From Quality Branded, the folks behind Bad Roman, Don Angie, and others, this is a new, fancier Mexican restaurant with some twists. Some of them worked while others did not as much, which is unfortunate with the steep price point, but we overall enjoyed our meal. The service was very professional, whether it was the people in front, the waiter, or the rest. The waiter in particular was excellent, bringing out extra spoons as well as tortillas, as well as their hot sauce, which was citrusy and a tad sweet (I personally would have preferred more heat.) The inside is funky and is a bit dark, with three bars scattered around.
Speaking of the bar, the cocktails (or rather còctels) are mostly tequila-based, which isn't my usual preference as I prefer mezcal pretty heavily. Nevertheless, I ordered the Gorda for $18 with avocado-washed Espolon Añejo, lime, and Cointreau. It arrived slightly off-yellow as expected and was nicely balanced with a bit of sweetness, a slight bite from the añejo/Cointreau, and a little bit of lime. This was good and honestly worth the price. Others enjoyed their margaritas and spritzes.
To start, the group ordered one of their Machetes, in this case with black truffle and guava jam for $22. Machetes are uncommon here, and the closest thing by comparison would be a long crispier quesadilla. The guava jam was sweet but not too much, and the masa flavor was nice, but the black truffle flavor was a bit light. It was still nicely sized and plenty for the table, so I'd probably recommend it for a table at least.
As an extra, I ordered one of their Red Snapper Aguachile for $22 with passion fruit and toasted pine nuts. This was excellent, with some thick meaty pieces of good quality red snapper in a broth which had both a nice heat to it as well as some citrusy notes from the maracuya. The bits of tomato were a nice add-on, as well as the nutty pine nuts. This was very much worth it and one of the better fancier aguachiles I have had next to Claro in BK. Another person enjoyed two of the Dressed Big Rock Oysters with frozen margarita mignonette (each was $5.) One last person very much enjoyed their Queso Fundido for $22 with toasted sesame flambée.
For mains, we ordered two along with some sides. The better of the two was the Long-Bone Short Rib Quesabirria for $75. The dish is nicely presented with the server pouring on the cheese sauce, with some others coming around and pouring the consommé. The meat had a good texture with some tenderness, but it wasn't too soft, and there was plenty of meat to make tacos with the cheese flavor being mild. Speaking of tacos, the blue corn tortillas were solid, and as said, they gave more when requested. Said consommé was slightly salty as per usual and was pretty well flavored, though I wish there was some more heat, as this would have helped with the inherent saltiness. The dish also came with some sliced mango, which was a fun touch.
There was also the alright Pork Shank Carnitas for $65. The pork was massive, with the meat being very tender and falling off the bone. However, there was almost too much fat for my liking, and it didn't exactly remind me of carnitas otherwise, though I think it was partially because of the presentation, as normally, the fat and meat are chopped up together. The dish came with two sauces to help with the richness: an herbally one which reminded me a bit of a less spiced/oily chimichurri, and another one which was too sweet, which I think had pineapple as well as some other citrus.
Speaking of too sweet, I wasn't a fan of the Elote Brûlée side for $18 with cotija and pickled serranos. The dish was more of an esquites as the corn was off the cob (which is my preference,) but that was the only part I liked, along with the texture. Surprisingly for a dish like this, it lacked salt and spice, with there really being no hint of the cheese or serranos. This is usually one of my favorite sides, and I honestly have gotten tastier ones for $4/$5 on the street, as the sweetness just didn't work.
The other side dish, the Mexican Rice Tahdig, for $17 with crispy saffron crust, was a lot better. The rice had a nice texture and indeed reminded me of the Persian dish it's based on. The dish had a nice perfumy saffron flavor and was honestly worth it for the rather steep price point.
We got two desserts at the end, which were both very tasty. The Tres Leches for $18, with dulce de leche, was a fun spin. The dish has a nice presentation at the table, with the sauce being poured on top before the mold is removed. It wasn't overly sweet, which is a plus, and the texture was interesting, being almost sponge/bundt cake-like. There was also the Dark Chocolate Masa Torta for $14 with chocolate caramel sauce. The large slice of this dark chocolate cake had a pleasant light sweetness, mostly from the caramel sauce, and the chocolate was of good quality. The cake was moist too.
Out of characters. Upper 3/low 4 barely. read more