My friends and I really enjoy Mexican cuisine, and when we heard about Casa Monarca, a “Mexican Restaurant & Tequila Bar,” at 2980 N Federal Hwy, Fort Lauderdale, FL, we thought we’d give it a try.▫️
Even though their Guacamole and Steak Burrito were total busts, (reviewed earlier), for some reason we decided to stay and try one more dish. Craving chicken, we went with the “POLLO POBLANO — Grilled chicken breast covered in our traditional mole sauce. Served with rice, refried beans & choice of flour or corn tortilla.” ($21 pre-tax/tip)
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“Mole” means sauce in the native Aztec dialect, and “Poblano” is a rich brown or red iteration that is made with chilis, fruits, nuts, seeds, and Mexican chocolate. While there are different types of moles, this version is said to hail from Puebla, (a/k/a Puebla de Zaragoza and Puebla de los Angeles), the fourth largest Mexican city; the birthplace of “Cinco de Mayo.” [Outside of Germany, Puebla is where Volkswagen operates it second largest manufacturing facility. From 1997 to 2019, it’s where more than 1.7 million VW Beetles were made.]
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You would expect this sauce’s sweet and spicy flavors to perfectly complement proteins, like chicken or beef. But not here. It was cloyingly sweet; overwhelming.
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And as far as the chicken was concerned, the poor thing was pounded to virtual oblivion, and was clearly over-cooked. It had a dry, stringy, chewy texture. A friend noted we could have purchased a rubber chicken from Amazon for a whole lot less. (And, in fact, a 3-pack will only run you about $11.00.) Given that we would have had a better time eating a plastic squeeze toy, this dish scored an “F.”
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(What they did to this chicken was truly fowl.)
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