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Restaurant Review: No Translation Needed

Quality food transcends any cultural barriers at Doña Maria Tamales

It was a scene that proved particularly entertaining to a pair of Anglos whose command of the Spanish language is pretty much limited to "¿Dondé esta el baño?"

There we were at Wednesday night futbol at Doña Maria Tamales. The place was packed. Mexican TV was being piped in via satellite and the crowd was engrossed -- and uniform in their alliance. A few words from the announcer and there was a murmur of displeasure. Another few words and a happy roar. Two goals in quick succession and an absolute frenzy. We didn't understand any of it, but we couldn't help but notice that, along with their cervezas, the fans were putting away an impressive amount of food.

OK, so Doña Maria was authentic, but the question was, would the food translate better than the soccer game? Yes, indeed -- and it's food that's accessible even for those who don't know a baño from a barn.

Tamales obviously are the specialty of the house at Doña Maria (and a sign reminded customers to lay in their supplies for the Christmas season), so we'd have to try those, but first, an appetizer. The queso fundido con chorizo ($6.25) is a dish that appears on many a menu, but Doña Maria's version was our first clue that something special was going on there.

This is a simple dish; the name translates to "melted cheese" and in this case the cheese was queso blanco, which is mild in flavor. Spicing things up was a scattering of nubs of chorizo sausage. On the side were flour tortillas, though we could've chosen corn.

We've had this dish numerous times, but it's been a long time since we had a version as well-executed as this one. Melted cheese is always a tricky thing because the fat in the cheese has a tendency to separate from the milk solids, sometimes leaving you with a pool of grease. Add to that the nature of chorizo and you get even more grease.

Not at Doña Maria's, though. Frankly, I have no idea how they keep everything so well amalgamated, but they do, and the flavor contrasts and warm meltiness of the cheese (soothing on a nippy evening) made this a truly superior dish.

As I said, we had to try the tamales, and a tamale platter ($10.55) featured a choice of two, so we opted for the cheese and the chicken. The tamales were served in the corn husks in which they had been steamed and were impressive; we have to be impressed by anyone who can take simple masa harina and make something as tender and light as this. (Somewhere along the line, somebody may have used the float test, in which a little of the dough is floated in water to see if it's light enough.) They were filled with flavorful jack cheese, studded with just enough bits of green chile, which oozed nicely when our fork broke the tamale.

The chicken tamale wasn't quite as successful. Same light shell and a nice spicy sauce, but not enough of it, so the meat was on the dry side. Next time, we'd stick with the cheese and go for the pork tamale.

Which, as it happened, we sampled as well, on the enchilada-tamale plate ($11). The pork -- in a mild red sauce, as opposed to the green spicy sauce of the chicken -- was succulent, the sauce possessed of a nice deep flavor. We also chose a chicken enchilada, in which the filling was considerably more moist than that of the chicken tamale.

Both platters also included beans and rice, which were standard, though the rice was better than most.

The ancillary stuff was mostly in order, too: Chips were warm and crisp, salsa kicky enough without removing a layer of skin. Dinners include soup or salad and we'd suggest going with the soup; the salad was fresh and crunchy but just not real interesting. We chose the meatball soup and were served a broth of middlin' intensity with lots of vegetables and some tender meatballs.

Margaritas were very tasty and, to our minds, had a lot more tequila than usually used in margaritas around town; these packed quite a punch.

Service throughout was great, although our server seemed a little surprised that we didn't speak Spanish; we'll chalk that up to the size of the Wednesday night futbol crowd. Decor was clean and streamlined, but little touches such as Mexican cultural artifacts -- and even Christmas place mats -- made things interesting. That much attention to detail is always a good thing in a restaurant.

Oh, and as for that baño-from-a-barn thing: If you don't know, look it up. It could be dangerous. Especially after a few margaritas.

Las Vegas Review-Journal restaurant reviews are unannounced and done anonymously at Review-Journal expense.

The simple, streamlined decor at Dona Maria Tamales complements the complex dishes that come out of the kitchen.
Photo by Ralph Fountain.

Doña Maria Tamales
where: 910 Las Vegas Blvd. South (also at 3205 N. Tenaya Way)
phone: 382-6538
overall: B+
food: B+
atmosphere: B+
service: B+
pluses: Superlative queso fundido.
minuses: Chicken tamale that was a little dry.