I came up for a weekend to visit a friend. We wanted a good dinner, so we hit the Michelin Guide, and found Oyamel. The menu leaned more Mexican Mexican than Mexican American, and it had some things I had been meaning to try, so...
Read MoreI came up for a weekend to visit a friend. We wanted a good dinner, so we hit the Michelin Guide, and found Oyamel. The menu leaned more Mexican Mexican than Mexican American, and it had some things I had been meaning to try, so we jumped on it.
Ambiance was awesome. Inside was embellished with lots of traditional Mexican decor. I can't go into detail, because we got a lovely seat outside in their Covid-era streetside outdoor patio. Weather was beautiful, so we were delighted.
Service was ok. It was actually painfully slow. The dude seemed very aloof. I don't have his name, and I wouldn't throw him under the bus anyway. Maybe it was a process flaw because of the outside seating? Something to consider.
But the food more than made up for it. Three stars for the service, seven stars for the food.
I started off with the Quesadilla Huitlacoche (Tortilla with melted Monterey jack cheese and Roy Burns Mexican corn truffles with a blend of tomatoes, corn and garlic).
I've been wanting to try huitlacoche for a very long time, and this was my chance. It was lovely. It was basically very mushroomy, smothered with cheese, pressed into three separate little quesadillas, perfect for sharing. Earthly, cheesy, with the bright green salsa served on the side.
Then I got a couple of tacos. I got two, the Pescado Baja California (Crispy masa tempura-battered seasonal fish with shredded cabbage, chile arbol mayo, Mexican crema and salsa Mexicana) and the Chapulines (The legendary Oaxacan specialty of sautéed grasshoppers, shallots, tequila and guacamole).
The fish taco was excellent. Expertly fried, a nice-sized filet with a lot of flakiness and juiciness inside. A nice crema and some fresh tomato salsa outside. I also really liked all these blue corn tortillas I was getting. The flavor is better than regular store-bought corn tortillas that we're all used to.
Then, it was time, after many years, I was face-to-face with the chapulines. I do not want to describe this mouth feel in too much detail, but if you curious at all about this taco, I would recommend it. The little crickets are fried to heck and are crispy poppable like popcorn. The shallots and the guac help with alternative textures. Definitely worth a shot.
Pulpo Negro (Grilled salsa negra marinated Spanish octopus served over creamy sweet potato, topped with an hoja santa chimichurri). This was sooo good. Octopus can be so tough, but they made it so tender. The deep salsa negra, the just sweet enough sweet potato, and the bright, herbaceous chimichurri, just so good. This was an A+++ dish.
Overall, wow, I could not believe our luck with finding Oyamel. DC has countless ethnicities of cuisines, and we found the best Mexican food I've had in a long, long time. So glad I came, you should also come here.
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