Quintonil & Mexican Fine Dining

Quintonil is located in Colonia Polanco and tucked away on behind some trees. It’s a bouchie ass restaurant in one of the richest areas of CDMX (i.e.,Ciudad de Mexico). The Chef is Jorge Vallejo and former chef at Pujol (i.e., the top restaurant in Mexico and one of the top in the world). Here are Quintonil awards as if it matters:

• #12 on the 2016 World’s 50 Best Restaurants
• #35 on the 2015 World’s 50 Best Restaurants
• #6 on the 2015 Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants
• #10 on the 2014 Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants
• #21 on the 2013 Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants

It was a packed house when we arrived on a Friday night straight from the airport. For your information, don’t fly into CDMX on Fridays.  The taxi lines are insanely long and that shit took us more an hour and a half to get a cab.  It was like they were giving out free Frappuccino at Starbucks. Anyway, the decor of the restaurant is very  nice and it had a warm ambiance. The tones of the wall and tables are very welcoming.  Well, that’s what it seems like but I couldn’t tell cause I’m color blind.  The restaurant is very lively and isn’t as stuffy as some of its counterparts in other countries like the snooty French with their wine and berets.

The service was decent but it wasn’t Michelin two or three star good.  The explanations of the dishes appeared to be very good, but I don’t speak Spanish and he could have been cursing me in Spanish for all I know.  It wasn’t bad but the details weren’t as great as other restaurants I’ve experienced like the fabulous service at McDonald’s.

Now, la comida.  That’s food in Spanish if you don’t speak Spanish.  The restaurant serves modern Mexican cuisine using local Mexican ingredients with modern cooking techniques. There’s an à la carte menu along with a tasting menu.  I was expecting some al pastor tacos, ceviche and tortas, but there was none to be found on the menu.  Therefore, I decided to fork out money for the tasting menu.  Did you see the pun there?  Plus, I didn’t fly to CDMX during Hurricane Patricia just to eat off the à la carte menu. I felt a celebration was in order since my buddy and I almost died cause we were 400 miles close to the hurricane.

1. Crab Tostada – The smoked crab had a dash of lime, radish, and chile habanero mayonnaise.  The crab was very sweet like a guy trying to get laid.  The zesty lime and slight kick of the habanero mayonnaise was great like watching Kanye West get booed.  It reminded me of sriracha mayo.  The soft tostada shell topped the dish and provided a great addition to the crab like getting herpes after being diagnosed with genital warts.  Think ceviche with all crab and no fillers.  I’m going to quote David So “If it don’t smell like hooker pussy, you don’t want it.”

   

2. Mamey Panna Cotta – This is probably my favorite dessert dish I’ve had to date.   They served the mamey with Corn Crumble and Mamey Seed Ice Cream.  It was perfectly sweet like a woman trying to get you to buy her a Chanel purse.  It didn’t taste processed and the natural sweetness was very exquisite.  In other words, “good” for people who lack a vocabulary.  The flavors came together like Frida’s two eye brows.

   

Overall, I really liked my dining experience at Quintonil. The food was really good and their interpretation of the Mexican flavors was fantastic.  I’m from Southern California where Mexican food is pretty much on every corner and the familiar flavors was done very well.  However, major drawback was they didn’t serve Mexican Pizza or Chalupa.

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