| rev:text
| - It was a surprise, as I never expected to go back, but we got an opportunity to try SumoMaya a 2nd time.
Some things were a vast improvement, others were the same as my first visit there.
This time we went earlier in the day, and our reservation was ready right on time. The place was still busy, but not packed like before and this time was dinner was much more relaxed and stress-free - I could hear our conversations. SumoMaya is very high energy, and maybe I'm just a fuddy-duddy, but the scene later in the evening is like a nightclub. I much preferred the quieter lower-key earlier dinner hour.
Our service was impeccable! Our waitress was friendly, efficient, and informative. We also had the manager check in on us, and we felt valued and even a bit pampered. Great service, great people.
The food: We started with the guac and chips, which were more like tostadas. The guac itself was fresh and tasty, but I did not care that much for all the extras piled on top that were salty and very citrus-y. We ended up removing a lot of the peppers, they just weren't working for us. The little tostadas were crispy and seasoned with lime.
My wife ordered the coconut soup, and loved it just as much as before. I also sampled it again, and just didn't care for the pungent saffron and coconut, it overwhelmed me a bit. She also got sushi which she gave top marks to; I tried the pork belly roll and found the meat to be fatty and salty, and the seaweed a bit hard to chew on. I've never been a sushi fan, so that's on me. The wife loved her sushi, though she did also remark that meat was very salty; she preferred the seafood rolls.
I ordered the carne flank steak - and it was decent. I liked the sear on it, but as sometimes typical with that cut, it ended up being chewy, almost too chewy, despite it being touted as waygu. It came with a sauce called "Citrus mojo" - which I found way too salty and acidic.
I also tried the tacos again, and they are still a bit of a disappointment for me. This time I tried the meat directly, just on its own, and the al pastor and Korean beef were tasty. Not knock my socks off tasty, but the Korean beef was pretty good and the al pastor was ok. Like before, I didn't like the overwhelming toppings, in particular the pickled slaw which I feel kills the savour of the meat. The corn tortillas lacked life, they were limp and bland. I feel the meat in a taco should be the central focus, and the toppings are there just to add zing or crunch, but these tacos were way too dominated by the toppings, leaving the meat to be an afterthought.
We ended with the coconut ice cream - which tasted fresh and was well complimented with toppings and things like freeze-dried coconut (?). It was a nice sweet and refreshing dessert.
Overall: the service is A+. The atmosphere is high energy and not necessarily my personal type of dinner atmosphere. I get why this place is popular and trendy though, they serve their target demographic well I assume. The food is a mixed bag - good marks for the sushi, but not for the mexican side of the fusion. I would let the sushi be the complex art pieces that they are, and would simplify the tacos to emphasize the savoury meats not the pungent toppings.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)