What: Chile relleno
Where: El Matador Restaurant, 13450 Palm Drive, Desert Hot Springs
How much: $8.95
Contact: 760-329-4424
Why: The ranchera sauce.
We were overdue to get together with our friend Theresa for dinner. She lives in Desert Hot Springs, and it was our turn go somewhere closer to her place. She recommended several possible locations—one of which was El Matador Restaurant.
The restaurant has been around since 1994, and somehow, I’d never been there—so off we went!
Upon first glance, the menu is pretty typical for a good Mexican restaurant around these parts. I asked Theresa if she had any recommendations, and she sang the praises of the chile relleno.
“But it does include celery,” she said.
Celery? With a chile relleno? I’ve eaten hundreds of chiles relleno over the years, and I didn’t recall ever having one involving celery—but I didn’t find the idea of a chile relleno with celery offensive, so after seeing the chile relleno described on El Matador’s menu as “our chef’s pride,” I was sold. I ordered one as part of my three-item combo ($19.95), while Theresa, a much lighter eater than I, ordered one à la carte.
The chile relleno is El Matador chef’s pride for a reason: It was fantastic.
The chile was stuffed with lots of gooey mozzarella cheese—but what made this relleno special was the ranchero sauce lovingly placed atop the chile. It was delicious, a tomatoey concoction with peppers, onions and, yes, celery. While the other items on my plate (a chicken taco, a chicken enchilada, rice and beans) were all quite good, the chile relleno was definitely the highlight.
After my meal, I noticed on the El Matador menu that there’s a limit of one chile relleno per combo plate. I now fully understand why that limit is necessary.
