Cancun Grill is located in a shopping center in Miami Lakes. This is one of those "go-to" crowd-pleasers we usually visit as a group. Cancun Grill is NOT a limited-menu pseudo-Mexican place like Chipotle or Lime. Their extensive menu includes several regional specialties and all of your usual favorites. Everything I've ordered was well-prepared from a good recipe and well-chosen ingredients. On my last visit (June 15) I had the fundido con queso appetizer which was loaded with seasoned and grilled steak, grilled onions and a pile of warm tortillas. That appetizer was a meal, enough to wrap four decent servings. In the past I had the sopa de Azteca which was excellent and tasted authentic (having been to Mexico nine times I have a good idea about the food), for a changeup I ordered the sopa de Huasteca with chile pasilla but they weren't serving it that night. My daughter ordered the steak fajitas which was a large portion and typically served with onions and bell peppers--tender but not over-cooked. The beef was juicy and well-seasoned. I've had excellent shrimp there, and the fish tacos are delectable. One sign the place is good: there's a little dark-haired lady in a peasant blouse behind a short counter mixing, patting and warming fresh tortillas. BUT....BUT...I was horribly let down by the mole poblano. This is as close to Mexico's national dish as there is, and easier to find than chiles en nogada which is so Mexican the colors of the flag are represented in the dish. Cancun Grill's version of this incredible chicken dish was SOUR. Honestly, I've had mole poblano more times and in more places than I can count and I just love the combination of chiles, chocolate, cinnamon, raisins, almonds, pumpkin seeds and a million other ingredients. I've tasted mole poblano that was thin, thick, brown, red, sweet, hot but NEVER sour! That sour taste wasn't in the chicken, it was in the mole itself. I couldn't even manage a second bite and sent the whole plate back. Chef Cardenas ought to know better, there are no lemons or limes to be found in any mole poblano recipe I've seen or tasted. I'm not going to say YOU won't like it, but then, I'm a stickler. Reasonably priced, there's a kid's menu and the service is fairly quick. The place itself is festive, colorful, full of real Mexican handcrafts and noisy, especially when the mariachis crank up a soulful version of "Guadalajara." I really like this place, even more now that I know what NOT to order.
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