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Villa Del Mar
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
2 reviews for Villa Del Mar
I'm not from El Paso, but Villa Del Mar was recommended to me by a local as a great place to eat while I was passing through town. He billed the menu as, "Fresh seafood the way it is prepared in Mexico." Nuff said.
First of all, the chips and salsa were great. Fresh, thick, crunchy chips and smoky roasted salsa - full of flavor and not too spicy.
Next we got a half dozen oysters (big, fresh and plump), the snails in cocktail sauce (lots of big chewy snails), and the scallops also in cocktail sauce (note they come ceviche-style, which means they are essentially raw). I would have preferred the cocktail sauce not so sweet and with a horseradish kick, but I'm guessing what we had was the way it's done in Mexico, which was cool.
We also got two soups - seafood marinera soup for me and whole fish soup (bone-in fish) for the spouse. Both had great flavorful broths and were chock full of meaty bits. And despite the fact that the broths of both soups looked the same, they tasted quite different.
But the masterpiece of all was the entree - Filet Tampiquena. A garlicky grilled fish filet, refried beans, red chile enchillada (no filling, just a rolled-up corn tortilla smothered in red sauce - outstanding) and a vinegar (not mayo) coleslaw. But the best part was the huge mound of grilled fresh green chiles and onions on top. It was really, really really good.
I should also note that the kids meals are a great deal - basically you get a good sized portion of fried fish fillet and/or shrimp on what seems like a pre-marathon ocean of rice and mashed potatoes. No kid could possibly eat 1/5 of all that starch, so we just focused the seafood and left most of the rest.
Atmosphere is Red Lobsterish - bright, family-friendly, tables and booths, nautical-themed and lots of fish tanks. Everyone there (other than us) was speaking Spanish, which really lent credibility to its authenticity. I read somewhere there is a sister restaurant owned by the same folks in Ciudad Juarez - can't verify that but sounds quite plausible.
I can't believe this place hasn't been reviewed before. Love it.
I used to love going to Villa del Mar in Juarez. I was a bit apprehensive that this wouldn't taste the same. I needn't have worried. Everything is exactly the same. The ceviche? Just as tasty. The shrimp cocktails? Just as tasty. The shrimp "al mojo de ajo" (fried garlic)? Super tasty. Every item I tasted was authentic mexican style seafood minus the pesky bullet holes that seem to be complimentary now in Juarez restaurants.
