The Top Floor Flat

This evening I went with my mom to the new Reposado restaurant in Palo Alto for what promised to be a unique Mexican dining experience. It’s been a while since I’ve had the opportunity to review a restaurant but the Bay Area has flavors and eateries to rival the best of London’s so there’s no reason not to take advantage of the diversity around me now.

The large dining room was certainly spacious – a welcome change after London’s typically cramped dining experiences – but this meant that, despite the fairly sizable dining crowd, Reposado looked half empty at 7pm. We were seated by a friendly hostess and began our menu debate. The first snag of the night occurred when we were asked for our drink orders and I realized I had forgotten my ID, something that wouldn’t normally be required in London but unfortunately a necessity for a 22 year-old in the US. Margarita-less, I returned to the menu. My mom and I decided to begin with the Ceviche de Camaron, a prawn ceviche with lime and cucumber juice, Serrano chili, avocado, and grilled pineapple, for $10.50.

An enthusiastic but somewhat misdirected waitress returned with the Cayo de Hacha y Camaron (a prawn and scallop dish) but quickly rectified the mistake, delivering the attractive dish we had actually ordered (shown above). The lime was somewhat overpowering but the appetizer grew on us, the fried plantain chips providing a welcome sweetness to off-set the tart bite. While I don’t think we would order it again, it was a tasty departure from a typical cerviche.

For our main course we settled on the three taco plate after a seemingly endless debate. A recent review had warned against the tacos, citing too much iceberg lettuce and dry meat, but the opportunity to sample three different flavors proved too tempting and we each ordered a chicken, pork and steak taco.

Quite contrary to the negative review, the meat was tender, the lettuce in proportion and the tacos overall satisfying.  Unfortunately we felt that the steak taco was the weakest in the group, featuring a toasted ancho salsa, avocado crema, and Cotija cheese which seemed to ruin an otherwise tasty meat, and a letdown after the pork and chicken. However the plate was priced incredibly reasonably at $9.75 and was a perfect portion size, especially with the earlier appetizer and the promise of desert.

We finished our Reposado meal with the Azteca Chocolate Cake ($6.75), a dark chocolate cake with a hint of chili peppers, a combination that worked beautifully. It was served with a strawberry compote and key lime cream topping. Our only comment was that the texture of the cake could be improved as the individual portion size cake may not have been as moist as we could have hoped – overall a minor critique for an otherwise delicious desert.

The food was quite tasty although no where near the best Mexican in the Bay. This character restaurant offers more in ambiance than it does in gourmet cuisine but the restaurant is new and the menu is still improving (the waiter mentioned an upcoming chorizo dish which sounded tempting). It’s location is convenient, the prices reasonable and the food flavorful. The meal was certainly a treat however the service we received was what turned the night out into an enjoyable experience. From the hostess to the wait-staff to the owner, who stopped by to ensure we were enjoying our meal, the friendly atmosphere that filled Reposado earned the top marks.

Next time I’ll remember to bring my ID and I’m certain I’ll have wonderful things to say about the bar as well!

Photos courtesy of Reposado Restaurant website