MEXICO CITY RESTAURANT REVIEW: Contramar
Due to a massive flight delay that shattered my Flighty record (thanks Aeromexico!), this ended up being my first stop on a recent weekend trip to Mexico City. An iconic seafood restaurant that opened nearly 30 years ago (and apparently has a new sister location at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas), it seems to be as hip as ever, and was slammed for Thursday dinner service. Found on many CDMX "Best Of" lists, the hype was considerable... but I came away a tad bit underwhelmed.
The first thing to know is that the menu is enormous and a bit confusing, as multiple dishes seemed to exist nearly identical forms in different sections on the menu, making it difficult to ascertain what an appropriate order amount would include. I threw a few vaguely-educated darts at the board, and away we went.
A good place to start was the tuna tostada (we'll be using the English menu names here when available), with the marinated raw fish cut much thicker than the usual thinly sliced or cubed version you'd expect. The heft of the slices held up nicely against the chipotle mayo and avocado for a well-balanced bite. A far superior version than Gabe's Top Chef Season 18 Restaurant Wars disaster.
The pulpo a la gallega was executed well enough; the octopus was tender though seconds away from being overcooked, and the traditional Galician preparation with potatoes, paprika, and olive oil is a tried-and-true classic. I would have preferred a bit more seasoning, though.
I've had many an al pastor taco in my day, but never with fish. For me, pork is the far superior version. The lack of fattiness in the cobia (esmedregal in Spanish) found the fish overshadowed by the spices of the marinade and the acidity of the pineapple. I'm glad I tried it, but it's not something I need to order again.
Another interesting-sounding dish was the tuna carnitas. Texturally this was almost indistinguishable from the usual pork carnitas, though again a bit less flavorful than the meat version. But once you made a taco with the lovely small corn tortillas, chopped onions, cilantro, and the delicious medium-spicy green table salsa, the dish came together well enough.
Quick hitters on a few other items ordered at the table: shrimp cocktail had a sauce that was much more complex than what you'd get at most U.S. spots. A shrimp pasta was extremely unremarkable... al dente pasta with some sauce that you could have gotten from a jar. The signature pescado a la talla Contramar was a well-cooked red snapper smothered half in red adobo sauce and half in green parsley sauce (a chiles en nogada-esque nod to the Mexican flag). Personally I preferred the green, but the majority of the table seemed to like the red side better.
There was a generous selection of Mexican beers, and a dessert tray featured one or two very solid pastries. My favorite was a tart with a warm cinnamon-y apple filling, soft flaky crust, topped with ice cream: as good as any American apple pie. The gorgeous fig tart was also quite interesting, much less sweet but nicely highlighting the eponymous fruit.
Reading this back it sounds mostly positive, and certainly nothing I had was bad, but for some reason I just can't shake the feeling that it wasn't as good as it should have been. Maybe I didn't order the right things. Let me know if you feel differently.
