Boston: Temazcal Cantina

Location:

250 Northern Avenue
Boston, MA
www.temazcalcantina.com

We went to Temazcal to celebrate my BIL's birthday.
It was one of those early Fall September days, so the rain was coming down, and it was a Friday so we did get caught in rush-hour traffic.

On top of this, a few things to note:

Temazcal doesn't take reservations.

They have valet parking which is $20 (!) but you get it validated by the restaurant so it's actually $16 (!). (There will be much usage of exclamation points in this post).

We had to wait at the bar for our table, which was to be about a 45 minute wait. (!)

We had a round of cocktails - the mojitos were served in these giant glasses, with the thick rim, you know the kind, when the rim of the glass fills your whole mouth as though you won't be able to get a sip to drink? And the entire drink had far too much ice for enjoyment.

Then we were seated and given iPAD menus!

My BIL mentioned how unhygienic something like that would be to use - but then again, so are paper/laminated menus as well.  They say menus are the filthiest of all.

But I digress.

The light emanating from the iPads were incredible - all of our faces were highlighted in a blue glow, but as soon as we'd all ordered and the iPads were taken away, it was as if someone had turned off a light.  We were left to make conversation with ourselves, without the entertainment of swiping through the menu.

The view from the restaurant is quite lovely, and I must say the interior is really nice.  Watch out for the slippery floors though - not a friend of a lady and her heels!

Beside us, a table was served with an ENTIRE PIG (LECHON ASADO)!  Gross to the vegetarians of the table (and although I don't eat chicken anymore, but do eat bacon - don't ask - I was also not happy to catch the visual).

For the table we ordered the "GUACOMOLE DE LA MIXETA" which doesn't come with chips by the by.  Is this not weird to anyone?  We then had to order a couple of chip plates.

The guac was AMAH-ZING.  And very filling.

I ordered the HUACHINANGO A LA VERACRUZANA (red snapper with plantain mash).  It was incredible; the portion was huge and the entire thing was absolutely delicious.

My Mom got the POLLA A LA PERILLA MEXICANA which she loved (surprising, as she's very hard to please)!

Unfortunately those were the only dishes at the table that were good.

This is also largely due to the fact that 98% of the menu is non-veg, and although on the phone they said they'd be able to make any dish veg, our server didn't think so.  Thus, the only real veg option was the ENCHILADAS VERDES, which was not a huge hit; the BIL especially did not like it.

The QUESADILLA BOLILlOS (chicken) were average.  

The MOLE PABLANO (chicken mole) was served alone without any side of rice or anything.  Hard to eat that much mexican chocolate without any carbs, you know what I mean?

Our server, however, was good, and tried his best to accommodate our dietary restrictions as much as he could.

Still, most of the group, aside from me and my happy red snapper, felt like their meals were a huge rip-off in the end.  Fancy Mexican is apparently not for this family.  Maybe we're just happy with our version of Mexican dinners, with our Uncle Bens Spanish rice and refried beans.

OLE!

Comments

[Kate]

It sounds like your Temazcal experience was at least marginally better than ours. So much potential, but so...not quite there. We stick with Masa, Fajitas + Ritas, Tico and Papagayo.

[Hogger]

Really Kate? What happened when you went?

[Tay]

So glad I read this! My boyfriend lives right around the corner from there and we were thinking about going after work one day next week. I've heard a lot of great things about Fajitas + Ritas, so maybe we'll have to head over there instead. Great post, I love the pictures!

[Hogger]

Hey Tay, I'll have to keep Fajitas + Ritas in mind for our next outing, too; let me know how it is!

[molliee]

wow these photos just made me want mexican food tonight!

xoxo
molliee