Authentic Mexican at "Taste of Mexico" by Mandarin Oriental Jakarta
Yes, from 25 October – 5 November 2013, Taste of Mexico will be conducted in Cinnamon restaurant (Mandarin Oriental Jakarta’s lobby level) – by Chef Francisco Flores Obieta himself, the Executive Chef of a five-star resort and spa in Cancun, Mexico. He has years and years of professional experience, being previously at Au Comte de Gascogne (one of the michelin-starred restaurant in Paris) and Pujol in Mexico (ranked 17th in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants by S. Pellegrino & Acqua Panna). With his impressive resume he flew all the way from Mexico with his team to bring you the delight of authentic Mexican cuisine, and I’d say, for IDR 295k nett it’s a pretty damn good deal. They even bring their own ingredients!
If you're an adventurous foodie or purely a Mexican cuisine devotee, here's what to expect at Taste of Mexico.
WHAT TO EXPECT: 1. MEXICAN SALAD
Chef Francisco Flores Obieta
Mexican Salad buffet
Shrimp in Chipotle Sauce (Camarones Al Chipotle)
Pulled Venison meat salad (Salpicon de Venado)
Ceviche Vallarta – snapper, oregano, cilantro and carrots, all finely chopped and mix and drizzled with lime.
Pico de gallo, also known as salsa fresca (fresh salsa)/salsa Mexicana
Mexican condiment made of green chili and sweet caramelized onion.
Salsa verde/salsa de tomatillo, Mexican “green sauce”.
A mixed platter of Mexican Salad.
WHAT TO EXPECT: 2. ANTOJITOS MEXICANOS
There's a live cooking station conducted by Chef assistant specialized in Antojitos (literally "little cravings", what street-food snacks in Mexico are usually called.) That night, the antojitos was a some kind of corn tortilla dough pressed and flatten before filled with cheese and barbacoa meat and then pan-fried and shaped into half-moon. I didn't really catch the name, but I looked up and Wiki says it's similar to Gorditas. What's more unique is that they bring their own corn flour from Mexico. You will notice that the corn used is white corn & blue corn - they don't normally use yellow corn flour as the ones we commonly found in Indonesia. Ha, my first time eating blue corn flour!
WHAT TO EXPECT: 3. MEXICAN MAIN COURSES
At the Mexican main courses station, choose from 8 main courses including soup of the day. This will change daily so what you will experience might be different from mine.
Sopa de Tortilla, a traditional Mexican Tortilla Soup. Truly has everything that it takes to make a comfort food - great smooth texture with no tortilla lumps at all, rich flavor coming out once you blend everything together with its topping (tortilla chips, sour cream, and chili pasilla/mexican pepper dried until it's black and has that smoky aroma - very HOT, btw!). I know it's early to say, but to me it's a WINNING DISH already.
Mexican Red Rice. Also known as Arroz Rojo, this one's totally different from our version of Indonesian fried rice. In this case, rice are toasted on a pan until golden brown before cooking them in tomato broth. No excessive oily after-taste.
Barbacoa de Res (Beef Barbacoa). Supposedly comparable to our "Rendang", this slow-cooked beef dish is later translated into "Barbecue", and commonly served on crispy tortillas or as a filling to the corn tortillas at the Atojitos Mexicanos station. Flavor wise? Boy, way too salty for me. Incomparable to rendang which is so packed with herbs flavor, this one's too tangy because in the end its job is to amend the bland side of the plain tortilla.
Pollo an Molle (Chicken in Mole Sauce). Mole is a generic name for sauces in Mexican cuisine, it comes in various flavors and ingredients, with chili peppers as the common factor. This one's could be called as "The Classic One", or mole poblano, as it comes with dark red & brown color. Taste-wise? Well, unfortunately for me it's too sweet. It's a different interpretation of "sweet", unlike our version of Semur/Kecap Ayam - this one's still got its herb flavor, thanks to its complex ingredients of more than 20!
A meal of authentic Mexican would definitely not be complete without having your nachos dipped in Refried Beans, a traditional staple of Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine made of cooked & smashed beans. Tasted nice!
Pescado Ala Vercruzana - Fish in tomato peppers and olives.
Calabacitas Entomatas - Zucchini in Tomato sauce.
WHAT TO EXPECT: 4. MEXICAN DESSERT
The Mexican journey would not be complete without getting ourselves to familiarize with Mexican dessert. From Concadas - a traditional Mexican baked cookies, Ate de Guayaba - Spanish candy snacks made of thick guava paste and coated with sugar (something like "dodol" in Indonesia; to Pastel de Tres Leches - sponge cake soaked in a mixture of three kinds of milk (condensed milk, evaporated milk and full-cream milk) and topped with whipped cream and selection of berries.
But the clear winner is definitely summarized by this line I tweeted right at that night:
Just had a churrogasm. Churros at @MO_JAKARTA's Taste of Mexico buffet is so..... chubby and good!! lol
— Umi Fadilah (@umay) October 25, 2013
It was probably the chubbiest churros I have ever seen & eaten up until now. Fried to perfection with its sheer golden brown color, the outer skin has a wavy short length that forms the shape of a rugby ball, yet still has that delicate insides' texture and strong hints of cinnamon sugar coating all the way around. Dipped or topped with bittersweet dark chocolate, this churros were... perfect.
And hurry up, you know you only have TWO days left for this! I met one of the people which later turned out to be real Mexican people, and they said that the buffet here tasted real close to the flavors they used to know back home. Hmm, truly authentic Mexican plus mind-blowing churros to top it off and make a perfect dining experience? I wouldn't waste any more of my time. :)
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Cinnamon RestaurantMandarin Oriental Jakarta Hotel, Ground Floor Lobby
Jalan M.H. Thamrin, PO BOX 3392, Jakarta 10310, Indonesia
Phone: (021) 29938823 / 29938888