La Venganza de Maliche
https://lavenganzademalinchevalencia.es/en
Carrer de Borriana 47
46005 València
+34 963 32 87 44
One of the measures of a good Mexican restaurant is how it compares to those in Los Angeles. You might think that the real measure is restaurants in Mexico but we are not talking about perfectly authentic Mexican food.
It’s a bit like green beans. There are fresh green beans that are amazing steamed and served with a bit of salt and butter. That’s pure and authentic green beans. But there are also slow simmered green beans with a bit of onion and ham. Still green beans and both are great and both are authentic in their own way — just formatted a bit differently if you will.
As it is with Mexican restaurants. Non-Mexican Mexican restaurants are a bit of a different format and there is a format that we have come to expect — tacos, enchiladas, burritos, guacamole, chips, salsa and the like.
La Venganza de Maliche (Maliche’s Revenge) named for the Nahua woman from the who became known for contributing to the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire by acting as an interpreter, advisor, and intermediary for the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortes.
The decor is really fun with brightly painted cartoonish tabletops and caricature art hanging from the ceiling. Service is quick and really friendly.
The first impression is one that makes you hope that the food will be equally fun.
It is.
The guacamole was nice and fresh and quite chunky with small bits of red pepper and onion. Serve with super crisp tortilla chips that are clearly made in house. This is a generous portion for two people.
The menu has a lot of options but if you are looking for the standard to measure a great Mexican restaurant is tacos. Three tacos we ordered are tasty and almost authentic.
The first, a chicken taco, is very much like a slow cooked braised chicken stew with nothing else in the tortilla. This was great with the accompaniment of the chipotle sauce that they serve on the side with the meal but could be better with less chicken and served with a bit of lettuce, tomato or onion.
The pastor tacos are quite good and perfectly spiced, but a little bit dry and didn’t need the addition of the bit of guacamole. Again, the chipotle sauce was quite welcome here and completes the taco.
Mushroom tacos are definitely the hit with mushrooms and onions and cheese. They had a nice bright vinegar flavor. The taco is served with sliced jalapeño and a bit of guacamole that really made it amazing.
The chicken enchiladas with salsa verde are terrific and the best choice of our meal. It is a very generous portion of three chicken enchiladas Interestingly, this is a different chicken from the chicken goes into the tacos (and might go well in a taco). It is dryer and the bright salsa verde complements it quite well. The rice is terrific with a bright lime flavor and cilantro and then there is also a side of the very creamy “refried “black beans.
This is a great Mexican restaurant with some authentic (Los Angeles) bits such as the enchiladas, the guacamole and especially the salsas.