We had an early Mother's Day dinner mainly because the Mrs works this weekend and Mom didn't want to have dinner just staring across the table at yours truly. She originally wanted to go to a Japanese restaurant then about faced inquiring about that "new" Mexican restaurant in Kailua. What new Mexican restaurant? There's Cactus which serves Latin inspired food from the Americas... "that's it"! So we headed to Cactus.And though its been open for a year, we never sampled their faire. We started with a special of the evening, the Lobster Guacamole with freshly cooked chips and Mango Tomatillo Salsa.
The chips were a touch greasy but the guac' was very hearty with bits of lobster and corn and the Mango Tomatillo salsa was very refreshing (and spicy from the habanero).
Mom had a glass of Chardonnay while the Mrs sampled one of their Cinco de Mayo specials
While I selected the Grapefruit Cilantro Martini. Though you could see flecks of cilantro in the drink, I couldn't really taste the cilantro.
We also sampled small portions of the Argentinian Fry Bread with a sweet chili sauce. It was like eating fried pizza dough with a nice chew.
The Farm Raised Boar Empanadas - finely ground and spicy enough that you wouldn't know you were eating boar (no gaminess at all) served with a red cabbage slaw.
And the Panzanella with corn bread croutons in place of the usual white bread.
For our entrees, Mom selected the Masa Crusted Chicken Breast (and took home half of her plate for the next day)
While the Mrs had the Jidori Chicken Breast with Cilantro Risotto. Once again, though you could see flecks of cilantro, their flavor wasn't evident at all and the Meyer lemon was a wee bit too strong though the chicken was very tender and juicy.
And I sampled the Big Island Sirloin Asado and Smoked Hamakua Mushroom Tacos. The smoked mushrooms really gave the dish a hearty richness and the beef was very good though the onion escabeche added just a bit too much acid (like the Meyer lemon in the risotto).
Because Cactus was celebrating their 1 year anniversary, every table received a banana cupcake with Mexican chocolate (of course, once again, we waited a year before sampling a restaurant in our neck of the woods).
We didn't think we had room for dessert but Mom ordered the Flourless Chocolate Cake (and cleaned it up!)
While the Mrs had the Tres Leche Cake (and cleaned it up!)
And I had the Lime Cilantro Sorbetto - you guessed it, not enough cilantro flavor - though it had a very refreshing lime flavor (would have been divine with a shot or two of good rum drizzled over it) and of course, I couldn't finish it all...
Though there were small hiccups (not enough cilantro flavor, a little too much acid component, etc), we'll probably be back. Especially for the Happy Hour (only available from 3-6pm at the Bar or outside seating) since their Pincho (appetizer) menu is quite large and not even available in the main dining room. And it doesn't hurt that libations are cheaper too...
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