29.10.08: Jesse's El Conquistador, Los Angeles, CA

His 'no comment' bean soup and a deadly brew

Lazily following the rec of our B&B host, we headed to El Conquistador, a neighborhood Mexi-dive a few blocks down Sunset Blvd, drawn mainly by the prospect of 'their famous margaritas'. Indeed...

His mole enchiladas

HE SAYS: This was the worst Mexican I've had, including London Mexican wannabes. The mole sauce was very sweet and treacle-like, the cheese was tasteless, and the chicken squidgy and plain. My margarita was pure alcohol with not a hint of fresh limey goodness. This was definitely Mexi-can't.

Her spinach-mushroom enchiladas

SHE SAYS: My spinach-mushroom enchiladas in a 'tangy' tomatillo sauce, w/guacamole, sour cream, refried bnz and Spanish rice, were not really so bad...but they weren't so nice, either. Just a lot of gloop, really, and a bit bland. The salad was the best part, with very fresh mixed field leaves and basic vinegar and oil for dressing.

Her plain but very fresh salad

What made this all a huge thumbs-down for me was the bowl-o'-margarita full of incredibly proof alcohol masked by copious sugar so that 2/3 of the way thru my plate, I realised I was fully smashed. I didn't even get tipsy - went straight to faceplant drunk. He wasn't much less wobbly, and we stumbled back to the room with rocks in our stomachs, unable to head downtown as planned. Boo, hiss!