Amorelia Mexican Cafe

Amorelia Mexican Cafe 220 Harbor Blvd C 110 Costa Mesa, CA 92627 (949) 646-1422 Listing on Yahoo! Local Listing on ezLocal Official Site Coming Soon

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About a month ago I was getting ready to finally post a review of Mariscos Puerto Esperanza after having made four visits there when I found out that it had closed down due to lack of business. I don't know if maybe I had posted the review a couple months earlier if enough readers of this blog would've gone to prevent them from closing but I did feel like I hadn't done my small part. I also am not sure if this place I am writing about now is in any danger of running out of clientele but I do know I don't want the same thing to happen to them.

Tucked away in almost the corner of the K-Mart shopping center on the south-east corner of Harbor and Wilson lies a new cafe that opened just a few months ago. Named after the Mexican city of Morelia but with an 'A' added to the beginning of its name to tie it in with "amore," Amorelia Mexican Cafe is a cozy little joint boasting family recipes, reasonable prices, and butterfly-themed decor to honor the monarch butterflies that migrate from Canada to Morelia every year.

The restaurant is run by Daniel Paniagua who was born in Morelia and whose mother has provided many of the recipes. Daniel is very personable and if you get him going you can have an interesting conversation about butterflies, ostriches, proper flan cooking techniques, graphic design and more.

Dishes include flautas:

Pozole:

Tortas; a chicken milanesa torta is shown here (okay, the quality's not that great on this photo):

Huevos rancheros:

Chile rellenos and tacos (they have the best potato tacos I've ever had and I've overheard several other customers raving about them):

Mole verde:

And Taco Tuesdays with $1.50 tacos:

They are also the only place I know of that has a horchata smoothie:

For dessert they have, among other selections, tres leches:

Flan:

And mango mousse cake, worth the price of admission alone:

Oh, one other thing: they are concerned about being authentic but they also want to please their clientele so if you go there looking for a burrito and don't see it on the menu don't get up and leave. Just ask and they will make one for you.

View the complete photo album (28 photos so far) at flickr.