Merotoro
Fluffy Bread, Olive Oil, Sea Salt
Tuna Aguachile with Avocado, Radish, Sea Beans and Jicama
Octopus with Potatoes, Gizzards and Cucumbers
Roasted Carrots with Almonds and Bok Choy
Grilled Prawns with Lemon, Butter and Spicy Vinaigrette
Roasted Chicken with Pumpkin Puree, Lima Beans and Sweet Potato Gnocchi
Warm Chocolate Brownie with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and Macadamia Nuts
Caramelized Figs, Persimmons, Beets and Honey Frozen Yogurt
Located in Condesa and featuring cooking concepts developed in Baja California, a style of cuisine unknown to Mexico City prior to the restaurant’s arrival, owners Gabriela Camara and Pablo Bueno continued the success they started at Contramar with the debut of MeroToro in 2010, the still-popular space chosen for dinner on Tuesday night just as Capital City’s weather was about to turn wet for the next 48 hours.
Famously known as one of the city’s most desirable reservations, available only by phone as the website is sparse and service as well as the menu are only offered in Spanish, it was for a two persons at Six o’clock that a table was booked just a few weeks prior, requests for the patio granted only to be soured by inclement weather just as the room began to fill with the well-dressed and wealthy.
Designed like many trendy restaurants stateside, a long and uninterrupted room with industrial-chic styling and a standing area to one side plus full bar in back, it was after brief greetings at a hostess podium that diners were invited to take a seat at one of several tables where bottled water was quickly poured and menus were offered, the daily rotation of Seafood impressive for a city so far from the ocean, though a bit of translation was necessary to better understand some of the more esoteric items which soon led to an order sent out seven individual courses.
Not particularly busy early on, but filled to capacity when dinner ended two hours later, it was with light drizzle slowly transitioning to a steady downpour that diners sat watching the small park where pedestrians seemed undeterred in daily activities, the first plate to arrive featuring tender chunks of Tuna marinated in Citrus alongside Chips and a sidecar of light brown Salsa for those truly looking to heat things up, the cooling effect of Avocado, Radish and Jicama doing an admirable job of bringing balance to a dish served in a large and sharable portion.
Happily tucking into a basket of fluffy white Bread with a robust crust, the small bowl of Olive Oil and Sea Salt speaking to California’s influence on the cuisine, plate two saw the kitchen present tender slices of Tentacle in the unexpected form of a stir-fry tossed with boiled Potatoes, crispy Chicken Gizzards and warm Cucumbers, the sauce a complex and savory affair with light sour notes and just a hint of Sugar.
Never one to pass on Carrots, the mélange of Purple Knights and other heirloom varieties lightly roasted and presented atop pureed Bok Choy with slivered Almonds and Spinach, course four was a straight forward bit of Spanish perfection, four whole Prawns grilled and butterflied with a zesty Butter sauce that commanded a second basket of Bread specifically used for sopping.
Admittedly challenged by the menu’s verbiage, and thus missing out on a Ham and Egg dish that is said to be a MeroToro signature, the final savory of the night featured a quarter-Roasted Chicken with Pumpkin Puree, Lima Beans and Sweet Potato Gnocchi that was well made, if not particularly noteworthy, the decision to save room for dessert thankfully proving a good one as the Brownie made from Oaxacan Chocolate was soft, dense and moist while the arrangement of Caramelized Figs, Persimmons, and Honey Frozen Yogurt offered a tantalizing look at how to offer something healthy yet indulgent with the sweetness reined in by vibrant Beet Gastrique.
http://www.merotoro.mx/

