D.F., no lo me gusta
Still haunted by the quickly-fading memory of amazing mole and tacos we had in Los Angeles, we decided to chase the tastes, and our instincts led us to D.F., where lavendersoda had found yummy mexican morsels once before.
We found D.F. tucked into a corner of the Pearl, across from Tanner Park (worth a walk through. nice, composed, urban nature. cute!). We scored one of the high booths along the front of the restaurant. They're a great little respite from the acoustically-challenging slab concrete walls and floor. Whlle waiting for our third, we ordered drinks and a round of chips and guacamole. For lavendersoda, the Refresca, which lived up to its name with mint-infused tequila, tonic, cucumber and a sprig of mint. Though I'm sure the bartender wouldn't miss-mix a drink on their own menu, there wasn't a taste of tonic, just soda. Either way, two rounds were ordered. For noneifbysea, the Tradicional margarita, a TART take on a favorite drink. Lucky for NIBS, tart= good.
The guacomole was great- light and fresh, maybe it could have used a squeeze more of lime. The salsas were (HOW WERE THE SALSAS?).
To start, we also ordered up two of the al pastor tacos and two of the barbacoa. These are nice, traditional little tacos. Two or three meaty bites in a warm corn tortilla. The al pastor, shredded pork with pineapple was barely the favorite. The barbacoa, a goat taco, was just meaty and gamey, and not in an exciting way. Maybe it's because we had just had some amazing little tacos in LA, but these were just OK.
For the main course, we went heavy on the mole. The oaxacan mole negro, served over a skirt steak, was favored over the mole poblano, served with chicken. There wasn't as huge of a distinction between the two, and neither came out fighting with that awesome savory chocolate thing that a good mole does, where there's an incredible depth of flavor and complexity, where cinnamon hovers over the palate and chocolate smoothness just makes you shake your head. It wasn't here. It was good, it just wasn't great. The third in our party got the garlic shrimp, which though neither of us tried, looked pretty alright. I know that if it had been spectacular, a bite would have been forced on one of us. It wasn't.
And then there's the bill. $100 for the three of us (four drinks, guac, four little tacos, two main courses, and another app- the shrimp dish was a small portion). We had amazing mexican food in LA for next to nothing, and for the life of us, we can't figure out why it hasn't happened here yet. We realize that just five or so years ago, there was no mexican food to speak of in Portland, and that this catagory has expanded by leaps and bounds. This is some of the better mexican food in Portland, which is sad to admit. But, when we really need our fix, we're going to venture out to taco carts or to the Hispanic markets and see what we can't make ourselves.
food: we wanted it to be good, but it just wasn't. The more we thought about it, the sadder we were.
drink: good drinks. can't knock the drinks. Try the refresca, you'll like it.
atmosphere: the pearl at its most pearlescent. Which for NIBS and Lavendersoda, isn't always a bad thing
strikes: oh, the food. and our high expectations, which were struck down unceremoniously
tally: lavendersoda takes one for the team on this one. This time, memory didn't serve well.
We found D.F. tucked into a corner of the Pearl, across from Tanner Park (worth a walk through. nice, composed, urban nature. cute!). We scored one of the high booths along the front of the restaurant. They're a great little respite from the acoustically-challenging slab concrete walls and floor. Whlle waiting for our third, we ordered drinks and a round of chips and guacamole. For lavendersoda, the Refresca, which lived up to its name with mint-infused tequila, tonic, cucumber and a sprig of mint. Though I'm sure the bartender wouldn't miss-mix a drink on their own menu, there wasn't a taste of tonic, just soda. Either way, two rounds were ordered. For noneifbysea, the Tradicional margarita, a TART take on a favorite drink. Lucky for NIBS, tart= good.
The guacomole was great- light and fresh, maybe it could have used a squeeze more of lime. The salsas were (HOW WERE THE SALSAS?).
To start, we also ordered up two of the al pastor tacos and two of the barbacoa. These are nice, traditional little tacos. Two or three meaty bites in a warm corn tortilla. The al pastor, shredded pork with pineapple was barely the favorite. The barbacoa, a goat taco, was just meaty and gamey, and not in an exciting way. Maybe it's because we had just had some amazing little tacos in LA, but these were just OK.
For the main course, we went heavy on the mole. The oaxacan mole negro, served over a skirt steak, was favored over the mole poblano, served with chicken. There wasn't as huge of a distinction between the two, and neither came out fighting with that awesome savory chocolate thing that a good mole does, where there's an incredible depth of flavor and complexity, where cinnamon hovers over the palate and chocolate smoothness just makes you shake your head. It wasn't here. It was good, it just wasn't great. The third in our party got the garlic shrimp, which though neither of us tried, looked pretty alright. I know that if it had been spectacular, a bite would have been forced on one of us. It wasn't.
And then there's the bill. $100 for the three of us (four drinks, guac, four little tacos, two main courses, and another app- the shrimp dish was a small portion). We had amazing mexican food in LA for next to nothing, and for the life of us, we can't figure out why it hasn't happened here yet. We realize that just five or so years ago, there was no mexican food to speak of in Portland, and that this catagory has expanded by leaps and bounds. This is some of the better mexican food in Portland, which is sad to admit. But, when we really need our fix, we're going to venture out to taco carts or to the Hispanic markets and see what we can't make ourselves.
food: we wanted it to be good, but it just wasn't. The more we thought about it, the sadder we were.
drink: good drinks. can't knock the drinks. Try the refresca, you'll like it.
atmosphere: the pearl at its most pearlescent. Which for NIBS and Lavendersoda, isn't always a bad thing
strikes: oh, the food. and our high expectations, which were struck down unceremoniously
tally: lavendersoda takes one for the team on this one. This time, memory didn't serve well.
posted by canolive at 3:51 PM
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