When I heard that the former owners of Riviera Mexican Grill had taken over the former Samba Restaurant north of Redondo Pier, my first thought was that it was time for someone to do something there. The Brazilian restaurant that took its place had been leaderless for years and had turned a prime waterfront location into an energy-depleted hinterland. Anything that replaced it was bound to be an improvement.
Their original Riviera Mexican Grill in South Redondo was a popular spot for good food at moderate prices and the location on the Redondo Pier presented a golden opportunity to create a more upscale version. Like any ocean-view eatery, they specialize in seafood and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a tank full of lobster and crab like some of the other restaurants on the pier. Spruce up the decor, raise the prices to capture the tourist dollars and watch the money pour in.
On my first visit to Riviera Cantina, I looked in vain for the lobster tank. It doesn’t exist, and although the interior has been very stylishly remodeled, it’s more California casual than upscale. As for the menu, it’s not an exact copy of the one in South Redondo, but the prices are similar. A meal with an ocean view for the same price as a place overlooking traffic on the Pacific Coast Highway? Inconceivable, but there you have it.
There are two main dining areas, the bar area and the main dining room, as well as some private rooms for business and social events. On our first visit, we sat in the bar, which is a bit noisier and has smaller tables than the main dining room. I preferred the larger tables with more comfortable seating in the architecturally interesting main room, cleverly decorated with colorful indigenous baskets and lamps reminiscent of an impressionist depiction of a tornado.
On one visit we ordered guacamole, on our second we ordered a dish not on South Redondo’s menu: min-sopes stuffed with carnitas and topped with guacamole, black beans, lettuce, pickled red onions, pico de gallo and queso fresco. The mountain of lettuce mixed with a generous portion of slow-roasted pork shoulder made it hard to tell how many of the thick masa cups were underneath, but after some investigation we found there were three. I’d suggest the restaurant adopt the standard number four while keeping the same amount of fillings and toppings, because there was enough for everyone.
Somewhere under this pile of lettuce and carnitas are three mini sope bowls.
As for the guacamole, it was the standard fare, freshly made and served in a molcajete, the Mexican lava stone mortar traditionally used for crushing spices. The avocado mash with citrus, tomatoes and onions was garnished with queso fresco and toasted pumpkin seeds, a pretty presentation that offered some pleasant flavor and texture variations.
This molcajete, or one similar to it, was back as a serving bowl for one of the main dishes, which is confusingly listed as just a molcajete. The easiest way to explain it is this: Any mixture of ingredients and sauce that you bake and serve in a casserole dish is called a casserole, and the same goes for a Mexican molcajete. The thick stone mold is heated to high temperatures and then filled with various meats or seafood, scallions, chunks of Oaxaca cheese, and whatever else the cook likes, then simmered in a chili sauce. In the hot mold, the cheese melts, creating a gooey, delicious mass. The version at Riviera Cantina includes flank steak, grilled chicken, and shrimp, adds a large grilled jalapeño, and garnishes the whole thing with chunks of avocado and cilantro. The red chili sauce was very tangy and delicious when mixed with the melted cheese, but the steak was overcooked and tough. It was grilled to the point where it was ready to eat and not ready to be cooked in the sauce for a while again. I would order this dish again, but would ask for the beef to be rare rather than medium and to be cut into smaller pieces before serving.
The attractively served Molcajete, a lava stone bowl filled with beef, chicken and grilled shrimp.
The other dishes we ordered were blackened sea bass tacos, crispy chicken tacos, and half a chicken in poblano mole sauce. The amount of blackened seasoning on the sea bass was modest, enough to add some flavor but not too much heat. That’s probably more accurate for your average Mexican restaurant than a place that’s going for some sort of Cajun-Mexican fusion, and those who like it particularly spicy will get a good red chile sauce on the table. The crispy chicken tacos weren’t quite what we expected, as the description confused us—instead of the chicken being fried until crispy, they were served in a crispy shell. Crispy shell tacos are an Americanism, but a delicious one, and these were good. They were served with cilantro rice or Spanish rice, and I preferred the cilantro but liked both.
The bone-in chicken with mole poblano sauce was grilled and then basted with sauce rather than braised together, and the light smoky flavor from the grill and tangy chocolate sauce paired beautifully. Be prepared to make a mess while eating. Like most mains, it comes with your choice of cilantro or Spanish rice and black, fried, or charro beans. The fried and black beans are vegetarian, while the charro beans contain bacon—something they should perhaps mention on the menu. I didn’t try the black beans, but the others liked them both—they had real flavor.
The chicken mole at Riviera Cantina is grilled and then topped with mole poblano sauce.
Riviera Cantina has a full bar that is well stocked and a bar staff that knows what to do with it. I don’t always agree with their choices, like making their Paloma with a fat-washed tequila that dulls the flavor of the agave spirit to the point where it’s just a whisper. The bar manager offered to make something else instead and I got a mezcal-based drink called the Smokey Blood Orange that was beautifully balanced. My wife had a classic margarita on one visit and one called the Burning Passion that was made with mezcal, passion fruit juice, lime and ginger beer and was delicious.
We debated whether to have churros or flan for dessert and ordered the flan, which was quite different from the usual. It was pale rather than yellow, had a firm texture, tasted very creamy but without much egg cream flavor. The caramel and crema topping was not too sweet and it was an interesting change from a classic.
Riviera Cantina’s management has done what it can and deserves credit for that. It is a sound business decision and a good culinary choice and should please their existing and new customers.
Riviera Cantina is located in Redondo, 207 North Harbor Drive. Open daily from 11:30 a.m., Sun-Thurs 9 p.m., Fri-Sat 10 p.m., full bar, wheelchair access OK. (310) 374-2689. TheRivMexCantina.com. HE
