Islas Marietas Restaurant

Hungry and a bit tired after a long day, I just wanted to relax and enjoy some good food. I was craving Mexican and had heard good things about Islas Marietas, which opened in Oldtown Salinas a few months back.

It was dinner hour on a Thursday. A couple was leaving as I was being seated. For three quarters of an hour not another soul entered the spacious, brightly colored, festively decorated dining room. That was OK with me since all I wanted was to satisfy my appetite and charge my phone. But it was a downer to see such a big place so empty.

I took a place by an electrical outlet, directly under the loud and annoying wall-mounted TV. Soon it was switched off, replaced by Mexican mood music. Good call, staff!

I scanned the menu and quickly decided to start with the ceviche tostada mixta ($5.99) – two tostadas topped with a generous mound of very fresh fish, shrimp, octopus and crab. Red onion, tomato, avocado, cucumber and the tangy lime marinade made the seafood pop with flavor. It looks like a lot, but it’s actually quite light, and I ate it all.

I still had plenty of appetite for my carnitas platter ($12.99), which includes rice, beans and salad. One thing about carnitas, one of my favorite Mexican dishes: No two places make it alike. What I liked about this one, besides the braised pork meeting compulsory standards of juiciness and tenderness, was that it was topped with a grilled scallion and grilled jalapeño. No one needed to tell me what to do. I chopped them up, mixed them with the meat, scooped up some beans and rice, wrapped it all in a corn tortilla and took a bite. That and a swig of Corona made me say, ¡Ahh, que bueno!

I would have been doubly satisfied if the tortillas had been homemade, but that’s a somewhat rare luxury; always appreciated though. There are three more meat platters: chicken, carne asada and chile verde, all $12.99.

Next time my wife and I met for a Saturday lunch date. I was hoping for a livelier scene this time, but clientele was still sparse. There’s no scarcity on the menu, however, of hefty meat and seafood dishes tailored for big appetites. On the meatier side, the molcajete ranchero ($18.99), served in a big stone bowl (called a molcajete), very hot, full of beef, chicken, shrimp, pork and cheese, was tempting. Then there were the fajitas ($12.99): chicken, beef or shrimp; or a mix of all three for $13.99, a modest price. I also considered the red or green chicken enchiladas ($11.99). They also do burritos, tacos and quesadillas with carne asada, carnitas, al pastor or chicken. For non-meat eaters there’s a veggie burrito ($6.75). El Burrote ($7.99), the granddaddy of them all, is a monster burrito with beans, rice, cheese, avocado, sour cream, salsa and any choice of meat.

Islas Marietas, named after the uninhabited islands off the coast of Nayarit, Mexico, takes pride in its seafood dishes and devotes a whole page of its menu to seafood cocktails, salads and tostadas. On this, my second visit, I decided on the aguachile mixto ($18.50). It includes shrimp, octopus, scallops, oysters and crab. Aguachile refers to a marinade of lime and any variety of chili peppers.Islas Marietas uses mulato chilis, a spicy one (2,500-3,000 scovilles) similar to the ancho or the milder serrano. It comes served, sauce and all, in a molcajete topped with cucumber, onion and avocado slices. A stripped-down version of aguachile ($15.50), the traditional one, includes only shrimp. Once again, as with the ceviche tostada I tried on my previous visit, the seafood and veggies were bursting with freshness.

My wife went with a more standard choice of chicken enchiladas ($11.99). Quality-and quantity-wise, the three fat enchiladas served on a platter with beans, rice and salad, it thoroughly satisfied. She’d readily order it again and so would I. Menudo ($8.99), that favorite Mexican hangover remedy, is available on Sundays and Mexican-style breakfasts are on the menu all day, every day.

Although co-owners/operators Maria Pareja and husband Jesus Mercado say business is slower than they’d like, my experience tells me it’s not because of the food. The young couple believes that the old family recipes brought by Mercado’s parents from Nayarit as well as their combined 45-plus years of experience in the Mexican restaurant business will eventually gain them a steady and loyal following.

Pareja adds a focus on quality and freshness, especially for the seafood, is another point in their favor, explaining that stocking and inventory is meticulously controlled to minimize waste and so that products get from purveyor to patron as quickly as possible.

Oldtown Salinas can be a pretty sleepy place and a challenge for restaurants to flourish. But Islas Marietas proves truly a friendly, family-run business where sons, daughters, parents, grandparents, nieces and nephews all pitch in, determined to earn a place in the hearts of local Mexican food lovers.

ISLAS MARIETAS 330 Main St., Salinas. 10am-4pm Mon-Tue; 10am-6pm Wed; 10am-8pm Thu-Sun. 757-4165.