Momocho

January 30, 2009

Momocho

1835 Fulton Rd.

Cleveland, OH 44113

The Setup: Our good friends Jason and Liz were headed to Playhouse Square in Cleveland to see Cheech and Chong perform, and they had decided to do dinner at Momocho before the show. Hoping we could join them for the evening, we checked out Momocho's website and tried to get tickets for the show. Unfortunately, we weren't able to make it to the show but after seeing Momocho's menu online, we definitely still tagged along for dinner!

The Experience: Momocho is a modern Mexican restaurant located in the beautiful Ohio City neighborhood of Cleveland, OH. Our reservation was at 6:00 PM which, luckily, still gave us 30 minutes to take advantage of happy hour! During happy hour, the traditional margarita and all of the taquitos are half off!

The decor in Momocho can best be described as beautifully intriguing. Lucha libre masks hang from the walls along with beautiful chandeliers, and each table is adorned with one of the prayer candles that also line the restaurant shelves. 

The Food: To start off the evening, Greg, Jason and I opted to take advantage of the half price traditional margarita which is served on the rocks. This only set us back $4.00 each. Liz decided to go with her favorite from her last visit - the cactus flower margarita for $7.50. 

The theme of our evening turned out to be grazing on food, so we ordered little by little as the mood stuck us. Our waiter brought out fresh, warm tortilla chips served with tomatillo salsa and pico de gallo, but from looking at the menu at home, we already had our hearts set on the guacamole sampler! For just $18.00, you get 3 good sized portions of any of their 6 varieties of guacamole! We decided on the goat cheese with tomato and poblano, the garlic confit with bleu cheese and chili verde, and lastly the blue crab with pickled corn and chipotle. Although they were all delicious and we needed many refills of our chips, the bleu cheese guac. was my absolute favorite! It was creamy and rich and the bleu cheese gave it just enough of a kick at the end to leave you wanting more!

After we started on the guacamole, we decided to order some taquitos to share before happy hour was over! We decided on the grilled flatiron steak with a honey-chipotle sauce ($7), and also the slow roasted duck with an ancho chile sauce ($7.75). These were both served with warm corn tortillas so that you could build your own taquito. Although they were both great, I was partial to the roasted duck! 

By this point in the game, the boys were both on their second margarita and although we had all pretty much reached capacity, we also really wanted to try some of the entrees that Momocho has to offer. We decided to get 2 entrees and share them between the four of us. The first one was the seared sea scallops with hominy croquettes and a jalapeno creamed corn ($19.50) and the second was the pork with a mole sauce and tamale dumplings ($18.00). The pork was served with a side of rice and more corn tortillas, and had the perfect blend of spices and a hint of sweetness from the mole sauce. As for the scallops, they were perfect! Definitely the best scallops I've ever had. The hominy croquettes were also great -- think hushpuppies -- and had a spicy dipping sauce. Rounding out the scallop dish was the creamed corn which had a great texture from pairing the creamy sauce with whole kernals of corn. 

As if this huge spread wasn't enough to fill us up, our eyes won out over our stomachs and we ended up ordering 2 desserts! 

We couldn't pass up their specialty dessert - the Mexican fried ice cream, which was a huge ball of ice cream with 4 spoons so we could all dig in! Greg and I also ordered a vanilla bean flan to go which we promptly ate upon our arrival home! Both desserts were amazing, although I have a special place in my heart (or should I say my stomach?) for a good flan!

The Verdict: A++ Our experience at Momocho was perfect from the start. Our waiter was great and let us order as we went along which was a really nice way to experience a little bit of everything they had to offer. From the creative and unique guacamole choices to the perfectly spicy entrees, to the desserts that cooled your mouth down afterwards -- there isn't one thing I would change about any of the food we ate that night. I highly recommend Momocho to anyone who loves Mexican food but might be bored with the same old chain restaurant grub. You definitely won't be disappointed! Just make sure to call ahead for a reservation, and if your schedule allows it, make it during happy hour so you can enjoy the benefit of half price margaritas and taquitos! **Insider's Tip** - Celebrating a birthday?? Let your waiter know! At the end of your meal you'll get a complementary fried ice cream, complete with a sparkler on top, and minus a cheesy rendition of the happy birthday song! Is there a better way to ring in another year??