Elemental Dining

Tonight, Rick, Karen, Johnnie and I went to dinner at Oaxaca Restaurant (4773 E. Belmont). The building is unassuming and on a section of Belmont that I don't visit very frequently. Now I have a compelling reason to return to this part of town. What a great meal!The ingredients were high quality, the selection was diverse, and the preparation was perfect. Fatima, our waitress, brought us bowl after bowl of chips with a mole sauce and light sprinkling of cotija cheese to start the meal. The mole, with an almost cinnamon twist, was such an interesting change from a tomato salsa. Nevertheless, I was so fascinated with the menu that I actually didn't eat as many chips as I normally do . . . which was a good thing since the rest of the food was so amazing. In addition to horchata with melon, I finally decided to order a tamale to share with the table and a chile relleno for my dinner. The tamale came out quickly, wrapped in what looked like a plantain leaf. The masa and chicken ratio was just right; I'm usually not happy with tamales because the masa is so heavy and tasteless in comparison with the filling. But this masa took on the flavor of the chicken while still maintaining a nice firm texture.

Before we had time to eat much of the tamale, however, the rest of our meal arrived. Karen's Camarones a la Costena smelled divine, and we loved that it included green olives.

Rick ordered the Mole Negro and proceeded to eat every last drop with great gustatory pleasure. Karen loved Rick's rice and Johnnie thought the mole was delicious.

Johnnie's Camarones a la Diabla were so spicy it made him sweat . . . and he loved the shrimp, rice, and beans. He also took a perfect picture of his food.

And my chile relleno? Well, I retract everything I said about the one I had at Sal's. The Oaxaca's version used cotija and the sauce was an amazing complement to the green chile. I <3 chile rellenos!

When Johnnie raved about the beans, at first I didn't agree. I had a hard time getting past the light color. But when I tasted the beans without any sauce covering them up, I saw his point: I could actually taste the beans rather than lard. Johnnie also ordered a fish taco, which was just like I like them: fried fish, lots of lettuce, and homemade corn tortillas. You can also see Rick's chicken taco in the background, another dish he loved.

I'll go back to the Oaxaca just for the chile relleno and the fish taco--although I also want to try other items on the menu. Rick described the food as being "primitive," but, after discussion, he decided that "elemental" was perhaps a better word. Fresh ingredients, excellent preparation, and savory flavors. I think you can tell by the expressions on our faces that we really enjoyed this meal.

Final comments:

"They could charge $20 a plate or more for this food, it's so good" (Johnnie).

"I wish I could eat this exact same meal all over again" (Kathee).

"MMMM!!!!!" (Karen).

Addendum (11/12/07): My friend Maythee sent me an email in which she commented on the food at the Oaxaca. She has some good insights:

"I thought the food you described at the Oaxaca restaurant looked like the real thing, meaning the food looked extremely well prepared. I'm also partial to the thinner version of refried beans, they are healthier and much lighter on the stomach. It's also the way I've seen the mothers of Mexican friends prepare them. As for the tamale wrapped in banana leaves, that tends to be the Caribbean and Central American way (I grew up with those). Perhaps the owners of the restaurant are from the Yucatan area or the region nearer to Guatemala. I thought the use of olives also indicated a shift from the typical Central and Northern Mexican style."