Oyamel – Washington, DC
401 7th Street NW
Washington, D.C. , D.C. 20004
(202) 628-1005
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VdV Rating: 4
Food: Mexican
Ambiance: Fancy & Scmancy
PRO: Great Mexican small plates, fun vibe, excellent fresh ingredients
CON: Not much, really
So we roll into DC hoping to see our homie Barack and WTF? He’s at the U.N. then off to Pittsburgh for the G-20? The nerve, especially with all the lobbying VdV has done on his behalf. Wait. Pittsburgh?! R U kidding me? The leaders of the free world (at least some of them) are meeting in…Pittsburgh? Way to build that positive U.S. image! Whatcha gonna do, take ‘em all to a Steelers game? Buy ‘em an all-in-one sandwich? Plus we hear there’s anarchists there! Ha.
Anyhoo, we tasked some locals where to grab dinner in DC. They wanted some guidance. We said, “Have you not heard of VinDivine you bass-ackwards freak?!” OK, that was our internal voice…the look that we sent each other said it all. Verbally, we responded, ever so politely “Mexican or tapas sounds good, and a damn good tequila selection would be a bonus.” So they recommend this place called Oyamel, which serves Mexican small plates. Bam!
So this is a José Andres spot, he’s a D.C star with several spots all with the cool, hip and ‘small plates’ themes. Works for us. This place has a cool vibe, modern design, bright colors, a buzzin’ scene and..these butterfly mobiles everywhere. Well I guess they’re not mobiles. Or they are but they’re large and not made of paper. They’re actually more like hanging sculptures. They’d be light fixtures if they stuck some bulbs on ‘em. Anyhoo, it piqued our curiosity. Then we sacrificed a cat. Never mind. So we had to get to the bottom of this butterfly fetish. And, being VdV we quickly did. Wanna hear it? Then figuratively sit on my lap and here the tale goes:
“Every Fall, millions of Monarch butterflies (butterfly mobile question answered) leave their cocoons in the U.S. and Canada (bummer for those Canadian butterflies…get yer green card, get real and come to the U.S.) and set sail for sunny Mexico. Smart little rascals. Once they arrive in these forests of central Mexico called the Michoacan, they are ready to chill. A little R&R. So they seek refuge in these rare fir trees called…Oyamel“. Oy Vey! There ya go. I could bore you to tears with more detail, but I’ll leave that for the food review. Now get off my lap.
So as we do, with all Mexican places around the globe we test the chips & salsa. The litmus test, kittens! Wait, the first thing we really do is order a margarita. Hells yeah. So like a laser-guided missile I spy Sieta Legaus Repo, which scored Oyamel big points. Great ‘rita, all pure lime juice and strong. Yay!
OK, simultaneously we ordered some Chips & Salsa. How were they? Very good. And thanks for asking. The chips are thin, crispy, very fresh and not greasy at all, almost baked-like. And just the right amount of salt. And the salsa rocked it. Semi-chunky, a nice variety of peppers for some nice heat and just a hint smoky. Yum!
Then, this being a small plate kinda spot, we got busy. First off, the Quesadilla Huitlacoche ($8.50), traditional folded corn tortillas with Oaxaca cheese, corn and black Mexican truffle. Super fresh, the corn tortilla wasn’t a throw away, it actually had great texture and the cheese was mild yet very flavorful with a bit of smoky after taste. The truffles? Well, like Pavlov’s dog every time I hear the word ‘truffle’ I think of real, Italian Truffles and drool like an infant. But I don’t know many dogs who’d spend their day rooting these things up. Hey Mexico: call ‘em Mushrooms. They are great mushrooms, just not good truffles. Just sayin’.
Next! A special that night, the Stuffed Pablano with Pork, Goat Cheese and Apples (10.50). We love stuffed peppers. It’s the one thing Mom VdV could actually pull off. But these truly rocked. The pepper was cooked just right, tender and still smoky with some heat remaining. And the stuffing was like a orchestra playing in your mouth. Ha. No it wasn’t! JHC. Get real. But it was damn good though, and the ingredients worked really well together. The goat cheese, which could have dominated the entire dish, was mild and paired well with the ground pork, tender cooked apples and pablano salsa. Weird thing – they added pomegranate seeds which I think were meant to balance the heat of the pepper. They didn’t really detract, but didn’t add much either.
Last and best of all? The Cayo de hacha con pipián de chile pasilla ($9), of course. That means, if you are one of the 0.0001% of people that don’t speak Spanish (me included), Seared scallops with a pasilla chile and pumpkin seed sauce, orange segments, pumpkin seed oil and toasted pumpkin seeds. Sheeyaaat this stuff took it. Awesome. Really. OK I’ll calm down. It’s only shellfish. Scavengers of the Sea, some would say. But still, the scallops were seared and cooked to perfection, and the sauce was k-i-l-l-e-r. The blend of chile, and the smooth, semi-meaty but sweet flavor of the pumpkin along with the crunch of the pumpkin seeds? Priceless, bitches. Nice, simple and outstanding. This is the go-top meal for Oyamel.
So all in all, excellent mexican tapas, a fun scene, great tequila selection and friendly service. We passed on the grasshopper dish. If you want it, do it and let us know how it was. And to top it all off (not to mention the extra round of ‘ritas,and shot of tequila we had) our server brought us, gratis, two glasses of Mezcal. Hmmm. Do you actually thank someone for that? Not sure. But a nice gesture and it reaffirmed to us that we have not yet ‘acquired’ a taste for this heinous liquid!
VdV Rating: 4
Hours:
Sun-Mon 11:30a-10p
Tue-Thus 11:30a-11:30p
Fri-Sat 11:30a-12a
Sat-Sun Brunch 11:30a-3p
401 7th Street NW (Penn Quarter)
Washington, DC 20004
(202) 628-1005
