tourist because a few of us were coughing from the hotness of the peppers. I'm not usually a chip person, but I couldn't stop eating them because the salsa was so good. While we were enjoying our chips and salsa, a mariachi band approached our table, so we requested 'La Cucaracha'.

My main meal was the trio enchilada: shrimp, chicken, and beef served with a side of beans. The shrimp enchilada was my favourite.

S also ordered the trio enchilada, but I honestly don't know how his ended up looking so different from mine. He said that he asked for his Sonora style but from what I've read, the only difference is that one is baked and the other is pan fried. I sent him a few emails afterwards asking about how he got his enchiladas to look the way it did, but his answers were vague, and he jokingly called me a silly gringo for all my questions. Gringo is a Spanish term used in some Latin American countries for 'foreigner'.

T ordered the Old Town famous carnitas, a Mexican braised pork dish. This was served with warm tortillas and a plate of onions, avocado, tomatoes, cilantro, and lime wedges.