Since Covid our restaurant outings have been few and far between. But we recently ate outdoors at a great Mexican restaurant after we visited the Salton Sea, El Pecado at the far-end of the Coachella Valley, in Coachella, California. "Pecado" is "Sin" in Spanish and the sign represents (at least to me) Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead and indicates they serve crafted Mexican food. Because gluttony is a sin I think the name is well deserved because when I eat there I become a glutton.
It had been a beautiful, sunny late January day and we were seated outside under some large umbrellas. I got a house-made blueberry lemonade which was freshly made lemonade with pieces of blueberry floating around in it and actually had a blueberry taste as well - very good.
First we got a bowl of tempura cauliflower bites: large chunks of cauliflower breaded and fried and sprinkled with cotija cheese and lathered in what I think was Frank's RedHot cayenne pepper sauce with a small side cup of a mayonnaise based cajun-type sauce. Bits of purple cabbage were garnish. Loved it, the cauliflower was soft and the spice was good.
Next we had chikibabi taquitos with potato. They had sour cream and guacamole flowing over and around them like leaking mudpots or cone volcanoes, a wonderful look. The taste was very mild, much better when adding some Frank's from the prior dish. It also came with picked carrot and onions, iceberg lettuce and red and green salsa. It looked wonderful, but was very mild and okay. It also came with beans and rice which were very good.
Next we got two each of three kinds of tacos. The best were the ones we tried first, calabaza or squash, I believe squash flower, grilled with onion, corn and salsa verde. These were amazing. I would drive all the way there for just those. Perfect size, perfect amount of filling, large enough to satisfy. Perfect taste, perfect in every way.
Finally we got rajas, or poblano tacos. They included onion, corn, sour cream, a white cheese and some purple cabbage garnish. The texture was incredible but I found the taste a little bitter - but that is poblano.
Yesterday we visited Corn Springs with Judy's brother Dave and his wife, Bonnie. We were driving through the Coachella Valley and did a detour to El Pecado. They were out of blueberry lemonade but had an orange drink with chia. I think it was even better than the lemonade.
I ordered nachos without meat, but added quacamole. The presentation was wonderful with a volcanic effect of green lava moving down the chips. The chips were very large and crunchy and the nachos were amazing. I would order it again. Lots of cheese and guacamole.
We also ordered the cauliflower bites again and they were as good or better. I also got the squash taco and a poblano taco again (I got one for Judy thinking she wanted one, so I ended up eating two). This time I preferred the poblano taco, by a long shot.
El Pecado is going to be on my visitation list. It is expensive but well worth it.
I had cheese empanadas on the second visit. They were delicious. Everything is so beautifully presented.
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