La Ciudad: Mexican Food without the Sombrero

Recently, someone asked us how we would choose the one restaurant to visit for each of the popular cuisines, like Italian or Chinese or Mexican, and we didn't have a good response (some of our friends have mistakenly assumed we've put lots of thought into this project, and that's adorable!).  This past weekend we came up with the answer: we opted for La Ciudad for Mexican cuisine because it was a nice afternoon and the restaurant was an easy walk from our place.  We weren't that familiar with the restaurant, but we were aware that the place had been featured on Check, Please!, so we strode off confidently, knowing that the liberal media wouldn't steer us wrong.


Drinks
The place is BYOB, but there were fruity drinks and options like Jarritos soda on the menu.  Rick Bayless' web site has recommendations for wines that pair well with Mexican cuisine, which we might avail ourselves of the next time we're at La Ciudad. This time we were boring an opted for stuff you can get out of your break room vending machine at work.


Food
The requisite chips and salsa were brought to us almost immediately. Both salsas were mild and one was a tomato base while the other was tomatillo.

Chips with a Red and Green Salsa

Since we were there on Sunday afternoon, we were given a brunch menu, but there were also specials featured on the wall that we could choose from.  We opted to start with one of those, the Mahi Mahi Ceviche.  When it arrived, we were a bit surprised by the pinkish salmon color, but that didn't stop us from digging right in.  Other than the obvious cilantro and lime juice, we weren't able to put our finger on the other flavors in the marinade.  Our friendly waiter told us that the ceviche was prepared Acapulco style, and had oregano, ketchsup, orange juice and buffalo sauce (not the wings kind, but apparently some Acapulco kind).  Whatever was in there combined to make a flavorful, slightly sweet-tart liquid with just a bit of a bite that was a great platform for the fish.

Mahi Mahi Ceviche

For his entree, Neil selected the Pollo con Mole Poblano.  It consisted of a couple chicken legs and thighs that were cooked until the meat was almost falling off the bone. It was served with deep, velvety brown colored mole sauce.  The sauce managed to be more chocolatey than any other mole sauce Neil had encountered before. It was subtle, savory and not sweet.  He had black beans on the side that were almost a deep purple in color.  They had a straightforward flavor, and combined with the rice made a nice complement to the mole sauce.

Pollo con Mole Poblano

Beth opted for the Huevos Yucateco, which featured two eggs and refried pinto beans layered on tostada in a fresh tomato sauce that included peas, onion and bacon.  Fried plantains also came with the dish. The dish was lightly seasoned and fresh-flavored.  Everything melded together to create something that was more than a sum of its parts.  The crisp tostada was a good foil to the soft eggs and earthy beans.  Overall, the just-cooked tomatoes, fried plantains and fresh peas gave the dish a hint of sweetness.  There were no leftovers to take home from this meal!

Huevos Yucateco

Overall
We didn't get to see the dinner menu, but what appealed to us with the brunch menu and specials was that they seemed to feature dishes from specific regions in Mexico.   That probably would carry over to the dinner menu as well.  When we asked, the waiter was great about explaining how the different dishes were prepared.  The interesting menu and friendly service made for a positive experience and helped us expand our horizons beyond quesadillas and tacos. This is not the place to come if you want to be served a bucket of frozen margaritas by someone in a serape.  Perhaps that's why we had an enjoyable, laid back time.

Foreign Factor
5 out of 10.  The overall feel of the place was welcoming and the restaurant was not decorated specifically to emphasize the country of the cuisine.  The menu was easy to maneuver and informative and the staff was approachable and helpful.  Most of the ingredients and several of the preparations were quite familiar, but there some were things on the menu that were new to us.  We were just a tad bit disheartened that one of the songs being played over the stereo system was Guantanamera (aka One Ton Tomato).  But there was no La Cucaracha, so at least there's that.

What We Learned
Despite being in the land of Rick Bayless, we have not had much experience with regional Mexican cuisine, so this gave us an opportunity to learn a little bit about differences from region to region.  We had never heard of a Mexican condiment called "buffalo sauce," but apparently it is a mild red pepper sauce that has nothing to do with the stuff we douse all over chicken wings state side.  I still can't tell you what all goes into a mole sauce, but it is interesting comparing different moles from restaurant to restaurant.  


More 
Rick Bayless' web site has a good primer on key ingredients in Mexican cuisine.  For more places to try Mexican cuisine in Chicago, try these recommendations from Saveur.