Casa Maya Mexican Grill: A Taste of Mexico on Central Ave.

The smell of Mexican food hit us as soon as we walked in the door of  Casa Maya Mexican Grill – we were immediately greeted by a friendly gentleman who quickly grabbed a couple of menus and led us to a table.  On a Sunday evening before the dinner rush it wasn't crowded at all: Some of the staff hung around the bar watching football on flat-screen TVs while others were serving food, clearing tables and taking orders.

However, the food and service at this quaint Mexican restaurant on the Central Avenue strip (that is technically Greenburgh territory) next to A&P shone brighter than any dim spots.

As soon as we took off our coats, warm salted tortilla chips and fresh salsa were in front of us.

Our waiter, Ruben, then introduced himself and took our drink orders; for my date a Negra Modelo and for myself a Chilean Santa Rita merlot.

After pondering over the appetizers, we decided to try the queso flameado with sausage. This fondue, served in a small crock pot with warm flour tortillas folded into quarters, was absolutely delicious. The sausage didn't overpower the cheese, of which there was a satisfying amount, and the poblano pepper chorizo sauce left behind a faint aftertaste on one's palate. Fondue in itself is always fun to eat and this Mexican-style version was no exception.

We also tried the flautas en salsa verde with chicken. While the chicken was tender, the flautas were a little cold, yet just crispy enough to still be enjoyable. They were served with guacamole, made with fresh garlic and avocados, which made up for the fact that the flautas weren't hot enough to be called superb.

After we ordered our main dishes, we commented on the torch lighting and Mexican-styled décor – clay pots, vibrant flags hanging from the ceiling, each branded with Casa Maya in big block letters, and cactuses sitting on the windowsills.

The tables were rustic – worn on the tops, ours was even amicably dented – with woven chairs accompanying them. I wondered where the restaurant got these tables that looked like they were 100 years old but were still, authentically enough, holding up.

As we listened to trumpets playing from the restaurant's speakers just loudly enough to be noticed, forks and knives clacked against plates and bowls while Casa Maya began to fill up and we eagerly anticipated our Mexican seafood feast.

I've never really had much Mexican seafood before, so ordering a slew of dishes with shrimp, oysters, squid, and fish was essentially taking a nosedive into unexplored territory.

Usually when a gringo like myself thinks of Mexican food, we conjure images of tacos, nachos, and quesadillas with an accompaniment of jarred salsa. I was about to be in for a very new (and very delicious) Mexican epicurean adventure, and so was my date. He said, "Oh my god, I can't believe I'm about to eat enchiladas with squid in them."

The enchiladas del mar arrived quickly, along with a huge bowl of mariscada and eggplant Veracruzana. Along with all of this came three gigantic plates of rice, refried beans, lettuce, sour cream and more guacamole.

Mariscada is a nuevo Latino dish of shrimp, calamari, red snapper, scallops, clams, and mussels served in a lobster consommé. The scallops were exactly as I prefer them – not fishy tasting and cooked just well enough as not to be chewy. The snapper was the centerpiece of the dish and maintained its consistency without falling apart into the soupy consommé.

The shell items had also taken on a rich flavor and the calamari were plentiful, tender and succulent. It was hard to tell that the consommé was supposed to taste like lobster, but then again, this was my first time having mariscada, so perhaps the lobster wasn't supposed to shine through anyway, although it would have been nice if it had.

The enchiladas del mar were served stuffed with calamari and shrimp, each succulent and cooked in a flavorful creamy tomato sauce. The tortillas tasted like they were made from freshly grown and husked corn and provided a great aftertaste that hung around in one's mouth without dominating the other aspects of the dish.

I also ordered the eggplant Veracruzana, one of Casa Maya's vegetarian dishes. The plate was layered with pan-fried eggplant – tender and flavorful and not at all greasy or soggy – along with onions, green olives, tomatoes and a topping of cheese. Bay leaves were present in flavor and also left behind in the dish but overall, this combination of flavors was one of the best ways I've ever eaten eggplant.
If you assume that, by this point, we were pretty full, you'd be right.

After making a small dent in this array of dishes, we brought home enough leftovers for both lunch and dinner the next day. We didn't touch too much of the rice and beans at the restaurant, although the Spanish rice was notably flavorful and well-cooked without dominating the other flavors of the spread and the refried beans tasted nothing like those you'd spoon out of a can. They both held up well for lunch the next day.

We decided to round out the night with a chocolate and kahlua tart, which wasn't quite what I'd think of as a tart, but delicious nonetheless. The cake was baked enough to be firm yet moist and chocolaty. An afterthought of Kahlua was just present enough to be known without overpowering the cake. Served with an artful display of strawberry sauce and powdered sugar, this dessert left us, literally, with a great taste in our mouths.

Casa Maya's few drawbacks – a less-than-clean table we ended up wiping off, for one – were easily forgotten because of its fresh, flavorful, and reasonably-priced food. The menu provides such a vast selection of dishes that you could go there again – and again – to enjoy their food and attentive, yet unobtrusive, service without emptying your wallet or having the same thing twice…although my date may want to have the enchiladas del mar again.

Yes, they were that good!