oyamel

wait time doesn’t phase me, especially when i’m in good company, but atoyamelwe had the added bonus of good drink. we ordered a pitcher of blood orange chile pequin, and were we ever so glad we did. ms. classy was a little hesitant, but became a fan of the drink after the first sip. it is a refreshing citrus margarita, but the pequin puts a zing that warms your lips and will make your tongue ask for more. we all really enjoyed the flavorful complexity of this drink.

muy bueno!. this was my fourth or fifth meal atoyameland it has yet to disappoint. my latest meal was lunch with some friends. we settled in with a pitcher of their version of sangria. white wine and citrus with diced pineapple added which made it a surprising change from the dank sangria offered most places. guacamole made table side was surprisingly good. we were asked how we liked it and it was spot on. i think they should have used lime juice instead of lemon - and been more generous as a little more acid would have added a little oomph to the buttery salad. the tortilla chips are how i remember them from mexico and not the good but rather limp, bland things one gets in dc. i had one of the lunch tortas; a ham, turkey and cheese sandwich basically layered in flour tortillas. it was rather good (perhaps another few seconds on the grill). another diner had the "gazpacho salad" which looked wonderful except had no relation to what one comes to expect. not a tomato in sight but it looked crisp and refreshing with kohlrabi and grapefruit. her quail tapa had to be sent back as it was partially raw. the chef remade the dish and it looked perfect and she loved it - crisp and pungent with herbs. everyone at our table was sated. the service was excellent and we were seated promptly without a reservation. my recent dinner experience here has been equally rewarding, although the wait for a table can be taxing.

on june 15, 2016, chef josé andrés will be hosting his 4th annual dine-n-dash with proceeds going to support world central kitchen, a non-profit organization that focuses on smart solutions to decrease world hunger and poverty.

you couldn’t ask for a better event where you can pay one price (general ticket or vip ticket), walk into 30 restaurants in one night, sample some of the venue’s most popular dishes and libations and walk right out without pulling out your wallet throughout penn quarter and the 14th street neighborhoods.

sunday’s media tour offered a sneak peak into 4 of the restaurant options.

oyamel cocina mexicana

first stop wasoyameland this was by far my favorite stop for food and drinks.  a few of the dishes that were offered were theoyamelmargarita, taco -carnitas estilo michoacán, pescadilla sinaloa, and table-side guacamole.

oyamel is mexican food that packs a punch from your standard street foods.  their margaritas are topped with “salt air,” so there’s no need for a messy rim of salt around the glass, you get a pinch of salt with every sip.  the pork taco was topped with a crunch chicharrón satisfying the soft and crunchy textures.  their take on the fish “empanada” which is steamed not fried, is a surprisingly flavorful moist ingredients tucked inside of a crisp shell.  table-side guacamole, need i say more? ...

creative and delicious. a friend and i came for lunch during restaurant week.oyamelis well designed and has a good ambience, but is a bit noisy. the service is prompt and efficient. the restaurant week menu offered the choice of two antojitos, a taco, and dessert. antojito one was sopa tarasca estilo pátzcuaro, a black bean soup with avocado leaves, light mexican cream, and aged cotija cheese, with a side of crispy ancho chile, avocado and fried tortilla strips. delicious, deep flavors that worked well with one another. antojito two was col de bruselas estilo san quintín, crispy brussels sprouts with a chile de árbol sauce, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, peanuts, and lime. bright flavors with crisp textures and crunch. my taco was tinga poblana con puerco, a well made corn tortilla filled with stewed, shredded pork with chorizo, chipotle, lettuce, and guacamole. perfection in a tortilla. finally, for dessert, flan de cajeta with piloncillo compressed apples, caramel ice cream, and goat’s milk caramel sauce. i can't wait to return!

oyamel is one of restauranteur and chef josé andrés’ creations. just as the restaurant is full of fun, eclectic decorations, the menu has interesting, unique options from cactus salad to grasshopper tacos. i decided to be adventurous so i tried the latter. it was a mistake, but more about that later. my experience atoyamelmade me realize that i do not like the small plate fad or eating insects.

by mid october, some of us have been sufficiently bombarded with pumpkin spice, pumpkin beer and carved pumpkins but what about roasted pumpkin atop seared rabbit saddle, pipian roja, hubbard puree and placed in a corn tortilla?. if the latter piques your interest, then this year's dia de los muertos festival atoyamelcocina mexicana in dc is for you.  the delicious fiesta is going on from october 19th through november 1st.

>> 01 october 2014 –  andres , art , dc , dinner , famous , gallery , guacamole , jose , meal , mexican , museum ,oyamel, plates , restaurant , small , tapas , trip , vacation , washington #fullpost{display:none;} the girls and i flew to washington via porter, from billy bishop airport in toronto. as our flight was at 6:45 am, we decided to be smart and efficient with time and meet the night before to catch the last ferry - then simply wait at the airport for 6-7 hours before the flight. 

oyamel is authentic!. from the margaritas to the mole,oyamelserves authentic mexican food (not to be confused with tex-mex.) we loved the atmosphere, too, and how willing they were to work with us on making a reservation for 8 people, just the day before. not too pricey either - though remember the plates are small.

overall i was very impressed with the food and service of the meal. no single plate was a 'wow' but everything tasted good and well prepared and not oversized.oyameldid a great job of rebuking all of my previous assumptions about restaurant week quality control and menu options.

great meal.oyamelwas great. the meal was excellent. we had the pork tacos, the fish tacos, and the chicken tacos. everything was really flavorful and delicious. the chicken was too spicy for my taste. the guacamole was fresh and delicious as it was made right at the table. the corn tortillas and chips were great too. if i was in the area again i would come back.

i’d putoyameloverall at an eight on the bhs scale, and i may bring my department here for our team meal next summer. it was inventive, fun, and a great group meal, even if i did make more of a pig of myself than i probably should allow myself in front of colleagues.

when i arrived atoyameli was displeased at the very loud noise level. i had reservations so we were seated immediately. my companion and i were shown to a tiny table, on the lower level,

small plates at oyamel. **detailed food item review follows**

when i arrived atoyameli was displeased at the very loud noise level. i had reservations so we were seated immediately. my companion and i were shown to a tiny table, on the lower level, located on the aisle and directly in front of a bar. ugh! i absolutely was not sitting at that table. it was so tiny, i knew all our food would not fit. dumb idea for a small plates restaurant to have such tiny tables plus my companion has broad shoulders. he would get bumped into all night if we sat there. i immediately asked the hostess if we could be seated elsewhere. she was very kind, and accommodating. we were told to have a seat at the main bar and they would re-seat us in a moment. sure enough in about 3 minutes we were seated in a booth. the booth was on the same lower level but a wall of sorts wrapped around us shielding out the noise and the table could seat five people. ahhh! now i could relax and hopefully enjoy my meal.

i had been wanting to tryoyamelfor some time because i am a fan of jose andres' jaleo. i read a lot ofoyamelreviews and walked away with the impression that people really loveoyamelfor happy hour, their margaritas, and the guacamole made at the table. very few reviewers were ecstatic about the food.

spoiler alert: this is exactly my impression of oyamel. the food is okay, nothing spectacular, nothing to make you return for just the food.

of what we ate, there were a few delicious dishes. i am a fan of small plate/tapas-style dining or in the case ofoyamel"antojitos" for little dishes from the streets.

the food
complimentary salsa & chips: the chips are good and our second batch was warm. the red salsa made with smokey chipotle chiles has just the right amount of heat, and is flavorful.

guacamole: yes, it is fresh. yes it is good. it is not the best guacamole i've ever eaten but it is a must order item. at $13.50 i think it is the most expensive guacamole and chips i've ever had. rating: 4 out of 5 stars

gaspacho (salad) estilo morelia: a salad of seasonal fruit (mango, grapefruit, orange), jicama root, cucumbers, queso fresco and chile pequín. the salad was very refreshing, the fruit was firm, and juicy; nothing mushy. i would order this on each visit to oyamel. very nice starter and is a nice change from all the 'salty' foods and heavier dishes. rating: 4 out of 5 stars

elote con calabazitas: sautéed sweet corn, baby zucchini, & serrano peppers with mexican cream, queso fresco & chile pequin. meh! don't waste your money or calorie allotment. it is not that flavorful or special. sounds much better than it is. i was surprised how small a portion it was compared to the other dishes we had received thus far. rating: 2 out of 5 stars

enchilada placeras: house-made corn tortillas filled w/ spiced beef, pickled chayotes, a roasted tomato salsa, red onions and radishes. my dining companion liked this.

pescado con mostaza: very tasty blackened grouper, roasted tomato and pasilla de oaxaca chile salsa, pickled mustard seed purée and pickled mustard seeds. the grouper alone, away from the salsa and mustard seed puree, was excellent. made me long for an entire piece of blackened grouper fish as an entree. the salsa served with the grouper was good, the mustard seed puree was even better. rating: 4 out of 5 stars

pescado mexicano/fish taco: seared fish with salsa mexicana and a tangy cilantro pesto. translation: a lot of mediocre flavored green stuff, and a teeny-tiny piece of fish. pass on this item. there was only a small bite of fish in the small tortilla; the piece of fish was no more than one and three-quarter inches long! at least put enough fish to extend through the tortilla. note tacos are $4 per taco and one order is 1 taco. rating: don't bother ordering

cochinita pibíl con cebolla en escabeche/pork taco: yucatan-style pit barbecued shenandoah valley pork with mexican sour orange and pickled red onion. i did not taste this but my friend said it was okay. he said he would order it again.

note: my ratings for the individual food items are within the context of the food atoyamelthat i ate.

service:
the staff pushed alcohol a lot. we kept saying no but they kept asking and pointing out alcohol drink menus and specials. at the main bar, while waiting to be seated the bartender looked visibly surprised when i ordered "unsweetened ice tea" and stuttered slightly upon repeating my order. the hostess was very nice, polite, and accommodating. our waitress was adequate.

do i recommend oyamel? sure. small plate restaurants are fun for groups and friends, sharing food, and trying out different dishes. is it the type of place i'd return to often? no.the food isn't standout fare.

oyamel is owned by famed spanish chef and restauranteur jose andres, who also owns several other restaurants in washington d.c.oyamelis located in the city's penn quarter section, only a couple of blocks away from our morning destination at the international spy museum. i had made reservations for 12:30 pm on a saturday and when we first arrived the restaurant was only moderately busy. however, towards the end of the meal, most tables looked to be taken,  so it appears that washington is

one dimensional. in a word, this restaurant is bland.
i was extremely excited to tryoyamelafter having it recommended by several people i work with. that being said, i have no interest in returning.

the black bean soup they serve was luke warm and mostly liquid, with a few beans floating within in. i ended up asking for a side of rice as it needed something....after receiving the rice, i took a few bites, put my spoon down to take a sip of water, and a server came by and took my unfinished soup away. it happened so fast, i didn't even have time to react! oh well.

i had also ordered the refried beans. again, incredibly one dimensional. the beans were pureed with a crema and cheese studded throughout. while the description sounds good, it literally was so bland, i had one bite and was done. they serve these beans with house made tortillas that are so thick, they completely over take anything you put on them.

i had a side of the fries with mole sauce and again...the bland flavor of the sauce was over whelming. mole is such an incredible flavored sauce-so to expect to taste such a deep and wonderful taste and get nothing but the same bland flavors was terribly disappointing.

the last thing i had was a poblano pepper stuffed with pork and pineapple-i wish i hadn't though. the pepper itself was warm. i think it's terrible when you order food, expecting it to be hot and it's only warm. the pepper was topped with a cream sauce that was distracting and simply put, did nothing to complement the pepper.

the best part of oyamel? it's just down the street from pitango gelato. while i nibbled at dinner, i filled up on incredible gelato and was beyond grateful for that!