Pescado's

	Pescado’s Address: 13124 Midlothian Turnpike Phone: 397-7121 Hours: Dinner, Monday-Saturday, 5-9:30; lunch, Monday-Friday, 11:30-2 Prices: $$$

If Pescado’s is a Mexican restaurant, then Outback is a hamburger joint.

The difference between Pescado’s and the typical black beans-and-rice Mexican eatery is the difference between Acapulco and Tijuana, or maybe even Madrid and Juarez.

The music is the same as you he
ar piped into to Old Mexico—a pounding, swaying Latin tempo--but the food.

Ah, the food.

Any doubt that you’re in for a different south-of-the-border treat is removed by a glance at the appetizers, and the prices. 

The Cancun cocktail ($9) is five jumbo shrimp that are given a bright accent with wedges of fresh avocado, both enhanced by dipping in a house-made salsa. Cabocrab cakes ($10) are twin mini-cakes in a salsa which is a blend of lobster, lime, cream and cilantro.

“Pescado” means caught fish in Spanish, and the entrees are mostly from the sea, but gill-averse patterns can order chicken or beef. 

The entrées we ordered on our first visit were enough to assure repeat visits.
I tackled a whole gulf red snapper ($23), baked until its skin was crisp, and garnished with celery protruding from the back of its head. Our knowledgeable waiter, nicknamed “Tattoo” by his colleagues, although he bore no resemblance to the dwarf in “Love Boat,” recommended that I use my fork to peel back the skin, beneath which I was treated to a huge amount of moist, white fish. I would have sprinkled lemon on it, had it been offered, probably more out of habit than need. This dish, named Pescado Cancun, came with fluffy saffron potato cakes in a lemon-rosemary sauce and lightly fried zucchini.

Nancy ordered the nightly special, and was rewarded with a nicely textured pan-seared striped bass ($20) whose flavor was complimented by an onion-creamed corn pudding (more corn than cream), slices of papaya, braised scallions and a tostado, all of which was perked up with a sweet, smoked jalapeno tartar sauce.

On our next visit we intend to try the ahi tuna marinated in a house lime-mustard vinaigrette with a baked sweet potato with cinnamon lime butter ($17) and the pan-seared jumbo shrimp and backfin crab wrapped in a tortilla topped with a lobster-lime-cilantro-cream salsa ($19). 

Lunch, which is served only on weekdays, can be several $5 combos, such as soup and a grilled cheese, or a chicken or ham and cheese hoagie, or several wraps.

We began with the soup of the day ($3), a bowl of halibut cheek (that sweet meat under the eye) shredded to resemble chicken or crab, blended with jack cheese and green onions in a cream base. 

Nancy moved on to the colorful Oaxaca hoagie, which consisted of shaved white roasted chicken breast with white cheese, red onion, avocado, salsa and lettuce.

I got the tuna wrap ($9), which was jam packed with chunks of marinated, grilled tuna, spicy rice, jack cheese, shredded lettuce and fresh salsa. The salsa was a bit tame for my taste, but I fixed that with a liberal dose of Tabasco sauce.

The salsa comes with tri-colored chips that are sprinkled with both salt and sugar, whetting the appetite for one of the half dozen Mexican beers, or South American and Spanish wines.

There is a steam and raw bar, and plates for children. 

Pescado opened in mid-March, in the Village Market Shopping Center in Midlothian, across the street from Al Dente, a year-old Italian restaurant under the same ownership.

Owner-chef Todd Manley is no more Spanish than his partner, Greg Smiley, who presides at Al Dente, is Italian. But both men have been cooking since childhood—Todd’s uncle founded Franco’s in the West End--and have traveled extensively in Europe and Latin America, often cooking for their keep. 

Pescado’s is a small place, with smoking in an often noisy, crowded bar and non-smoking booths and tables in a sleek dining room whose mustard colored walls are lighted by blue wall sconces. 

Reservations are not accepted, but you can put your name on the wait list by calling ahead.

There is music on Friday and Saturday nights and an open mike on Thursdays, all beginning at 9.

Manley and Smiley plan to open a second Pescado on the Outer Banks next year.

This review first appeared in Style Weekly.