Carnaval Las Palmas / There’s something about Mexican. We can agree to disagree about where to find the best sushi, the best plate lunch, the best burger, but when it comes to Mexican food–for whatever reason–we stick to our guns. Is it because Mexican food is composed of essentially the same five ingredients, served the same way, at almost every taqueria and restaurant in America? It’s a simplicity that lends to easy comparison.

But what is ‘Mexican food?’ Is it rice, beans and pick your meat, as at almost every taco stand and taqueria in the United States? In New York, chef Richard Sandoval has pioneered nuevo-Mexican cuisine with dishes like adobo-marinated lamb chops atop mashed potatoes. He’s Mexican. Is it authentic?

Carnaval Las Palmas is the fourth location in Wilfredo Valiente’s local chain, and the most ambitious. If you’re going to open a Mexican place in Restaurant Row, in the three-tiered (and kind of cursed) former home of Meritage, just across from the well-established (if not well-reviewed) Jose’s, it had better work, and quickly. And there are signs that it may: while there’s room for more staff training and attention to detail (a giant decommissioned salad bar sits in the middle of the ground-level dining area), the food is classic Mexican-American, prepared by experienced Mexican cooks.

The first miscue was our own. Given the option to sit anywhere–the place was nearly empty at 6pm on a recent Thursday–we chose a table near the entrance, just a few feet from the cash register. Later, I discovered the large, warmly decorated main dining area upstairs–if you come, ask to be seated there or at an outside table.

The extensive menu is a mix of old hat–tacos, enchiladas, taquitos–and some not often seen dishes. As we made our way through a special of soft tacos filled with perfectly grilled, gently dressed mahimahi, the question of authenticity would not go away. Is something you’d pick up at a roadside taco stand in Jalisco more legitimate than the inventive tapaslike fare served up at swank eateries in Mexico City? Mexico once blanketed what are now California and Texas. Is Tex-Mex somehow ‘inauthentic’ just because the border moved? Does any of it even matter? In the end, the food must bear some relation to the cuisine of its native country, and it must taste good. What On that level, Las Palmas succeeds. What sets Carnaval apart from its lunch-only siblings are entrÈes like subtly seasoned carne de pernin–four slices of baked pork butt crisp on the outside and moist on the inside. The side of refried beans features whole beans and skins rather than the familiar grey gruel. These kinds of simple touches–nothing seemed to have stayed on the grill or in the oven a moment too long, the sour cream and guacamole were generous yet don’t overwhelm–show that Las Palmas has steady, experienced hands in the kitchen.

There is at least one true winner–the textbook shrimp ceviche ($8.95). The popcornlike little blobs of minced shrimp macerate in a tart mix of lemon, onion, cilantro and a hint of jalapeÃ’o. (The dish is also available in slightly different form as a main course, with large shrimp.)

My dining companion wondered aloud why Las Palmas doesn’t offer a handful of variations on what was our favorite dish. Manager Tino Guzman overheard the remark, and said the restaurant serves ‘authentic Mexican food, with a few slight changes’ to the sauces and spices to accommodate local tastes. (He added that the nightly special is a chance to try something different, such as chicken mole.) Alas. In food as in the rest of life, the devil’s in the details–the difference between a revolutionary eatery and a run-of-the-mill Mexican joint can be as slight as an extra touch of jalapeÃ’o in the ceviche, a turn here and there on the grill. Throughout the meal, we wondered what had been sacrificed for the sake of mainstream taste.

Desserts are comfort standards, with dense, custardy flan and sopapilla, a compulsively nibbleable platter of deep-fried tortillas topped with butter, honey, cinnamon and chocolate. These last dishes clarified the disconnect I’d been feeling throughout the meal–despite its swank location and ambitions to innovation, Las Palmas is a down-home restaurant serving almost archetypal Mexican-American food. But the dishes are prepared with care–everything tasted good, nothing was over- or undercooked, the salad-topping salsa was fresh, cilantro-packed simplicity. If the management wants to break new ground, that’s not happening yet. For now, Carnaval Las Palmas offers the same well-done, reasonably priced beans-and-rice formula as its other locations–and salsa on Fridays and mariachi on Saturdays. You can do a lot worse than that.

Carnaval Las Palmas

Hours: Mon-Fri 10:30am-3pm, 5-9pm, Sat & Sun 5-9pm
Appetizers: $3-$8.95
Main Dishes: $7.50-$15.95
Recommended dishes: shrimp ceviche, carnitas, carne de pernin
Payment: AmEx, Disc, MC, V

---