When a person leaves the U.S. states that border Mexico … well, one of your first issues in your new home is “where do I get my enchilada fix?”

This can be an issue in areas as close to Mexico as, say, Oregon and Utah … but it becomes a major issue in distant lands where Mexican culture, cuisine — and people — are thin on the ground.

Like, say, Abu Dhabi.

Tonight, we made a pilgrimage to the one resto in the capital with a reputation for having acceptable Mexican food.

“And how did it turn out?” you ask.

In context, fine. Great. (And that context would be “Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates; two SoCal natives who haven’t had Mexican for more than a year.”)

In comparison to Mexican food to be found anywhere along the border with the United States … not so fine. Middling.

OK, a bit of a disappointment.

Cantino Laredo is a U.S.-based resto chain headquartered in the Dallas area. It has locations (follow the link on the home page, if you wish) in two foreign countries — the United Kingdom and the UAE — but none in California, which is a little telling.

First, what to like about it.

–The sense of the Mexican resto experience. At least from the menu. Enchiladas, tacos, rellenos, flautas, carne asada, carnitas … Madre de dios!  We hadn’t seen those words on a menu since leaving Long Beach.

–Chips and salsa. This can never be underestimated. Mexican connoisseurs sometimes give one restaurante the edge over another because it has superior chips or salsa. In other situations where I have had Mexican far from Mexico, the chips have been bad or negligible (hello, Anahuacali, in Paris), and that can impact everything that comes after. These corn chips were warm, plentiful and replaced at no charge. A big deal in the far-from-Mmexico Mexican experience. And they came with three cups of salsa — two red and one green. It seemed quite an indulgence.

–Guacamole. The resto is known for it, and delivered nicely.

–A sort of North American feel to the place. (And Mexico is part of North America.)  Including the six U.S. Air Force guys in the corner booth celebrating a birthday — or just a night away from the Al Dhafra base, about 25 miles out of town.

–Authenticity with a bit of naughtiness to it. The carnitas was (by definition, I believe) pork. And the restaurant has an alcohol license. It is rare for any restaurant outside the major hotels here to serve pork or alcohol.

And what left something to be desired?

–The rice was local. Plumb and wet. Uh, no. Nothing Mexican about it. A key component in any Mexican meal.

–No burritos on the menu. Not that you would order a burrito in a once-a-year visit to a Mexican restaurant … but burritos should be available, yes?

–Most everything was a little under-seasoned. Which doesn’t make much sense, because much of the local-local food here is quite spicy. Almost dangerously so. (Indian, for example.) I would have liked the salsa to have been turned up a notch or two, and the sauces on the enchilada sampler plate I ordered were just plain tame.

–No mole? Seems as if you shouldn’t even open the doors of a Mexican restaurant if you don’t have any mole, and the Cantina was out. Hmm. And whole beans, instead of refried? This may reflect one of those “Tex-Mex vs. SoCal Mex” divides. But I missed my refried beans.

–The decor was “any chain resto anywhere” bland. Now, I don’t need pictures of bull fights or faux palm frond booths in my Mexican-food experience, but they might have made a teensy effort. A tricolor flag, perhaps?

So, at the end of the day?

It was worth going just to see enchiladas lying on a plate. After blowing through some genuine corn chops with legitimate salsa. And it was not particularly expensive.  About $27 (without alcohol) for the two of us.

In the cosmos of Mexican food, this particular Cantina Laredo store wouldn’t rate in the top 10,000 Mexican restaurants.

But in Abu Dhabi,  11,000 miles from Mexico?That was numero uno right there. I am fairly confident we will be back.