Torito's hits the spot when you crave Mexican food

By Matthew Gray
Advertiser Restaurant Critic

Luis Andrade with a sample platter at Torito's, which offers south-of-the-border fare such as burritos, tamales and quesadillas, as well as an excellent mole sauce. Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser Torito's Mexican Restaurant Market City Shopping Center 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays 735-7991 Good

One thing that has remained constant is their very good guacamole ($2), served in a small cup. It's thick and creamy, thankfully not with mayonnaise or sour cream, but because high-quality avocados are used. All that seemed to be in it were bits of tomato, salt and pepper.

Tortilla chips are placed on your table when you sit down. They're crisp and fresh and free ... the first basket, anyway. After that, it will cost you. I think the days of free chips are rapidly sliding away. Once upon a time, Chinese restaurants didn't charge for rice, and now Mexican places are following suit with chips. At least they're willing to replenish the salsa without charging you.

All main dishes come with yellow rice and refried beans, along with a bit of salad and homemade salsa. Meat choices are chicken, shredded and ground beef, pork, fish and carne asada (most often made with flank steak, but better when made with tri-tip or skirt steak).

The best food here revolves around an excellent mole sauce: thick, sharp, sweetly complex, displaying top notes of smoke, citrus and clove, laced with dried-chile heat, and dark enough to dim even the brightest Pepsodent smile. (The best mole sauces can take two days to make and contain something like 20 ingredients.) The chicken mole ($7.95) was generously plated — made with thigh meat and absolutely finger-lickin' good.

I thoroughly enjoyed the tamale plate ($7.95), usually made with chunks of pork. Here, though, you can choose your favorite meat (I chose chicken). They apparently make their tamales meatless, wich is unusual north of the border, but adding your choice of meat when you order gets you pretty darn close to the real thing, even without corn-husk wrappers. The tamales were soft and flavorful, adding heartiness to the finished dish.

The crab enchilada plate ($9.95) was much better than I expected, filled with real crabmeat, tasting of the sea, finally topped with a dollop each of sour cream and guacamole. The regular enchilada plate ($7.50) includes two large hand-rolled enchiladas. Miss A had the fish choice, which was fresh 'ahi on this night, and she loved it.

Tacos al pastor ($7.50) are slow-cooked pork chunks in soft tortillas — roll up and enjoy. At its best, al pastor tacos are savory morsels of meat. Here they are good but not great.

I've always been a fan of chiles rellenos ($7.95, or $9.95 with meat). Here, they're fairly tasty and cheesy, but only come one per plate.

Many of the other things you're used to seeing at Mexican places can be had here. If you visit early enough in the day, there are egg dishes (all $7.95) such as huevos rancheros, with chorizo, and a Mexican omelet. Quesadillas range from $6 for cheese-filled, to $8.75 for beef and pork. Nachos range from $6 to $7.50, depending on the toppings, and even fajitas are available, from $12.95 to $14.95 for the shrimp and scallop combination.

Torito's is cool, casual, and the wait staff is friendly. You'll be able to find some dishes that will suit your needs when the urge for Mexican comes your way.

And if you're in the mood, you can pop downstairs beforehand and ask the folks at Fujioka's to suggest a bottle of wine that will go with your Mexican meal.

Reach Matthew Gray at mgray@honoluluadvertiser.com with your comments, questions and suggestions.