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	*Accolades from The Dallas Morning News.*

RJ Mexican Cuisine 1701 N. Market St. Dallas, TX 75202 Phone: 214-744-1420 By LAWSON TAITTE / The Dallas Morning News In the very heart of the West End is an ambitious new place that takes us back to the time, some 20 years ago, when the area was first getting gentrified. Several restaurants of some culinary ambition opened back then, but over the years the trend has been toward franchises and watering holes. Let's hope that the folks who make it to the West End these days and wander into RJ Mexican Cuisine get past the more ordinary (and less expensive) things on the menu and find the really good stuff, of which there is plenty. The ambience is certainly an attraction: not your neighborhood Tex-Mex place but upscale without pretension. The terra-cotta walls are adorned with wooden fixtures that look like they came from a real hacienda, with some palm trees for color contrast. The big windows offer views of downtown skyscrapers and West End street life. The unusually large waitstaff is exceptionally welcoming and knowledgeable, too, but never intrusive. The service isn't always ideally polished, though. On one occasion the server left bread plates that had been used to share appetizers on the table throughout the meal. This isn't one of those places like Ciudad that works hard to be faithful to something authentically Mexican. RJ rather resembles the early Southwestern cuisine spots. There's an obvious debt to both true Mexican food and Tex-Mex, with some ranch, barbecue and more general New American influences as well. Chef Ronald Von Hatten has come up with some deliciously innovative things on almost every part of the menu, from appetizers and soups to plates that sound like (but sometimes don't taste like) Tex-Mex standards, as well as fish and steak specialties. Starters can be very elaborate, such as the ahi tuna. Hot-pink slabs of barely seared tuna enfold a mound of mango salsa. The edifice sits on a bed of marinated cucumber slices. Smaller mounds of a special guacamole (really an avocado mousse and painfully spicy despite the innocent pale green color) lie next to the big one. If that dish seems basically New American with a Southwestern twist, what about the gorditas de carne deshebrada? You seldom encounter gorditas outside down-home establishments catering to Mexican immigrants. This sophisticated version encases shreds of meat in discs of crisped masa dough with superb, if heavy, results. Zancas estofadas, which our attentive waiter on one visit recommended as his favorite dish on the menu, turned out to be a fat, meaty pork rib braised, then glazed in the oven. The waiter touted the barbecue version rather than the one in mole sauce, and its rich sweetness contrasted nicely with the delicate shreds of deep-fried onion rings that accompanied the dish. The zancas taste like something you might find at Fort Worth's Reata, but the house version of ceviche classico is more like the genuine thing you'd encounter in Acapulco: strips of pristine white fish and pieces of shrimp firmed up in their lime marinade, jazzed up but not overwhelmed by tomato and herbs, cushioned in enough greens that you can check off your salad requirements for the day. If those aren't enough options for a starter, the menu includes plenty of more conventional things such as various quesadillas, a full range of salads and some very interesting soups. The gazpacho, only $2.99 for a cup, tastes as fresh as a spring garden. We weren't as impressed by the creamy squash-flower soup at the same price. RJ offers just as many fascinating choices for a main course. Even among the "traditional" entrees, the sophistication is pretty impressive. Chiles rellenos come stuffed with chicken and mushrooms, a very tasty variation on the usual version. The tacos of pork and queso fresco , with the fresh tortillas crisped on a griddle, contain a real Mexican picadillo (shredded pork studded with raisins and almonds) that is the more usual stuffing for rellenos. The tart cabbage slaw that sides the tacos is delicious but packs a peppery wallop. Chef's specials tend to be more New American (and cost more). Some specials are more special than others, distinguished by a mark on the menu. One is the oddly named pescado "encornflecado" en salsa verde . Yup, the flaky, delicate fish has a crust crisped up by good old American cornflakes. The fiery tomatillo sauce on top, though, means that this isn't your grandma's version of pan-fried fish. Costillo del campo is a bigger, meatier beef version of the braised rib in the appetizer, one of the best treatments of short rib we've ever tasted, tender and rich and juicy to the bone. Among the specials sampled, only the tenderloin RV style seems a little ordinary, a couple of nice hunks of fillet cooked to order but with a sauce that bears little trace of the advertised horseradish and cilantro. The accompanying asparagus en croute, skinny spears whose stalks are wrapped in dough, then grilled, are the most interesting things on the plate. Some of the main dishes come with very garlicky mashed potatoes. Others feature pyramid-shaped mounds of a very subtle Spanish rice. A couple of elements here don't live up to the rest, particularly an array of desserts that sound better than they taste. Oh, the flan is creamy enough, and the cajeta apple tart tastes of real fruit. But they don't leave you feeling as excited. The selection of wines takes second place to the array of tequilas and beer, too. But maybe that's not a big fault in a restaurant where the incendiary power of chiles can sneak up on you in almost any dish if you're not careful. Published in The Dallas Morning News: 07.29.05

		*Kind Words from Dine Out Magazine*