Dining Review: Small plates, small pleasures

The most prominent thing at Cascabel is the giant slithering rattlesnake painted on the walls. The image prepares you for a night of drama. Turquoise wooden tables and benches prepare you, on the other hand, for a casual fish meal like on the beach in Cozumel. Unless a trip to coastal Mexico or Spain is in your near future, try a visit to tapas-driven Cascabel in Toluca Lake.

Cascabel (translation: “rattle”) is the newest endeavor of local Top Chef Alex Eusebio. He and his wife run the successful Sweetsalt just down the road. The new restaurant, situated down an alley in a historic Spanish building, is closer to Eusebio’s roots of Nuevo Latino cuisine. Born in Madrid, he spent his childhood in the Dominican Republic and landed in New York City where he honed his craft alongside notable chefs Alex Garcia and Douglas Rodriguez. Eusebio brings a new kind of eating to the neighborhood with Cascabel —“Coastal Mexican Fusion Californian” explains our server. We didn’t find the food and drink to have the drama of the snake, but we did find them to have the freshness of the beach.

Complimentary, freshly fried, puffy tortilla chips with roasted chili salsa arrive quickly after being seated. Cocktails feature uncommonly smooth tequila. The Fuego ($11) with ginger, lime, pineapple and chilies and the Cascabel Margarita ($10) are nice, but I wouldn’t call them alchemy.

Ceviche is a given for me at a tapas place. I feel I chose the wrong one with the Leche de Tigre ($14), a Peruvian ceviche with lime, chilies, butternut squash, corn and half a dozen little pieces of tender snapper. It just didn’t deliver the fireworks and the meager amount spread across an artsy plate made us a little angry. You can’t go wrong with the hangar steak tacos ($9), but let’s just say you’d do better at Guisados for $3. Of course, you’re paying for ambience and table service at Cascabel. The service was good. However, since we didn’t have a reservation, we were relegated to a back room. We felt isolated and missing out on the happenings in the front room. If you’re looking for quiet, though, you may want to request this area.

Our last food choice finally blew us away. Venturing off the tapas menu, we opted for the tikin xic (pronounced “teekeen sheek”) off the “Mas” menu. A beautiful piece of fish, cooked Yucatecan style in a wood fire with adobo de Achiote and served with green and red pepper slaw and handmade tortillas, it looked and tasted like it stepped out of an Anthony Bourdain-on-a-Spanish-beach episode. This was the highlight of the night and the item that made me realize Cascabel should not be a tapas place. It should be an entree-driven restaurant serving full-plate experiences. Eusebio is better at engaging with a plate of balanced nutrition and flavor meant for one diner. Anyway I’m done with overpriced plates to share. If you’re going to do tapas, do it like the Spanish where complimentary small plates simply show up. The whole purpose is to keep you at the table ordering drinks.

So did I like Cascabel or didn’t I? I think it would be fun and different for a girls night out or a first date. But I can’t say I’ll be back.

--

LISA DUPUY welcomes comments at LDupuy@aol.com.--

Infobox

What: Cascabel

Where: 10717 Riverside Dr., Toluca Lake

When: Monday through Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m.

Prices: Antojitos, ceviches and tacos, $7 to $16; “Mas,” $7 to $22.

More info: F(818) 927-4210; www.cascabelrestaurant.com.