8/13/2019 Taco Maria - Westways
1/2
aco Mara313 Hyland Avenue, Suite C21, Costa Mesa
y Miles Clements | Photo by Lori Andersonestways
January/February 2014
Taco Mara in Costa Mesa, diners are treated to an innovative
menu that might include a beer-battered fish taco.
nfo:TuesdaysSaturdays, 11:30 a.m.2:30 p.m.; ThursdaysSaturdays,
5:309:30 p.m. 1-714-538-8444
etting:Sparse, sleek, and industrial
ervice:Conversational, knowledgeable, and organized
est dishes:Guacamole, quinoa fritters, aguachile, arroz con
pollo, wood-grilled hanger steak, mole de pollotacos, fish ta
inner prices:Starters, $7$12; entres, $14$17; four-course prix
fixe, $46
or a certain slice of Orange County, the ideal Mexican meal
consists of tacos, a cold margarita, and an oceanfront sunset.
hers, theres nothing better than the all-enveloping blackness of
a complex mole negro. But its rare that these worlds me
o nudge their boundaries of taste and tradition requires immense
skill, ambition, and grace.
hats exactly what chef-owner Carlos Salgado has brought to his
Costa Mesa restaurant, Taco Mara. From his sparse, sle
pace inside the OC Mix, Salgado is producing some of the countys
most vital and inventive cooking.
hether you order la carte or opt for the four-course prix fixe,
youll be drawn to the guacamole. Its a uniquely California
reparation: perfectly ripe avocados studded with pistachios and
strewn with figs, grapes, or whatever inspired Salgado at
arket that morning. Thick, crunchy chips rise from the back of
the bowl like craggy, flaxen mountains.
he menu changes often, but dont miss Salgados reimagined
aguachile: raw snapper sliced with sushi-like precision thats
rizzled with olive oil, surrounded by a pool of chile-infused
lime juice, and accompanied by a quenelle of watermelon jam.
stunning dish, delicate in its preparation and unrestrained in
its fiery bite.
he arroz con pollo isnt quite what it seems, trading rice for
toasted farro. The dish is enlivened by pears subtle sweetness
nises licorice kick. The wood-grilled hanger steak, however, is
a purists fantasy, paired simply with caramelized onions an
ackened leaves of the Mexican herb quelites. Some entres arrive
with rugged, rough-hewn tortillas that are pressed to o
nd provide ideal vessels for the expertly pan-roasted chicken
and juicy steak.
t lunch, start with an order of freshly fried quinoa fritters.
If not the mole de pollo tacos, try what are certainly Orange
ountys best fish tacos: beer-battered black cod napped with a
charred-scallion dressing, shrouded in shredded cabbage, a
nished with a few bonito flakes.
ning at Taco Mara can be a transitory experience. Salgado and
his staff are constantly tweaking traditions and reinventin
AAA - Taco Mara
http://ww1.calif.aaa.com/westways/2014/01-02/Pages/bon-ap
of 2 12/22/13, 10:48
