La Terraza - Review #1

La Terraza 3605 S Bristol St. #D Santa Ana, CA 92704 (714) 545-8240 Listing on Yelp Official Site

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Here's a review I've had sitting in the pipeline for a while because I'm not sure exactly what to make of this place. It used to be Ferdussi Persian Restaurant which I'd been to one time before and if I remember correctly I think I liked it then but now that it's a Mexican restaurant I think it's still run by the same Iranian family. At least the cooks are Mexican.

You start out with some nicely presented chips and salsa, with tri-colored chips that match the Mexican flag and a fairly chunky salsa:

I ordered or thought I ordered a chile relleno and taco combo and got the taco on another plate. The chile relleno was plump, almost oozing with cheese, and had its own chunky sauce on top. The beans were standard with a little bit of grated cheese on the top and a small helping of rice next to it (I know I'm weird but I always like more rice than beans and it hardly ever works out that way and I always forget to ask for it). Both the taco and the chile relleno plates had a helping of salad which I have recently learned is called "garnish salad" and may be the first "garnish salad" I've seen at a Mexican restaurant that was served with Thousand Island dressing. The taco was the highlight, served in two apparently freshly made, thick corn tortillas with juicy cubed chicken breast and cilantro and onion (mildly surprised it wasn't lettuce and tomato) and an even chunkier salsa than what is served with the chips.

The flan was sliced from a bigger ring of flan and served with dollops of whipped cream with chocolate sauce and strawberry slices. At $5 I wasn't expecting my flan to be gussied up like this. Nice touch at a decent price.

I liked my food but had a hard time knowing how to evaluate the whole experience. Business there was a little slow and they had just a temporary banner hanging out front. The host who seated me said they weren't entirely ready to make their presence known to the public yet so I think I could get a better idea of them if I went back.

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