La Carta de Oaxaca and Ballard Adventures

La Carta de Oaxaca
5431 Ballard Avenue NW, Seattle

Yesterday James and I went mattress shopping (woo!)

We began the day by taking the bus to Ballard and going to La Carta de Oaxaca, which we’ve been told is the best Mexican restaurant in Seattle. Apparently Washington suffers greatly in comparison to California when it comes to Mexican food – though I bet they’re all better than Melbourne.

A google search told me that Oaxaca is actually pronounced “wa-ha-ca”, which is consistent with James telling me that when his colleagues pronounced it “it sounded like it had a lot more consonants”.

It was a pretty early lunch (11:30am) but nevertheless James began with a beer and I had a margarita. Limes are a lot cheaper here, so I foresee many lime-based food and drinks in my future.

We started with chips and guacamole (I think like $5?). The guacamole and chips were brought out to us and James got the other two from the salad bar. The pico de gallo (right) seemed to be what everyone else was going for, so he made sure he got some of that. It was really fresh tasting and my favourite of the three toppings.

I ordered the “house special” – Mole Negro Oaxaqueno ($10 I think). You can see the tortillas it came with in the background. First off, those tortillas with like no tortillas I’ve ever had before – they were so, so soft and didn’t fall apart even though I crammed my second tortilla really full (I misjudged how much to allocate to my first tortilla).

I was initially worried about the pork – I prodded it with my fork and it didn’t collapse and I mistakenly thought that meant it wouldn’t be tender enough. The taste was really strange! I’ve never had mole before and didn’t know what to expect – I guess I was expecting it to taste like burritos or nachos, which is pretty much the extent of my Mexican food knowledge. I don’t know how to describe the taste – very dark, almost chocolatey! It had a very rich mouthfeel, and after a couple of bites of my makeshift burrito I really felt like I needed something to cut the richness (the chips with guac and pico de gallo came in very handy then, as did my margarita).

James ordered one of the lunch specials (some kind of enchiladas). I think it was $10. His verdict: “Enjoyed. Would eat again.” Thanks James.

The bill came to $46 including tip which seemed like pretty good value (though we have yet to encounter the mythical enormous portions here in the US). I’m not really experienced enough with Mexican food to judge how good it was, but we definitely enjoyed it and would return for more. =)

They didn’t seem to have anything in the way of desserts so we headed to the Ballard Seafood Festival right outside where I scored some fairy floss ($3). As you may be able to tell from the next photo I was a little tipsy at this point.

There were a bunch of seafood stalls and although James had initially planned on getting some crab cakes, he changed his mind because he said “the Mexican food is expanding in my stomach”. Then we saw this.

How can you go to the US and not eat a deep fried candy bar? You could get a deep fried pickle! Also Reese’s peanut butter cups, twinkies, and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But James went for a Snickers. Here it is in its deep fried glory.

James took a photo of himself devouring it. He wouldn’t let me touch his camera because I had sticky fairy floss hands. =( It’s true, the sugar had melted all over my fingers and even onto my arm. But whatever, he has nobody but himself to blame for this unflattering shot where he looks like Lindsay Lohan’s dad.

We both agreed that the deep fried Snickers was really gross. The batter was really thick, it was difficult to eat, and it ruined a perfectly good Snickers bar.

We spent awhile waiting for a bus to take us to Wallingford where the internet and one of James’ colleagues had recommend a store called Bedrooms and More. They did not steer us wrong – we found a great mattress there, the sales guy was helpful and largely left us alone to lie on the various beds. We decided on the Englander “Natural Dreamer” which was just so crazy comfortable. It’s a latex mattress with a firm core but a softer layer on top so it feels really luxurious without feeling too soft and unsupportive.

After that we went to Bottleworks where James picked up a bunch of beers. They had a variety of beers on tap at the back and one of the guys who worked there gave him a couple of samples since he didn’t know which one he would like. Then afterwards he put together a sampler of local beers for him, explaining why he’d selected each one,  and then it was time to wait ages for another bus to take us home.

I’m not sure if the buses were thrown off schedule by the detours (cos of the Seafood Festival) or if they’re normally that slow, but all that waiting made James even gladder that he lives within walking distance of work. I do very much like Ballard though, and it has a bunch of restaurants that I’d like to try, so we’re definitely going to visit again.

Maya Tequila Bar and Grill

Maya Tequila Bar and Grill
74 Toorak road, South Yarra

Groupon sites are really good for trying out restaurants that I never would have considered. There have been stories about people with group deals getting treated really crappily by the restaurant, but thankfully all my experiences have been positive. In the case of Maya Tequila Bar and Grill, they even had a special Scoopon menu printed out!

If anyone is curious, the Scoopon deal was $45 for 2 people and you got:

• 2 tapas items, 1 quesadilla, 1 sizzling fajita
• either a margarita, Spanish wine, or tequila for 2
• a bonus jug of sangria (since we went as a group of 4)

I make quesadillas (and burritos, which are similar) fairly often at home, so when we were looking at the menu James was like “you can have the quesadillas. I’ll have the sizzling fajitas”. On the way there though, he changed his mind, and offered to share the sizzling fajitas (though it wouldn’t have made a difference even if he hadn’t; everything was designed for sharing and the fajitas arrived only after we’d finished the quesadillas)

Cat and Scott were already waiting for us, and they had very nicely not eaten all of the complimentary chips and dip (we never would have known). In the background of the chip photo you can see the margaritas we all got.

We went on one of the last nights before the voucher expired so we were expecting the restaurant to be packed, but it was fairly empty. I guess Sunday night is not a big eating-out night? It worked out well for us though, since the restaurant was nice and quiet. I wish the lighting had been brighter for photos, but ah well.

We started off with the tapas – jalapeno poppers and beef and prawn tostadas.

The poppers were delicious and not too spicy. The tostadas were pretty much little soft-shelled tacos.

In the background of the tostada photo you can see our quesadillas. We had one beef and one chicken. The chicken quesadillas were everyone’s favourite.

I didn’t get a photo of the sangria, but it came around this time and was delicious. According to the Scoopon ad the Sangris is normally $60, which I think is a bit pricey.

And here are the sizzling fajitas! They were served with tortillas, and you could wrap them up with rice, sour cream, cheese, tomatoes and lettuce. We got 2 each.

James didn’t want to leave without trying some of the tequila. This was listed on the menu as El Jimador ($8), and came with some sort of tomato shooter (kind of like a Bloody Mary) and an apricot nectar one. James preferred the tomato, and he said it was the nicest tequila he’s ever had (though he’s only ever had Jose Cuevo and that other brand where the lid is a sombrero). Overall he still prefers the sake from The Press Club.

Also there were some fancy tequilas that were $89 for a shot! He did not try any of those.

We weren’t completely full at the end of the meal so we ordered some churros. They were alright, nothing special. I think the Vic Market churros are tastier.

Overall I found the service to be excellent – very friendly yet unobtrusive. Food-wise, though everything was tasty and competently done, I thought it was fairly unremarkable. And the menu items start to seem fairly similar after awhile – a lot of tortilla variations. If we’d paid full price (which would have roughly been double, according to the Scoopon ad) I would have felt pretty ripped off.

If we go back it will probably be for the booze – the cocktail menu looked great, and I think James would like to explore more of the tequila menu.