I went to this relatively new fancier Mexican restaurant; which happens to also have another recently open location in Tribeca; around a week ago with one of my groups. The prices are a bit high but hey it's Tribeca and the flavors were overall solid with a more interesting menu containing dishes such as panuchos and fideo with a particularly good mole which is what they are advertising here mostly. The woman serving us was very friendly refilling waters whenever it was needed and put up with the person next to me and she was nice enough to even separate the checks at the end for our group of six as the place wasn't super crowded which was very appreciated. I didn't have a drink even though the cocktail menu looked delicious with most drinks being between $17 and $20 outside of $25 cocktail presumably using some fancy aged mezcal or tequila. It's nice to see a Mexican spot in particular with a lot of mezcal cocktails and I'd likely stop by for one of those and an appetizer another time. Another person had the banana old fashioned wish they thought was excellent. I started with the Panuchos Yucatecos with cochinita pibil, refried beans, pickled onion, and habanero for $18 which came with three reasonably sized pieces. Panuchos are uncommon here and you can kind of think of it as being an inside out version of a tostada with the beans inside instead of being on top. The pork was tender and delicious and there was a bit of sourness from the pickled onions and a little bit of spice from the habanero though I think there could have been a bit more heat which was a bit of a theme throughout the meal but I understand them not wanting to make dishes too well picante for the crowd. There was a salsa that was served though I'm not sure if this was with my dish or the other person's but it worked well with the panuchos.The only other appetizer ordered was the Trio de Quesadillas with melted Oaxaca cheese and seasonal vegetables which is normally $18 but they added steak for some reason so it was $28 I believe (she did warn it would be a lot more.) I didn't try it outside of the tender steak but he liked it and it came with two regular quesadillas and one made with blue corn which was a fun spin.My main dish was what they specialize, mole, which is available either as enmoladas or as pollo con mole. Enmoladas simply is enchiladas topped with mole sauce and is my favorite preparation for said sauce. In this case, this dish comes with your choice of chicken or vegetables, mole Xico, crema, cotija cheese, and refried beans and comes in at $28. Mole Xico apparently refers to a mole found in that town in Veracruz and is by comparison slightly sweeter. Said enomladas de pollo was delicious here and not too sweet with a light bit of bitterness from the chocolate and there was plenty of shredded chicken in there. I got it without crema and it was delicious and worth the price though I would say I prefer the more spiced variants of dark mole but this was well balanced. Another person got what I got and some of the others got the more standard Pollo Con Mole Xico comes with a piece of boneless leg and thigh along with sesame and a side of Mexican rice and refried beans and I'm not exactly sure which dish gives you more chicken though that dish might be more filling. The other two got the Enchiladas Verdes with chicken or vegetables, tomatillo salsa, crema, cotija cheese, and refried beans for $2 less. I tried a bit of their verde which was tasty and not too sour from the tomatillos though I preferred my sauce.For dessert, I had the Tres Leches Con Fresas or moist milk cake with strawberries for $14 which also had a whipped cream on top which tasted faintly of strawberries also. The portion size was fine and this was just okay. It was much less sweet by comparison than what I used to which is a good thing though I would say it was a lot less moist. I tried something else which was better which was the Pastel de Elote with warm corn cake and ice cream which is the same price. The cake had a good texture and there was some dulce de leche or something else on top to make it a bit more sweet. The ice cream on the side was banana I believe though from what I can tell from the other person ordering, you could likely switch it up for another one of the daily flavors but I'm not sure. There was also a special which was a chocolate cake which someone else enjoyed.At the price point, I prefer a few other spots such as La Contenta Oeste and Ruta Oxaca for instance but it was still good and better than some of the other fancier Mexican spots such as Empellón Taqueria. I'd probably go back here to try more of the unique small plates or maybe try another one of the main dishes as I would prefer not to pay the same prices for two tacos regardless of the quality. The space is nice, the people are friendly, and the food while pricey was still well flavored. Would go back. Low 4
Read More