Cactus - OK Mexican in Madison Park
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
I've been going to Cactus for a number of years. Went again the other night and realized I hadn't reviewed them.
First I should set the scene. Cactus is typically busy and a little crowded, dark, and filled with all kinds of kitschy Southwestern decor. The food is normally OK, consisting of some standards (carne asada, carne asada tacos, fish tacos, etc) and some twists on those standards (I had a butternut squash and spinach enchilada with their great mole sauce, more on that later).
Maybe we caught them on an off night. It wasn't that crowded so we were seated immediately. We waited 5 minutes or more for water, but our server was nice enough that we overlooked it. Then the chips and salsa showed up. Normally they have great chips and salsa - the chips are multi-colored and the salsa has great flavor. Our salsa was great, but our chips were stale. When we pointed it out our server said "we are out of chips - that's the last basket, but I'll look for another one." He didn't, but the manager did and those chips were fine. By the way, how does a Mexican joint run out of chips?
Our appetizer was a queso with crab. It was great. Flavorful and rich, but not overpowering. The best part of the meal.
My wife had a mushroom quesadilla, which was good but a little heavy on the crema. My enchilada was good. The combo of butternut squash, spinach and goat and jack cheese was OK. The mole made the dish.
Will I go back to cactus - yes. Been going too long not to drop by from time to time. But it's fallen off my list of top Mexican places in Seattle.