Mama Mexico: Midtown

More “meh” Mexican… no, that’s not a stutter, that’s how I felt…

I don’t want to sound ungrateful because I’m not unappreciative of the effort of my friends taking me out for (yet another) birthday dinner. They felt similarly anyway, so I don’t think anyone will be offended by this post. Also, thanks again to everyone who took me (us late October babies) out that night!!! I had a lot of fun!

Mama Mexico was the only restaurant that would take reservations for that Friday night for 15 people. We took up the entire center long table of the restaurant, which was extremely narrow. No matter where you went, you were in someone’s way, not helped by the mariachi (I think?) band parading around blaring music in everyone’s ears. I’m not a fan of loud or live music- if you are, maybe that wouldn’t bother you. I’m also not a fan of having even close friends invade my personal space, so again, if you don’t mind that, you would probably like those aspects of this restaurant better than I did.

Having said that, we move onto the food!

They started us off with tortillas and a good spicy (but not unbearably so) salsa, and we immediately ordered a few dishes of guacamole that we’d heard was phenomenal. Guacamole is made tableside, and when the guy approached me and asked me “sss sss or ssss sss?” I couldn’t understand him and felt so bad that finally I was like, I don’t know, I didn’t order it, so you should ask the people at the other end of the table. He probably thought I was retarded, but it took me a few minutes to realize he’d asked “Spicy or not spicy?” Of course, since HB had done the ordering, and he’d gone to ask her, I felt no alarm as she gave her answer, since she and I have similar (but not the same) spice tolerance. I didn’t take a picture but the guacamole was yummy enough, though a really tiny portion at $13 a small mortar filled.

After reading about sopes on Homesick Texan ages ago, I decided to start with these. It turns out I’m not into masa at all, the mealy soft texture isn’t my thing, so I wasn’t too keen on these, though what topped the masa was pretty tasty. Unfortunately, I’d already ordered my main, which included tamales (which have masa in them!) as, also after reading about them on Homesick Texan’s site, I really wanted to try…

(BTW, excuse the strange coloring on the pictures. All along the tops of the walls were these lights that slowly changed colors, imparting their hue on everything…)

I chose a combination platter that had everything: a tamale, a stuffed pepper, and a beef burrito. The burrito was a bit spicier than I’d expected and the funny thing is, that night I really enjoyed eating the stuffed pepper, but not quite so much the tamale (as expected) but I couldn’t remember what I’d ordered so I didn’t realize I was eating a hot stuffed pepper! I had leftovers that I took home, and the next morning, when I ate them, I thought “How on earth did I eat this hot pepper and not think it was too spicy!” Weird that the next day it tasted so much spicier. I thought my dish overall was only so-so. I’m hoping it’s only because I still haven’t eaten great Mexican food- I’ll give tamales and sopes and masa all another chance!

MD’s camarones. She said they were alright, not the greatest but passably yum.

KC’s combination included lamb, filet mignon, calamari, shrimp, a whole slew of stuff. He was only so-so about his food as well, giving away much of it down the table.

Overall, a fun experience but nothing fantastic about the food, just moderately passing. I’ll wait until Lisa’s found the perfect or at least the best Mexican to be had in Manhattan restaurant before I’ll try the sopes/masa/tamales again… or even better, for an invitation to try hers!!! *wink

Yvo says: Meh Mexican. I’ll pass, if you really like crowds, loud music, you may like this place. The sangria was good and they kept it flowing and in our glasses at all times, even more so than water! My glass never went more than half empty until I demanded they stop as I was nice and toasty already. The service was friendly but they rushed around the restaurant so much, I was terrified to get up for fear of being knocked over. It might be a good place for casual group lunches with coworkers, though- I imagine it’s a bit different during lunchtime. EDITed to add: Also, I think this place was really expensive and overpriced. I can’t be sure since I didn’t pay but it seemed to be ridiculously priced- $13 for a small bowl of guacamole…
meh, middle of the road, not the greatest but not awful either