I was surprised to find myself at Cafe Tranquilo Tuesday night. By all intents and purposes, I was planning on visiting a different restaurant to review, but life happens and I ended up at Cafe Tranquilo, which opened at the Clarendon Hotel and Spa shortly after Gallo Blanco closed.
Columns and features editor Molly Bilker and I were greeted by a kind hostess who seated us on the outdoor patio as soon as we arrived. The sun was setting and the moon was perfectly visible, a small sliver above the roof of the Clarendon. The serene setting lived up to the restaurant’s name.
Our waiter Alex was welcoming and energetic. He didn’t waste time asking for our drink orders, our appetizer order or our entree orders. I started out with a tall, cold glass of horchata ($3, one free refill), a beverage of rice milk with cinnamon and sugar. The first glass was visually appealing — topped with little bubbles of cinnamon while cinnamon swirl patterns coated the inside and bottom of the glass. The second glass only had cinnamon on the top, which made me begin to question if there was cinnamon in the drink itself. Without visible cinnamon on the inside of the glass, it almost seemed like sweetened rice milk with cinnamon on top.
The appetizer we ordered was the coctel de fruta con chile ($3) and came with two skewers of cucumber, jicama and mango dusted with chile powder and lime juice. I’ve always been skeptical of putting chile powder on my mangos, but from now on, I will definitely do this. The spicy and sweet flavors danced a perfect tango. It was a refreshing, light appetizer that made me feel better about eating the entree I ordered.
I ordered chilaquiles with chicken ($10) as my entree, knowing that I would not be able to finish eating the tortilla-chip goodness. Chilaquiles is a Mexican dish with a base of fried corn tortillas covered in a meat, red sauce, cheese and an egg. Cafe Tranquilo offers chicken or vegetables as topping choices, and uses a chile sauce, sunny-side up eggs and Cotija cheese to top off the dish. While it was delicious (probably the second best chilaquiles I’ve ever had), the chile sauce really drowned out any possible flavor the chicken could have had. Next time, I’ll make a special request for chorizo or pass on the meat as a whole.
The other entree I tried was the bean and cheese burrito ($6, with a side) — the most basic thing you could order at a Mexican restaurant. Seriously, it’s like the yardstick to judge a Mexican restaurant by. Cafe Tranquilo’s bean and cheese burrito is, like much of their other food, light. It includes seasoned white beans, scallions, cheddar cheese and a bit of sour cream. It was nice to see something besides refried beans in a bean burrito, but they didn’t have much flavor. The cheese and scallions compensated for the blandness of the beans, so it could also be said that the cheese and scallions overpowered whatever flavor the white beans could have offered.
A bowl of cucumber and jicama slaw tossed in chile spices accompanied the burrito. It was basically the same food as our appetizer (minus the mango, which was my favorite), but shredded. I wasn’t dazzled by the slaw; it was alright, but nothing to write home about.
Because no meal is complete without dessert, we ordered the tres leches cake to top off our meal. I was a little disappointed when I found out they no longer serve bunuelos (crunchy tortillas coated in cinnamon and sugar) even though it is listed on the menu. The cake was good, though. It was spongy and not soggy, which is an issue one often encounters with tres leches cake. The whipped cream that topped it was thick and not too sweet. Still, something felt like it was missing. I think I just really wanted bunuelos.
Our bill came to just under $30, plus a tip, which is relatively manageable for two college students. It feels like the type of place you would go on a date, or to celebrate some big life event with a small group of friends or family. When I return to Cafe Tranquilo, I will likely try the fried fish torta ($9) for my entree and get the chips and guacamole ($7) for my appetizer.
The restaurant is open from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. and serves breakfast all day.
Location: 401 W. Clarendon Avenue
Star rating (0-5): ★★★1/2 (Downtown Devil dining reviews changed their scale from a 4-star scale rating to a 5-star scale)
Contact the reporter at alacasse@asu.edu.
