RESTAURANT REVIEW : ‘Homemade’ Dishes Call for Careful Choices : Things can go wrong at Manny’s El Taco de Mexico Cafe in Nyeland Acres. But there are some delicious offerings.

I usually can’t wait to try a new Mexican restaurant. It is especially hard to resist one that boasts, as the menu at Manny’s El Taco de Mexico Cafe does, that all dishes are “homemade in our kitchen--daily.”

Even though I’d been driving past the Manny’s alongside the Ventura Freeway in Nyeland Acres, on the edge of Oxnard, for the two years it has been open, I’d never stopped in. There is a real down-home country bar next door--which you’d think would be an enticement in itself.

Now that I’ve eaten at the Nyeland Acres location a few times--the other Manny’s are in Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park and Moorpark--the “homemade” claim is giving me less comfort. It may, at least, explain why the quality of the dishes is inconsistent.

You can get a good chile relleno ($2.20), deep fried and spicy and oozing with cheese. Most importantly, the stuffed pepper is covered with a mixture of fried and seasoned sliced onions, bell peppers and tomatoes. This relleno isn’t just sitting there, drowning in a pool of red sauce, as they frequently are. And, the cheese enchiladas ($1.35) are excellent--firm and flat, the way I prefer them, and not puffy and soft.

One can’t say the same, though, for the sopes ($2.75), or for the soft shelled tacos of carne asada ($1), both victims of the same malaise--all that meat they’re so busy chopping behind the counter is overcooked and dried out. The tacos and the sopes are almost, but not quite, saved by generous layers of mild or hot salsa and lots of cilantro and chopped onions. But still, it’s a shame they can’t take it easy on the meats. Manny’s pork tamales ($1.35) suffer from the same problem--pieces of nondescript meat buried in a dry cornmeal masa.

They serve a lot of guacamole at Manny’s. And the quality is good--chunky, with just enough seasoning and chili spices ($2.50 side dish).

But don’t go away. They’ve got a dish of birria de chivo--roasted young goat ($5.95)--that’s a big, hot, savory dish, served covered with either hot or mild red sauce. Most goat dishes in this area come as a sort of stew, so it’s a nice change to get one that isn’t steeped in liquid.

Manny’s huevos rancheros ($3.25) may look greasy due to the oil in which the crisp corn tortillas are fried, but they are especially good, with eggs served appropriately over easy. What makes them distinctive is that they’re not sitting in the usual pool of enchilada sauce. They do come with sauce but, like the chile relleno, they are layered with the same fried bell peppers, tomatoes and onions, and the juices from the vegetables pretty much make up the ranchero sauce.

You can see that things can go wrong at Manny’s El Taco de Mexico, but with proper selection, they can also go deliciously right.

Details

* WHAT: Manny’s El Taco de Mexico Cafe.

* WHERE: 2125 Ventura Blvd., Nyeland Acres.

* WHEN: Open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

* HOW MUCH: Meal for two, food only, $7 to $22.

* FYI: 983-4015.

* ETC.: Beer and wine.