Mundo, a charming place to see and be seen, offers plenty of menu surprises

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In a lifetime of just over a year, Mundo at the World Market Center in downtown Las Vegas has become a power-lunch hot spot. If there’s anybody who’s worth seeing, you’re going to see them there, in large part because of the restaurant’s proximity to the power corridors, in large part because of its ownership by political activist George Harris, and in large part because the food earns the restaurant its subtext, "a culinary haute spot."

I guess it follows, then, that Mundo gets pretty crowded at lunch. In the evening, the pace is a lot slower, which gave us an opportunity to truly relax and enjoy our food.

And what kind of food would that be? Call it upscale Mexican, Latin chic or whatever you want; what it really comes down to is dishes with Pan-American roots updated with sophisticated touches by a talented Mexican-native chef.

If that sounds both unusual and vaguely familiar, it might be because this is the same team that was behind the late La Madonna in the southwest part of the valley. Rumors were that that spot met its demise because of a rent dispute, and no doubt the power brokers are grateful for this much more convenient location, which has been a great addition to a downtown that is a little thin on great restaurants.

There are plenty of surprises on this menu. Chicken enchiladas ($18), for example, aren’t the usual red-sauce-and-cheddar proposition. Instead, they were sauced with an earthy (and pretty spicy) creation based on roasted tomatillos that tasted as green as its color. Chihuahua cheese, a mild, mellow queso blanco, balanced out the spice, as did a drizzle of crema fresca, and the thickish tortillas (that’s a good thing) had the texture of handmade.

Shrimp diablo ($30) sounded like it would be spicy — the "diablo" being a dead giveaway — but upon our inquiry, our waiter said he’d put the heat factor at about a four on a one-to-10 scale. We would have put it at more of a seven or eight (but you know how it goes; one man’s 10 …) but at any rate, the shrimp were large, firm and sweet, the sauce of assertive puya chilies fiery and made more so by the subtly smoky chipotle drizzle. Diablo, it was.

Much more user-friendly was our shared starter of queso flameado ($14), a mellow mix of goat and asadero cheeses with chunks of mushroom and tomato mixed in. It was served with warm tortillas, but it was so good that we scraped up the last of it with our spoons.

And ditto for the sweet corn tamale ($8) we ordered as a side, which arrived still in its cornhusk wrapping, piping hot and with a wonderfully coarse texture.

Service throughout was pretty good, but it seemed to fall apart at the end. Yes, we were talking, and maybe our waiter just decided to leave us in peace. Yes, it’s technically rude for a restaurant to bring the check before it’s requested, but in our experience, few restaurants follow that philosophy these days.

As we talked, we reveled in the kitschy, artsy interior of Mundo and the flickering candles and Mexican-style lights. It may get a little hectic at lunch, but in the evening, Mundo is a veritable wonderland, an oasis of great food and charm.

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