Basically the difference is as great as your favorite restaurant is from a fast food joint. High-end Mexican food is brightly colored, flavorful and subtle. If you must, you can still get dishes that will burn your taste buds off, but mainly it's a very enjoyable and approachable cuisine. It's a good alternative, when you feel the need for something a bit different, but you still want to enjoy great food.

After a recent visit to Ole Mexican Grill in Cambridge, I was very impressed with the concept. As a devotee of Tex-Mex and a lover of a good chili, I was more than pleasantly surprised by Ole Mexican Grill and Chef Erwin Ramos. The food was subtle, very tasty and spices were used to enhance flavors rather than blast them. I really liked some of the vegetable dishes and, overall, the food presentation was wonderful.

Ole Mexican Grill is a bit hard to find. It's tucked around a corner off Cambridge Street. They do have parking and you can't miss the distinctive pink color of the building. Step inside and you are welcomed by a friendly staff, a bustling and busy dining area decorated with a whole load of Mexican artifacts.

Our dinner started with some of the Ole Mexican Guacamole. This is made at your table-side and is absolutely brilliant. It is so fresh that you suddenly realize just what you have been missing with prepared guacamole. No wonder it has won numerous awards. It doesn't hurt that the preparation is a little theatrical either.

Erwin chose appetizers for us and he came up with a great selection from the menu. We enjoyed a sampler plate, Botana Mexicana for two and Sopes Suritdos. This was a set of small crisp Masa boats filled with various fillings including pork, plantains and guacamole. Accompanied by a wonderful Margarita, these “tapas” sized sampler dishes are a great way to try a number of different tastes. They won't fill you up too fast or cost a fortune. That's another point, for such beautifully prepared and presented dishes, prices at Ole Mexican are very reasonable.

The menu features a good selection of entrees and I was delighted with my duck, Pan Con Mole Negro. It had a delicately spiced sauce and was cooked to perfection. My companions enjoyed a pork dish, Carnitas Tacos. This was very tender and full of flavor. The pork was accompanied by hand-made corn tortillas and grilled blood orange-pineapple salsa with a jicama relish.

We lingered over coffee and dessert while the place became steadily more crowded as the evening progressed. There's a very swish new dining area in the back of the restaurant that filled up as the front area became busy. There is also a bar area that offers appetizers and drinks for those who prefer not to sit at a table.