Enrique's Mexican Restaurant - Bellflower

Today my coworkers and I tried out Enrique's Mexican Restaurant in Bellflower. I offered up Enrique's or Toko Rame as options. Both of these are on my list of restaurants to try and fairly close to our office in Compton. One of our PMs Rob, who apparently doesn't eat anything but burgers, buffalo wings and other American foods that will give you a heart attack, wasn't into the Indonesian option, so Mexican it was. Enrique's is a place you could easily drive by every day of your life and never notice. It's hidden away in the corner of a shopping center with a sign that almost blends right into the building. On walking into the restaurant, the first thing I noticed was how much smaller the place was on the inside than I expected. There's a large bar/waiting area that's pretty much a waste of space and a separate room where the tables were located. The place definitely wasn't packed and our party of 9 was seated right away.

I ordered the Chile Rellenos and Chicken Tostada plate, which was about $8, and enjoyed some pretty standard chips and salsa. The salsa was very fresh and tasty, but without much heat. The picture on the left shows some of the other dishes that were ordered. Look at the size of that burrito! It's about 2 fists worth of grub. Across from the giant burrito is the 3 taquito plate. Our token Mexican Oscar commented that the taquitos had marks where toothpicks were used to hold the rolls together. I don't know if this means anything at all, but he seemed impressed about it. Maybe that's how his dear old grandma makes them or something. For all I know, that's the only way to make them.




I started with the tostada, which was sort of a disappointment. It was okay I guess, but the chicken was a bit dry and not very tasty. I asked Oscar how you're supposed to eat a tostada.. by hand or by fork. He wasn't much help. I proceeded to heap salsa on the rest of my tostada to kick up the flavor. The rice and beans were similarly bland. Maybe that's the authentic way to enjoy beans and rice, but I want some flavor in there!

Luckily, the chili relleno saved the meal. And I have to say that it REALLY saved the meal. Next time I visit Enrique's, it'll be worth it just for the chili rellenos. I was amazed at how something that seemed so simple could taste so amazing. A perfect harmony of the smokey tangy red sauce, the spicy heat of the chili pepper, the smooth chewy cheese and the spongey flavorful fried batter just made every bite something to relish. This part of the dish made up for everything else that was missing. Everyone else enjoyed their meals also even though only a third of the giant burrito got eaten.

I'll have to visit Enrique's a few more times and try more of their menu to get a better idea of the place, but I will say that it's worth the trip for the chili rellenos alone. Simple and delicious.

Enrique's Mexican Restaurant
17244 Downey Ave
Bellflower, CA 90706
(562) 602-1070