I finally made it to Taco Maria for dinner for the first time, having gone before for the ALC tacos at lunch. I really enjoy “fine dining Mexican” (and non fine dining Mexican!) cuisine, even though I don’t have a ton of experience with it, because I love the depth and flavors that can be coaxed with all the myriad spices and other ingredients in Mexican food, and it can be even more spectacular when chefs do it in the context of a tasting menu. So I approached the meal with a lot of anticipation.
We were able to order OOE @PorkyBelly style, since we were a group of four. The menu is below:
Also got one wine pairing, and ended up going with the bottom selection on all of them. I thought the wine pairing was reasonably priced and in general paired well with the food, though the white rioja was overwhelmed by the dishes in the second course.
In all, I thought there were several wow moments in this meal, and as a whole, Taco Maria deserves all the plaudits it has received. Also, I’m not trying to claim that $84 is a cheap meal (it’s not), but I’m personally confused by claims this is too expensive for the quality you get. I personally think the QPR here was ridiculously great, as I think you usually are paying 3 digits for a meal of this quality (Californios is almost 3x the cost, though of course you also get almost 3x the quantity, and I do think the execution is more consistent across dishes). If anything, I wish they would offer a more extended tasting as an option, where you could sample more of the chef’s outstanding concoctions.
We ended up sitting in the patio, so the light was pretty challenging. But without further ado, onto the meal!
Cheetos and Ranch nice kick from the spices but otherwise forgettable and a way to pass the time as mentioned previously
Enfrijolada
This was a bit one-note in that it had a light bean filling but really no other flavors of note. I had wanted the crab tostada but agreed with wife to order the top dishes while she would get the bottom ones
Tostada de Cangrejo
Took a bite, and whoa! Sweet and briny crab mixed with slightly tart and sweet citrus - what an amazing bite. It was so good we asked for another plate of it (since I had “sacrificed” by ordering the other dish 
)
Callo Gratinado
Sweet scallop contrasted with crispy and earthy squid ink crumbs and a bit of kick from the Chile - another highlight dish
Taco de Bacalao
The cod in the taco was creamy and almost sweet, and the combination the Chile and peanut morita (best description is like eating fresh made Lao Gan Ma sauce, and that’s a compliment!), finished with surprisingly delicious sweet pickles - another highlight
Pescado Zarandeado
Tasty grilled fish with an umami-filled sauce
Tamal de Elote
This tasted like a corn bread muffin - i didn’t really get the funkiness of the huitlacoche
The last two course were accompanied by blue corn tortillas and spicy salsa
Pichon con Patacas
Perfectly cooked squab - crispy and decadently oily skin with smoky meat with just a touch of gaminess - the sauce was a bit sweeter to complement the meat
Birria de Cordero
Melt in your mouth stewed lamb and turnip with sauce made out of crack…erm… coffee with star anise; I was full at this point yet still downed way too many tortillas since I needed vessels to lap up all the mole (?) sauce. It was slightly earthy, a tad sweet, and herbal.
Dessert
Pistachio marzipan truffles - delicious
If you didn’t have an opportunity to get OOE,
My favorites for each course were:
1st course - crab tostada!!
2nd course - flip a coin - both were highlights
3rd course - pescado zarandeando
4th course - tough one but I think the lamb wins out because of the sauce
