Almost wowed me

Ok, so people who know me, know that I find it rare to be wowed at a restaurant. And what I mean by wowed is eating something at its perfection, or in some sort of combination that I had never thought of. I want to eat things that I don't yet have the skills to cook or had never thought of cooking on my own. I am by no means a gourmet chef. I worked at Whole Foods, I didn't go to culinary school. But I did have a Dad who showed me how to select good fruits and vegetables and ask for the right cuts of meats, and a Mom who stuck my hands in the meatloaf so I could feel what the right consistency was.

Besides, I'm a teacher. We don't make the big bucks. I can't afford to eat out at restaurants all the time. So when I do go, I want it to be worth my time and dollars. since moving here I haven't really gone out to eat. I mean I have had some food at some local bars while getting my drink on, but not really any real dining. Having a visitor gave me the opportunity and excuse to go out and try what DC has to offer.

After talking to some folks and using the gold ol' Internets, we selected Oyamel Cocina in Penn Quarter, an area that was largely still a dump when I lived in the area before. This is now one of the largest concentrations of what are considered by the papers to be quality dining establishments in DC. We had no reservations and strolled in at 7:30 or so on a Friday night. To our great pleasure, we were seated immediately at the ceviche bar. This is like a sushi bar but the Latin take on raw seafood. We actually ended up in what they call the "fishbowl" as it is mostly enclosed by windows onto the street. It was both intimate and interactive.

Now I am not into the whole Celebrity Chef bit. I could really care less. So the fact that this place is the creation of Jose Andres, on the verge of being the next big thing, doesn't mean a whole lot to me. Granted, I love his tapas restaurant around the corner, Jaleo. The concept of the restaurant works I think, Mexican and Central American street food in tapas sized portions. This is traditional cooking, not that Tex-Mex shit. But there does exist some pretentiousness that is just a little too much. You can start with the drink menu and all of its "salt air" and the like. I know chefs have been going crazy over the new idea of "foaming" everything. And this is just a fancy way here to salt the rim of your margarita. Did it taste better than harsh rock salt on your lips? Without a doubt. But calling it "salt air" to me is a bit much.

But I don't go for drinks, I go for food. And the food did not disappoint. Forget about the entree plates. It is much more interesting to order the street food and share so you get to taste more things. We started with a ceviche that was in the running for the best thing I put in my mouth all night. I love ceviche. The geeky chemist in me loves "cooking" proteins with acid instead of heat. The tender fish remains so much softer on the pallet. The avocado in the dish matched the red snapper texturally for a really great bite.

We both agreed that the camarones a la plancha were the best things we put in our mouths all night. Big shrimp, nicely balanced sauce of heat and sweet, seared on the outside to just barely cook the shrimp all the way through. No tough, rubbery crustaceans here. I really enjoyed the sopes with chorizo as well, although some might find them a little too greasy. But hey, that's why chorizo is so damn good, it's called pork fat. The tacos were also very good. All in all, we didn't have anything that I would call disappointing. The black bean stuffed plantains were my least favorite which was sad as I love plantains and I was quite hopeful. I think the plantains were not quite ripe enough and tasted overly starchy to me without enough of the natural sweetness to balance it out.

So did it make me go wow? Not quite, but from start to finish it was a solid meal, with excellent service, great company, in an interesting environment. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and would go back. That is more than I can say for a lot of places. DC so far is 1-0. But the bar is set, don't disappoint me now.