A Sunday Lunch at Oyamel

I was excited to try out Oyamel last Sunday – other Jose Andres restaurants have all been favorites of mine for a long time, especially Jaleo and Zaytinya‘s. Andres has his own little mini-empire of local restaurants that rival some of their New York equivalents. And I have to admit it was kind of cool that he beat Bobby Flay on Iron Chef.

But back to Oyamel. Husband assured me there were plenty of dairy-free options –
and he was right.

The chips and salsa arrived on our table soon after we were seated. The salsa was smokey chipotle tomato goodness. I had mine with Marys Gone Crackers Crackers {I brought them with me} since I can’t eat corn right now, but husband said the corn chips were also very delicious, with a slight heat to them.

I started off with the Ceviche de huachinango, which is red snapper with avocado in a salsa of tomato, sweet onions, cilantro and lime juice. It tangy and salty and a wonderful mix of textures:

Husband had the queso fundido with chorizo. I didn’t try it but he assured me it was absolutely amazing:

We split the Costillas de Cordero a la Parrilla, which were two grilled lamb chops with a cilantro/parsley/garlic green sauce. The lamp chops were grilled to perfection and the sauce was more than just the expected verdant and tangy flavors – it was complex and addictive:

We also split the Nopal asado con salsa molcajete, which translates to grilled fresh cactus paddles with a salsa molcajete of grilled tomatoes, tomatillos, green onions, cilantro and chile. It was a little oily for my liking (plus by then I was not that hungry) but I loved the salsa on top.

I very much enjoyed Oyamel – including the small touch of free distilled water, the perfect service, the flavorful and fresh ingredients. It was a lovely place for a long Sunday lunch. Pictures by moi.