(I'm just gonna riff here, stream of consciousness, and qualify right off the bat that I'm not really a "foam and powder" restaurant kind of guy, so that you take what I am about to say with a "grain of salt").
Sometimes a food dish will photograph beautifully, truly artistically, but there is no big flavor payoff, (just an assembly of a bunch of a little of this, a little of that, with a beautiful presentation). Other times there is a huge flavor payoff but you really don't need to photograph it; examples: Indian curries or stews, big hunks of carnitas or maciza or barbacoa in the mercado.
Put lots of things together, well, you're gonna come away with pretty pictures. But what will it taste like? In the case of this place, the flavor profiles, for me, there were not any truly OMG moments. Just came away with respect and admiration for how lovely everything looked.
At the core, maybe think "Asian" but with some core Mexican flavors with the meats at the heart of several dishes (barbacoa for example) ingredients of the new world, I think? (I live in a town with hundreds of Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants, with their centuries of play with food flavors, and that is probably why I was underwhelmed, as opposed to the excitement these dishes might generate for someone in CDMX, not used to that).
The dishes here are very cuisine minceur. Fortunately, no one ingredient overwhelms, but at the same time, no dish's flavor profile is really memorable.
The OMG moments come from the ambience, the setting, the truly wonderful staff. But it is never a good thing when a person's thoughts while trying each dish bring up the thought of "emperor's new clothes", as one overhears the oohs and aahs from other tables.
The night I was there, they missed the target, respect to how sticky rice should be cooked and taste. (I kept thinking that I'd rather just have a perfect cha gio or banh xeo than this dish in front of me); (after I had photographed it in all of its prettiness). (Or even a quality spam musubi, with a really good sushi rice).
Ditto the shrimp crudo. Great photograph but I kept thinking of the portions of ceviche in the Coyoacan market.
Note: I know and acknowledge that the ingredients here are of the finest quality and are sourced from excellent sources. It is slightly unfair to look at the crudo here like a ceviche in Coyoacan. Quality versus quantity.
It's a great restaurant. The ambience can't be beat. The staff are wonderful. The presentation is as good as it gets. read more