Oyamel Cocina Mexicana

Coming to Oyamel was definitely a great experience. The service was wonderful and the setting was beautiful, specifically dedicated to Valentine's Day which gave it a nice touch. I love guacamole and I must say the chips and guac that we had to start were delicious. The guacamole was SO fresh and had a little spicy kick to it which I greatly appreciated. After this, we enjoyed a few courses including the ceviche will scallops and pineapple-habanero, the potato fritters, slow-cooked pork belly fritters and the slow-cooked pork ribs. By far, my favorite was the ceviche. It was the perfect balance of flavor, acidity and spice. Truly delicious. The chocolate cake to end the night was also pretty amazing.

Pros: took a group of 10 with no weird policies surrounding it. Friendly staff, yummy complimentary chips, takes InKind appCons: not authentic Mexican if that's what you're seeking. And on this visit, the service was very spotty. No one took our order it ANYTHING for 40 minutes. We got water and chips but didn't get to start putting in other drinks. We did have some people arrive late but those who had arrived in time did want to start on coffee and cocktails.

This review reflects my experience dining out with celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that requires me to maintain a diet free of gluten (including cross contact).SERVICE: 3/5 starsDRINKS: 4/5 starsFOOD: 5/5 starsAMBIANCE: 3/5 starsVALUE: 4/5 starsOVERALL RATING: 4/5 starsOn Sunday, friends and I brought our book club to Oyamel for brunch. Our nine-person party was seated as we arrived at my favorite location in the restaurant--a large, round table in an alcove off of the main dining room. Our server greeted the first of us who arrived, providing us with water, a separate allergen menu (when I noted that someone in our party had celiac disease), and complimentary tortilla chips.Then... Our server disappeared. As the remainder of my book club trickled in over a 30-minute period, we waited for service (with lots to discuss about this month's book selection, thankfully). Finally, nearly 40 minutes after the start of our reservation, our server returned to take our food and drink orders.For brunch, I had half a basket of those amazing tortilla chips and two tacos. Oyamel has a fryer free of gluten located downstairs, from which they serve chips to diners with celiac disease; the chips from the safe fryer were excellent (though a touch too salty). To accompany my chips, I had the pollo a la parrilla (chicken) and carnitas (pork) tacos; both were decent--overflowing and served on corn tortillas. I did not experience any side effects from cross contact in the two days after eating brunch.As our server took our drink orders concurrent with our food, we only had time for a single beverage. I had a classic mimosa, which was served in a white wine glass. It was a large pour, contained fresh sparkling wine, and tasted as expected.To close our tabs, the server kindly provided individual checks, which were payable through the inKind app. No automatic gratuity or service fee was applied to our checks.While the gap in service prevented our brunch from being a five-star experience, I will return to Oyamel as I know I can eat there safely. Hopefully without such a long wait for drinks next time!

Street Parking. About a few blocks walk from Chinatown Gallery Metro.The restaurant was kind of full when we arrived, Later Monday evening.We ended up sitting at the bar.The best part of our stay was the table chips and salsa! The chips were fresh, salsa had the right amount of spicy!Our entrees were more like tappas style plates. The food was just okay. For over $22+ more plate, they were less than desirable.I would not recommend coming here to eat and be full, but rather, come here for a night cap or a drink before a nearby event

Came to Oyamel for D.C. Restaurant week and let's just say Oyamel is all style, little substance. The vibe is cute, and the decor is aesthetically pleasing, but the food is underwhelming for the price. Some highlights: the salsa is smokey , and the tortilla chips taste homemade. The pomegranate margarita is sweet and good. Be warned the sea salt foam is just that and is SALTY!The Caesar salad is creamy, refreshing, and has a nice anchovy kick. The soup is flavorful, creamy, and spicy, packed with avocado. Plus you get a large portion! The meatballs are the real winner, fall apart tender and melt in your mouth good. The mushroom quesadillas were liked by someone in my group but were my least favorite. The verde chicken was tender but gave Costco rotisserie vibes.But let me tell you...the tacos.. were a disaster, bland and one dimensional. You also only GET ONE as an entree. Could have at least been given two for the price. The tres leches cake was drenched in alcohol. The pineapple tasted like it had been soaking in rum for months. Ice cream was the only saving grace.Service was also an issue. Waiters tried to take our plates twice before we were done. Had to stop them both times. Oyamel was worth half of what we paid at best. Skip it unless you're just here for the aesthetic!

I went here a couple weeks ago and tried their vegetarian tasting menu! It was delicious and a lot of food! I had to take a couple dishes home but it was definitely worth it. Rich and very flavorful. The service was a bit slow - almost took about 2/2.5 hours for the whole experience but the server was very informed. Otherwise, the place is generally nice. I would have preferred a quieter space to eat but the food was definitely a must try!

For a Michelin bib restaurant, my expectations were high and I'd say they were met about 80% of the way.[Food]-Chips and salsa: first round free. Good salsa. Solid chips-Ceviche: fresh, delish, I wanted more-Tacos: we got a beef, chicken, and pork one. The beef one was the best. The chicken and pork ones were surprisingly okay -Tres Leches: really good. Comes with pineapples that went surprisingly really well with the tres leches[Service]-Fast, friendly, attentive[Ambiance]-Really busy. There were people everywhere. They even busted out some standing tables. -Really loud. See previous point.

Sadly I didn't document all of the menu items from the special menu that I experienced on Valentine's Day at Oyamel. I regret that I didn't now that I'm finally sitting down to write this review.What I can tell you and what I can remember in particular is that I ordered scallops dishes for my first two courses. The first of which was a take on a scallops ceviche that had the most perfect first bite punch of flavor I've probably ever experienced at a restaurant.What I thought after I bit into it was "this is the type of flavor you pray for with small plate/tapas style restaurants." You hope and pray that the plates will have so much flavor that even though the quantities may be smaller than a traditional "American" restaurant - you'll still feel fully satisfied. And this was my experience of that first bite. It's very hard to describe how satisfying that dish was, and it happens to be the only dish that I got a photo of that night (see below). So if you ever have an opportunity to order a scallops based ceviche at Oyamel, do yourself a favor and do so.The second scallops dish I had (maybe a daring or stupid choice given that the dish could have ended up tasting too similar to my first). Luckily and thanks to the skillful chefs, this was not a problem. A totally different flavor profile than the first dish, but equally flavorful and satisfying. Much less sharp and spicy than the first course, but still quite tasty.If I remember correctly, my third course was a heads on prawn dish with the spiciest sauce I've ever tasted short of a Thai restaurant's "not recommended for novices/tourists" version. It was borderline too much (even for me), but I handled it. What I'd caution is that you should fully believe any menu description at this restaurant that indicates that the dish is going to be spicy.The fourth course from what I remember was a strawberry "soup" dish (an obvious playful take on Valentine's Day colors in particular). It was beautifully done and presented (as were all of the dishes actually). And the flavor of the dish was as deft and light as the previous course's was "almost" too heavy. It was an amazing complement to both the previous courses and to the other dessert offering, which was a chocolate dish if I remember correctly. I also remember thinking "if I could take this strawberry soup home with me and add it as a "topping" to the gluten free Torta Caprese that I'd made for myself for my birthday weekend then I'd have a literally perfect dessert (or just overall) dish."The overall menu was fantastic and struck very few if any wrong notes. My group of 7 had absolutely no complaints. This restaurant is always worth booking a table in my humble opinion. Enjoy it.

Bump it up a star from my last review. I went for restaurant week dinner and as a vegetarian here is what I got. The table chips had some spice on it I didn't like. I saw on their website that they charge you for a refill?! Ensalada Remolacha - improvement from last time, no longer a whole plate of beets but a beet salad - enjoyed.Quesadilla Hongo - It was delicious and the star of the meal!Col de Bruselas estilo San Quintín - my friend go this and we both agreed it was terrible. The chile de árbol sauce was too vinegary, we couldn't finish the whole plate of brussels sprouts. Meanwhile when I get the brussels sprouts at Zaytinya nothing is left.Frijoles Charros - a whole plate of beans with pieces of mushrooms, completely uninteresting, looked like dog food. Pastel De Tres Leches Con Piña - the cake was small but delicious although I didn't notice it said rum so that was unexpected since I'm doing Dry January.Jericalla - Oaxacan chocolate custard - looked amazing!To drink I got the passion fruit fresca, normally I don't like their agua frescas as it just tasted watered down but this one they did right. Unfortunately they are still using those annoying paper straws, there are new advances, get an olive oil straw. Also why did I get a long straw for a short cup?

I hadn't been back to Oyamel for a while, but decided to have brunch here on Sunday. Wow, I was blown away by how great and rather reasonably priced Oyamel is! Made a reservation for 1 pm and the dining room was super busy, but we were seated immediately and started with a margarita and Mexican IPA.The menu is pretty expansive with some great traditional Mexican dishes. We started with the guacamole, ahi tuna ceviche (I know this is more of an American take), and the mushroom queso fundito. The guacamole was excellent, prepared fresh and just the right amount of spice. I couldn't believe it was only $16 when Guapo's charges $20. The ceviche was super fresh and while not the traditional mexican style I prefer, it was quite enjoyable and the flavors complimented the richer nature of the tuna. The queso fundito was great and mushrooms and peppers were indulgent. I could eat those all day.For my entree I went with tacos...the fried fish and the cocinita pibil. The fish was my least favorite as I thought it was a bit fishy and too heavy breading, but the pork taco was outstanding...very juicy, not too fatty, and just hit the spot.Overall, we had a great brunch and really enjoyed ourselves. Service was very friendly and attentive and I'm glad they are on InKind which made paying so easy. I'm so glad we decided to try Oyamel again and would definitely go back!