Ericandblueboy Posted April 23, 2018 Share Posted April 23, 2018 I can get decent tacos at Bamba. Is there a high end interesting Mexican restaurant in DC (some place that isn't relying on fajitas, enchiladas, table side guac, or tacos to draw in business)? Some place that might actually draw non-gringos? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRJ Posted April 23, 2018 Share Posted April 23, 2018 Non-gringos go to Hyattsville. Best Mexican in the country. But it's not high end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweaked Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 City Paper: Taco Beef: Chefs Are Elevating Mexican Food, But Diners Still Quibble About Prices Article says Victor Albisu's new upscale Mexican restaurant, Poca Madre, should open in May. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simul Parikh Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 That article is more troof... Everyone complains if brown people's food costs too much (even those same brown people complain, i.e. my mom - "HOW CAN THEY CHARGE $13 FOR SAAG PANEER?? WE'RE GOING HOME!!; me complaining about Masala Art's prices"). Heck, hand pulled Chinese noodles or dumplings in the US are $4-6, but handmade Italian ravioli is $18-20, and nobody bats an eye. The minute some Chinese place starts charging that price, the 1-2 star reviews will come on out ... I got the greatest tacos ever in DF, my favorite was a barbacoa with consomme. Those were 40 cents each, with legit fresh made tortillas and incredible braised meat. If I could get one of those for 10x the price in DC, I would go every week. Cheaper than a flight to DF. Legit mole sauce takes hours and hours, even days to make, and people will bitch if they have to pay $32 for it. So, we get shitty mole with way too much cocoa and no depth/complexity to keep it at a certain price point. Most Indian restaurants don't make their own paneer or grind their own spices, because how is a place that looks like Kohinoor Dhaba gonna 'splain $25 goat curry. Anthony Bourdain, who's typically right about everything... This feeling resonates in the wider food world. When asked about Mexican food on a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” in 2016, Anthony Bourdain called it “the most undervalued, underappreciated world cuisine with tremendous, tremendous potential.” “I think we should pay more attention to it, learn more about it, and value it more,” he wrote. “This is frankly a racist assumption that Mexican food or Indian food should be cheap.” One of the true "value" foods that is at a really high level is Korean food. With the banchan, exotic spices/seasonings, huge portions, I'm typically super satisfied with the food. I bet that's the next one that's going to explode, with high end places and subsequently people complaining about what a ripoff it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ericandblueboy Posted April 25, 2018 Author Share Posted April 25, 2018 In this case, people are just stupid, not necessarily racist. Case in point, Gringos can have excellent and cheap Mexican food in Mexico but they end up at Senor Frog paying American prices for bar food. Low prices are encouraging the lowest elements of society to eat out and then complain. In the mean time, you still can’t get really good interesting Mexican food in D.C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simul Parikh Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 Espita is the closest thing you're talking about... like in comparison to a Rick Bayless joint, or Broken Spanish or whatever. Just accept DC does not have good Mexican food (tiny proportion of Latin American immigrants) and go to Chicago, Houston, LA. I don't think the same person that loves barbacoa on the street goes to Senor Frog's ... I think the Venn diagram overlap of the people that enjoy both is a sliver... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 13 hours ago, Tweaked said: City Paper: Taco Beef: Chefs Are Elevating Mexican Food, But Diners Still Quibble About Prices Article says Victor Albisu's new upscale Mexican restaurant, Poca Madre, should open in May. I'm not sure about the specifics of Poca Madre, but this town needs upscale Mexican, and Albisu is probably the person to do it - Davila-Boldin could have, but she's back in Chicago now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zgast Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 35 minutes ago, Ericandblueboy said: In this case, people are just stupid, not necessarily racist. Case in point, Gringos can have excellent and cheap Mexican food in Mexico but they end up at Senor Frog paying American prices for bar food. Low prices are encouraging the lowest elements of society to eat out and then complain. In the mean time, you still can’t get really good interesting Mexican food in D.C. Agree with most of this with the exception that some of the things we characterize as street food really are a fundamental (and wonderful) part of Mexican cuisine. Don't dismiss the taco! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 12 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said: In this case, people are just stupid, not necessarily racist. Case in point, Gringos can have excellent and cheap Mexican food in Mexico but they end up at Senor Frog paying American prices for bar food. Low prices are encouraging the lowest elements of society to eat out and then complain. In the mean time, you still can’t get really good interesting Mexican food in D.C. [Eric, nobody thinks the human race is any more stupid than I do, but could you please be a little more ... I don't know ... "delicate" with your language? You're a very smart guy, and I agree with everything you say here, but you're going to scare off new members!] Just to be sure to address your specific question: Are you requesting upscale Mexican in just DC, or all-around the Beltway? I don't think your reply wiil matter much, but it might help some people in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zgast Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 59 minutes ago, Simul Parikh said: I got the greatest tacos ever in DF, my favorite was a barbacoa with consomme. Those were 40 cents each, with legit fresh made tortillas and incredible braised meat. If I could get one of those for 10x the price in DC, I would go every week. Cheaper than a flight to DF. Legit mole sauce takes hours and hours, even days to make, and people will bitch if they have to pay $32 for it. So, we get shitty mole with way too much cocoa and no depth/complexity to keep it at a certain price point. Most Indian restaurants don't make their own paneer or grind their own spices, because how is a place that looks like Kohinoor Dhaba gonna 'splain $25 goat curry. I dunno - I've found some pretty good tacos in the DMV. They might be in a gas station, but I'd still drive to get there and eat outside. If you find great mole, please oh please let me know where. When Gringos & Mariachis first opened, theirs was good. I've stopped getting it, though. The mole at Maya in NYC was excellent, which is why it's frustrating that his DC places just can't match that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ericandblueboy Posted April 26, 2018 Author Share Posted April 26, 2018 On 4/25/2018 at 12:13 PM, zgast said: Agree with most of this with the exception that some of the things we characterize as street food really are a fundamental (and wonderful) part of Mexican cuisine. Don't dismiss the taco! Not dismissing tacos st all. In fact, I’m glad of the recent taqueria explosion around d.c. that I don’t have to drive very far to get some very good tacos. On 4/25/2018 at 12:14 PM, DonRocks said: Just to be sure to address your specific question: Are you requesting upscale Mexican in just DC, or all-around the Beltway? I don't think your reply wiil matter much, but it might help some people in the future. The metro area. I checked the menu of every restaurant on Open Table for the metro area and didn’t find anything overly exciting. Oyamel is probably the most interesting but they’re completely booked for Cinco de Mayo. I was going to treat the kids to some chapulines, maybe some other day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finatic Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 Oyamel, Jaleo or China Chilcano (although the last one is an odd mixture of Mexican and Peruvian cuisine, but tasty all the same). All run by Jose Andres and within about one block of each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted June 1, 2018 Share Posted June 1, 2018 On 4/25/2018 at 12:11 PM, DonRocks said: I'm not sure about the specifics of Poca Madre, but this town needs upscale Mexican, and Albisu is probably the person to do it - Davila-Boldin could have, but she's back in Chicago now. Just saying ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rieux Posted June 2, 2018 Share Posted June 2, 2018 On 4/25/2018 at 11:42 AM, Simul Parikh said: Espita is the closest thing you're talking about... like in comparison to a Rick Bayless joint, or Broken Spanish or whatever. Just accept DC does not have good Mexican food (tiny proportion of Latin American immigrants) and go to Chicago, Houston, LA. I don't think the same person that loves barbacoa on the street goes to Senor Frog's ... I think the Venn diagram overlap of the people that enjoy both is a sliver... Just to note, this is not correct. Let’s not lump all of Latin America together. Just like all of Africa isn’t the same, and India isn’t Sri Lanka or Pakistan DC has the largest Salvadoran population in the US, many other Central Americans, and large Bolivian population. These countries, however, are not much known for cuisine, and even the famous foods like pupusas from El Salvador, or the breakfast tamales and spreads you get in Guatemala are not that exciting. What DC doesn’t have is a large Mexican, Argentinian, Colombian, Puerto Rican, or Peruvian population - the Latin countries known for food. Although you are seeing more and more arepas and empanadas, which means that the few Colombians, Venezuelans, Uruguayans, and Argentinians are bringing some tastes of home out to market. Taqueria los compadres in mount pleasant remains very good for traditional Mexican but it is not fancy. Although most of the best food in Mexico is not to be found in fancy places. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ericandblueboy Posted June 2, 2018 Author Share Posted June 2, 2018 As an example of what I consider interesting, I'm posting the menu from a restaurant that I went to in Playa Del Carmen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rieux Posted June 2, 2018 Share Posted June 2, 2018 I would also consider this to be an interesting, and somewhat traditional pan-Mexican menu. I would kill for some of these dishes up here. I usually only get these at parties at the houses of friends. You might look into the various cooking classes and dinners held at the Mexican Cultural Center. Pati Jinich hosts several tables a year (they sell out quickly) celebrating regional cuisines of Mexico with excellent guest chefs. http://www.instituteofmexicodc.org/pati.php Also, if you sign up for their event list, sometimes there are other dinners you can attend. If you ever can attend an event there catered by their chefs, go. The food is espectacular! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferris Bueller Posted June 2, 2018 Share Posted June 2, 2018 Oyamel continues to be a decent, consistent Mexican option - going tonight and will partake in their tequila options prior to the CAPS game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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