Jeff S.
Yelp
Had been wanting to come here for a while, seeing all the good press and the mention in the Michelin guide. Unquestionably, it lives up to its reputation as one of the best Mexican food spots in Orange County. Rarely have I had food this tasty and it brought up many memories of a trip to Oaxaca a few years ago, where every dish was seemingly better than the last, and you couldn't go wrong with whatever you ate where ever you went.
We had a reservation and arrived early, and were immediately seated at our dog friendly table on the sidewalk. Staff was warm, friendly, and sincere. Service moves at a relaxed pace here, and that was fine with us, since we were there to enjoy the food.
We started with the Chicken Mole Tostadas and the Empanadas de Viento. The mole sauce and generous portion of chicken bathed in it was served on a crispy, small tostadas, decorated with radish, queso fresco, cabbage, and crema. The mole was mildly sweet and just right on the heat if you like it low. Some liberty taken there with the title of empanadas but they were fantastic anyway. Instead of your traditional fried or baked dough turnover, these were made with a tortilla that through some magic I don't know, was made to puff open just perfectly creating a large cavity. Inside, it was filled with shrimp, nopales, green chorizo, queso fresco, and tomatillo salsa. Nice bit of heat on these too.
The pozole verde was a deep bowl of seriously green caldo, a generous number of clams, shrimp, hominy, radish, onion, and avocado, topped with a generous pile of greens including rocket and perhaps watercress. These wilted nicely into the stew. The steak burrito was a huge thing filled with guacamole, rice, beans, cheese, crema, and served with a tangy sweet red sauce.
All the portions here are a great value-three portions of the appetizer-what a deal! Hearty main dish portions, even better.
Finally, we finished up with the chocolate churros with hazelnut ice cream and cajeta. 4 round churros, hot out of the fryer and seasoned with cinnamon and sugar, with a nice bowl of cajeta for dipping. The ice cream was more of a milk ice cream with pieces of hazelnut, very good flavor but not what I was expecting for hazelnut ice cream. In any case, it was great.
Expect to spend about $40-$50 a person here without drinks. Service was very relaxed and they first took our order for appetizer, and once we were done we ordered our main plates. Same for dessert. I'm sure if you asked they would speed it up a bit, but it was fine for a relaxed and easygoing experience. I would go back without hesitation, and this one stays on my keeper list. Now I just have to check out the Tustin location.