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| - You can forgive a lot when food is this tasty, and Mundo doesn't need much forgiving but it does need some. Self-identifying as "chic" for starters. I don't even know what "chic" is, but it sure doesn't enhance the restaurant's allure and actually makes it seem silly and precious. Maybe "chic" is how you get away with charging twenty four dollars for carnitas tacos and twenty six for shrimp tamales. Those are Topolobampo prices, and Mundo is very good but Mundo is no Topolobampo. It's hard to fuss when you taste the food, though, and the food was delicious from jump street. I never thought I would utter the words "best chips and salsa of all time," but there you go. They arrive at your table swiftly upon being seated, a generous plate of chips dusted with a dark chili powder of some kind. It was subtle but gave the chips a lovely warmth and depth that perfectly accompanied the complexly flavored salsa. I detected smoke, sweetness, tartness, and a just a bit of heat in the salsa--it was remarkable, a true marvel of salsa engineering. Swoon-inducing. I wanted to rise and slow-clap to a Snow Patrol song.
The idea being to share everything, we ordered the ahi tuna tostada for starters, the carnitas with a side of sauteed spinach for the entree and a side of their "risotto." Alas, they were out of carnitas! Visibly crushed and deflated, we went with the skirt steak instead. Perhaps because of my histrionics, or perhaps because my dining companion had mentioned that she wanted to say hi to her friend George, the owner, or perhaps she's just that thoughtful--our waitress came back a few minutes later saying the kitchen had *just* enough carnitas left for one taco and brought it to us gratis. And oh, such carnitas. As with the salsa, itsflavor profile is astonishing; assertive but layered. First you get smoke from a grill, then comes a combination of sweetness and a bit of kick, with a long lingering finish. The meat is succulent and perfectly balanced. Slow-clap number two for the bonus carnitas taco. At this point Mundo could have slept with my best friend and I'd still take her back.
Not much to say about the tostada, however, which was a tad one-note. The tortilla was dense and the "sushi grade" tuna was rather of the all-you-can-eat variety--heavy and even chewy. There was a nice bit of heat at the end, but it was sort of too-little too-late. Not a terrible dish, but the weakest of the meal.
The skirt steak re-confirmed what the salsa and carnitas had promised. It was grilled to a perfect medium-rare as requested, and sliced against the grain at a severe angle which shows the chef knows whats up. Most impressive of all was the rub, a crusty black bark of infinite spice. Entire worlds of dark, tragically beautiful flavor are packed into that crust. That crust is like the black obelisk in 2001: A Space Odyssey, containing all of humanity's dread and limitless potential at once. It was the single greatest taste experience of the meal. My only gripe with the steak is that they make a fuss about using "wagyu." Anyone can buy skirt steak for about seven bucks a pop and achieve the same level of juicy tenderness. Skirt steak is a heroic cut that aims to please. One doesn't need "wagyu," which promises greater levels of tenderness and fat, because skirt steak is already perfectly tender and no one could detect the marbling underneath all those enormous flavors in the rub and the chimichurri and "marinated avocados" (?). This was Mundo being chic, I fear, using the word "wagyu" as a way to charge penthouse prices for a street-level cut.
We were excited to have the "risotto" along with the steak, but some wires got crossed and it didn't come. I mentioned to our lovely server how excited I was to try the risotto and it arrived a few minutes later in what looked like a small soup bowl. At that point the meal was almost finished, and while the risotto did harmonize nicely with the steak it was just too heavy to get through. The flavors were splendid, once again, but the dish needs to be dialed way down. It's overkill; the texture is heavy and the flavors don't sing they scream. Because it was neglected, our waitress said the dish was "on her." Another nice move on her part.
The location of this restaurant, at the base of a building the size of a small planet, is an atrocity of convenience. I've lived downtown for two years and this was my first visit. And the "chic" factor can seriously grate, as certain flourishes (like "wagyu") are unnecessary and distracting, and costly. But Mundo packs some of the most exciting flavors I've come across in a good while, enough so that I'll likely suck it up and pay the inflated prices because it's a party in your mouth, people, and no one's calling the cops.
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