Agua Verde Cafe & Paddle Club   

If you think it's exotic that a cafe serving neo-Mexican cuisine also offers kayak rentals, Agua Verde poses a much greater irony than that: It is arguably the best Mexican food in Seattle, but the brainchild of two gringos who developed their love for this cuisine during kayak trips to Baja. The restaurant avoids the mistake made by so many Mexican joints: It doesn't dumb down the food for Puget Sound mossbacks. The heart of Agua Verde is its salsa bar, where the day's half-dozen fresh batches are available in little paper cups. Agua Verde's concoctions range from mild tomatillo-based green salsas to near-incendiary chipotle-tomato mixes, and all evince the obvious flavor clarity you can achieve only with fresh, top-quality ingredients. Although you can dip chips in them, it's far better to douse any of the dozen taco dishes, which are open-faced platters featuring highly original ingredients such as halibut, grilled catfish, and a barbecued lamb that's a passable imitation of the cabrito (goat) you'd find south of the border. Alas, not everything is perfect: Stay away from the posole for more flavorful options and the desserts are for the truly sweet-toothed. If margaritas are your poison, be sure to try the "tuna-rita," featuring prickly pear juice. If you're lucky enough to snag a table on the deck, overlooking the Montlake Cut, maybe you'll want to rent a kayak for an after- dinner paddle, too. -- Eric Lucas