Bee F.
Yelp
Maa-a-aan, I really don't like doing reviews like this, but, especially considering the stellar ratings, I feel like I have to say ... something.
I had the Costillas de Puerco and she had the Tamal Oaxaceño plus chips and salsa. You can tell from the order, we were jazzed at the idea of some real Oaxacan mole! Her dish had the mole negro and mine was more a mole coloradito. Things were looking pretty good during unpacking, really attractive... looking.
Unfortunately, the dishes were only barely above room temperature. I know that some folks believe mole should be served warm, not hot, let's say 140F. Nick at Mi Mero Mole was a proponent. But this was more like 100, not a food safe temperature. Nonetheless, we dived in and hopefully will not regret it ;)
We were hoping for mole redolent of fruits, nuts and spices we had never tasted before, ... but what we got was only different from store-bought by being a bit more hot, not face-melting, but reasonably hot, enough to make me sniffly. My ribs were tough, not slow cooked until fork tender at all. Her tamale didn't even meet the quality of street tamales bought from abuelas pulling coolers down the streets of Houston, such a disappointment.
It's not bad food, it's just average, average, average. For us at least, why bother, better Mexican food is readily available, including better mole, or just get some La Costeña or Doña Maria mole sauce at the store, but try to simmer things for a few hours at least, covered in the oven or in a slow cooker, adding the mole an hour or hour and a half before serving and making sure the meat is falling off the bone tender.