Sabor

It has, as you know, become a widespread practice for Mexican restaurants in this country to start meals with a basket of chips and a bowl (or two or three) of salsa and/or bean dip -- so widespread, in fact, that the practice actually has started to spread to Mexico, if you're interested in a little bit of coals-to-Newcastle trivia.

You'll get chips and salsa at Sabor, and they will likely be your first sign that this is far from a standard Mexican restaurant (which is in keeping with the "Cali-Oaxacan fusion" subtext). Because what's brought to the table is a good-sized platter, the chips actually crispy-fried strips of tortilla and freshly made, small soft corn tortillas, the salsas a springlike tomatillo, a feisty chile de arbol and a black bean. But wait! There's more: bowls containing roasted cumin seeds and roasted coriander seeds, and some fried plantains as well, for a bit of sweet among the mellow and earthy and spicy. Most of it was pretty self-explanatory, but at the suggestion of our waiter, we tried dipping some of the tortillas into the black-bean salsa and then into the cumin and/or coriander, and, yes, it was quite a spectacular explosion of flavors.

Well, OK then; we were on our way on an extremely positive note. Not knowing about the mega-lagniappe, we'd ordered Sabor Queso Dip ($5.25) and mango shrimp ($9.95) and were enamored with both, the latter for its simplicity, the former for its complexity. The shrimp had been sauteed and flamed with rum, but were notable also for their freshness and the fact that they were cooked perfectly, just firm enough. The dip was the familiar spinach with a not-so-familiar backbeat courtesy of Oaxacan and Gouda cheeses, rounded out by some mellow roasted garlic.

Coconut isn't an unusual flavor pairing for ahi tuna ($21), but this treatment of both most certainly was. The tuna had been simply seared and then topped by a multitude of large shavings of fresh coconut, tossed in a creamy sauce with roasted pepitas, or pumpkin-seed kernels. On the side: two scoops of rice enlivened by fresh mint, an unusual treatment in a Mexican restaurant and one that perfectly complemented the fish.

Sabor clearly has a way with fish, as we also found with the Dorado de Puerto ($18.50), simply sauteed mahi mahi with a fresh-fruit salsa that included mango, papaya, watermelon and more. Mint rice on the side worked again.

The closest thing we had to something we'd find in a more conventional Mexican restaurant was the California enchiladas ($13.95), filled with artichokes and chicken and served in a smoky red salsa with melted Gouda cheese, both a definite uptick from the standard red sauce and queso blanco.

Service throughout was very good. We were met at the door by a guy in chef's whites whom we took to be ... well ... the chef, and who clearly wasn't above greeting his customers and showing them to their seats, which is always a sign of a truly customer-friendly attitude. And then our waiter took over, and his manner was much the same -- affable and friendly, but well-informed and efficient.

It's been said that management styles filter down, and that's clearly the case at Sabor, because the excellent work that's going on in the kitchen reverberates throughout the whole place.

Las Vegas Review-Journal reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at 383-0474 or e-mail her at hrinella@ reviewjournal.com.