We ate our last dinner in Oaxaca at El Destilado, and I'm glad we did. It was a great way to end…read moreour trip. El Destilado offers a few options: a 6-course meal and a 9-course meal. (They also offer a bar menu with snacks and drinks on their rooftop if you're not up for a whole tasting menu situation.)
We did the nine-course menu, and we couldn't resist adding on the drink pairing. I can usually pass on a drink pairing, since they can be really expensive and I feel pressure to keep up. But El Destilado's drink pairing was too varied and unique to pass up! Each of our nine courses came with very different beverages - two cocktails, two glasses of wine (the wines were great natural wines, but I kind of wished they offered Mexican wines; I think there are some really incredible natural Mexican wines being made now!), one craft beer (brewed in Mexico), one sake (brewed in Mexico, the first Mexican sake company), one pulque (made in house; it was fantastic), and one port (with dessert). (I think I'm missing one! I believe there were 9 - one for each course. Maybe the last one is the little bottles of mezcal they gave us with the little dessert snacks as our last course?!)
I often worry that the portions of a tasting menu will be too large, and I won't be able to enjoy the meal. But I really enjoyed El Destilado's portion sizes and progression. Our first course was a plate of three small snacks (tiny versions of Oaxacan dishes), and many other courses were very light (a tomato/vegetarian dish, a single ravioli in a bowl, a raw fish course, a cooked fish course, a shared main)... It was a smart way to serve a lot of great dishes without your guests filling up too fast! I think my favorites were the quail main, the foie course, the seafood courses, and the snack course! Overall, the food was all really good - modern takes on Oaxacan dishes and flavors. Fun and beautiful without losing focus on the flavor.
The service was top notch (felt so welcome and comfortable and our server went out of her way to explain every course and beverage pairing) to us while still giving us time to enjoy. They can do service in Spanish or in English. The restaurant is beautiful and yet still understated for a tasting menu restaurant.
It's on the pricey side. But it was my favorite of the pricey side meals we had. It was interesting and delicious and exciting, and I'd absolutely return to eat there again.