I often find it hard to scope out a really good Mexican restaurant that is not too expensive yet still offers high quality food. Nothing that leaves you skeptical about the meat you just consumed or how fresh the ingredients are. When I stumbled upon Momocho‘s menu, I thought to myself that it looked pretty fancy and highly rated so it must be something worth trying.
As my friend Nicole and I were in Ohio City this past weekend, our hopes were set on attending The Taste of Tremont. Yet to our dismay, the parking was not in our favor and our starvation took the best of us. I told her we could give up and just head to Ohio City because I knew of a few good restaurants nearby. Whenever I’m not sure of what to eat, Mexican is usually a good choice because let’s be honest… you cannot go wrong with some tasty tacos.
I knew that there were cheaper and more casual places around the area but I had been to Momocho a few times last year and since I was showing my friend my favorite food spots, I drove straight to Momocho located on 1835 Fulton Road.
Since Momocho is more of a Friday/Saturday night date restaurant, we did not have a problem being seated at 4:00pm on a Sunday. The small outdoor seating was packed so unfortunately we couldn’t take advantage of the beautiful day. We ended up on the first floor near the bar where it was dimly lit and decorated with numerous skulls on the walls. Within seconds of receiving our menus, our eyes locked on the guacamole appetizers. The list includes guacamole with sheep’s milk gouda and Ohio honey, one with smoked trout and bacon or the traditional plain. We ended up ordering the traditional and shortly after, a huge cup of swirled guacamole arrived at our table finished with a lime wedge and a large basket of salted tortilla chips.
You could taste the freshness of the avocados and how thick and creamy it was. Each chip was very salty but in the best way possible. With each dip I took, a large chunk of guacamole piled onto my chip. Why go small when you have such fresh ingredients right in front of you waiting to be eaten? I’m not a huge fan of chips but I could not resist the green goodness that paired with them. Thankfully our meals came shortly after so we didn’t devour the whole bowl (because we most definitely would have).
I ordered the avocado leaf encrusted tuna taquitos with candied jalapeño-blood orange marmalade. My friend Nicole ended up with the spiced grilled chicken taquitos with chile ancho and pomegranate barbacoa. When our waitress brought them to our table, the meat and fish were served in round bowls on top of wooden platters. Each of our entrees came with two different sauces – a green chile sauce and a sweeter red tomato-based sauce. To me, the green chile did not give too much flavor to my tacos so I ended up using a ton of the red sauce. It was super sweet and added a great punch to my tuna. A small container of mini tortillas was shared between the both of us, along with Nicole’s side order of sofrito green beans. Both of our meals made at least 5 mini tacos (if not more) and were a great late lunch. We kept saying mid-bite “Oh my god, this is amazing. This is unreal.” We could not stop eating even though we were stuffed after our appetizer and the countless tacos we made. Nicole’s chicken was grilled to perfection around skewers with a crispy outer layer and my tuna was cooked very rare – just the way I like it.
I wish I could have saved half of my tuna like Nicole ended up doing with her meal but it was just THAT good. Although we didn’t save room for dessert, items included gingersnap jalapeño pudding, caramel vanilla bean flan and fried ice cream. Tempting. When we left, Nicole couldn’t stop expressing to me how happy she was that I had taken her there. It always makes me delighted to know that my friends appreciate restaurants and food I’m into and suggest. Maybe it was destiny that we didn’t end up at The Taste of Tremont and instead spent $50 on fantastic guacamole and taquitos in Ohio City.
With restaurants like Momocho, I have faith that good quality Mexican food can exist outside the world teenagers know of Chipotle burritos and horrible preservative-filled Taco Bell quesadillas.
Try Momocho if you’re in the Ohio City area. It’s really something worth talking about.
Momocho is open Tuesday-Saturday: 5:00pm to close and Sundays: 4:00pm to 9:30pm. They also serve a Gluten-Free menu and have Happy Hour 5:00-6:30pm Tuesday-Friday.
-Addie
