Jalapeño Cantina Mexicana review

I recently tried Jalapeño Cantina Mexicana at the Home Depot in Ortigas (along Julia Vargas Ave.) with my family. Now if you're craving for authentic Mexican food, I think this is the closest you are going to get here in the Manila area. Don't get me wrong, it's nothing compared to the hole in the wall joints California but it's definitely not your fast food "Mexican" food place.

We ordered four of their dishes and their strawberry iced tea.

Steak tacos and Pepper steak fajita

My boyfriend ordered the Steak Taco 2 pieces. Cliche, I know, but what is a Mexican food joint if they don't offer the taco. The menu described it as 6"tortilla, pepper steak, salsa verde, lettuce and cheese. That is what we got. When they took our order we were asked if we wanted a soft tortilla or if we wanted in those tortilla shells. Unable to make up our minds, they suggested we try one soft tortilla and one in a tortilla shell. Honestly, I don't know how it tasted because he devoured them both. I guess it was good because he can be a picky eater.

He also ordered the Pepper steak fajita. It was described as beef tenderloin strips, onions, cheese, bell pepper, sour cream, mexican salsa, mexi-rice, 3 pcs tortilla. Again, that's what we got, served on a hot plate. The tenderloin strips were soft, juicy and tastly. The rice well cooked. And the tortillas, yummy. My little one ate them up plain.

I ordered the Chicken and cheese quesadilla for the little one. It's 6" tortilla, grilled chicken fillet, cheese, sour cream, onions but I had them hold the onions because the little one doesn't onions. I know the 6" quesadilla was pretty big for a little person with only eight teeth, but I figured, we can always help him out or take it home. The little one liked it but he got bored (as little one year olds sometimes get when eating out). I liked dipping it in the sour cream. We ended up taking home half, and when I asked for sour cream, they generously packed some for me.

Lastly, I ordered a Solo plato for myself. It had chips and salsa, mexican beef soup, junior burritos, chili con carne, corn relish. The chips and salsa was nothing spectacular but the serving was pretty generous. I enjoyed it dipped in the sour cream. The beef soup tasted like chili con carne without the chili and with a lot of beans (I mean that in a good way). The cheese on top, was a tasty touch. I also added the corn relish to the beef soup. The chili con carne was spicy! I could see the red pepper bits in my little bowls. Since I had eaten half the quesadilla with the little one, I had the burrito doggy bagged.

Their strawberry iced tea was refreshing. It had a strong strawberry flavor. It was sweet but it didn't taste sugar-y. It calmed the little one down for a few minutes when I put it in his straw sippy cup. And it didn't keep him up. We're sure it wasn't spiked.

The next morning I heated up the quesadilla and the burrito for breakfast. The burrito had an ample serving of meat with the rice. It tasted fine considering it was cooked the evening before. That can only mean the food that was served was definitely freshly prepared.

Do you like Mexican food? Where you usually eat and what do you usually order? Have you tried Jalapeno Cantina Mexicana?