S G.
Yelp
Words cannot describe what a terrible experience I had at this cafe. I ordered a fresh puréed juice of guava, orange, pineapple, and mint. The juice tasted like an ordinary orange juice blended with espazote, without any tropical notes or mint detectable. So naturally I went to the bar to watch the drink making in person, request remediation, and offer suggestions. The battle to get a decent sprig of mint in a drink that was supposed to have mint was crazy, and a quick addition of a wedge of guava did the trick. I saw a procession of beautiful dishes, all cradled in consuelas, that looked flavor packed and expertly prepared. The first egg dish on the menu, which I ordered, stood out as an unappetizing plating of individualist components, a deconstructionist interpretation of British style eggs in the shell, dried melba toast instead of fresh corn tortillas, and a kindling of overcooked cold asparagus, as though a London chef from the 80s were transported into the Mexican establishment to mess with my meal. I sent that back to get a tempting dish another diner was enjoying. The other dishes around me looked flavor packed and expertly crafted. Instead of the dish I had observed, they brought me a bowl of cooking water with uncooked beans and a flavorless mess of submerged eggs. I could only surmise I was receiving a discriminatory experience because I was an American lawyer in receipt of an important message directed at my government. Perhaps I was to infer there were a flood of people of color requesting equitable treatment from my government, and that diplomatic huevos were required to keep the people of Mexico afloat to avoid some immigrastory quagmire? I left with food for thought, if not for digestion.