La Condesa is a small place of about a dozen 2-top tables that has been in business about 6 months.  Soft jazz plays in the background, windows along one wall look out to the street and bench seating lines both walls of the rectangular space.  Painted wood walls wood floors and hard ceiling make the noise level moderate once the place is full.  They only serve a surprise tasting menu to all guests and no write up of the menu is available.  An informational sheet states that Chef Indra Carrillo, who just turned 30, and his team offer “creative combinations of world cuisines using the best available ingredients.”  Service was good as was the pacing of the meal.  

 

The meal started with three things.  Sunflower chips that were like a double cracker with a thin, nutty spread inside.  They were good.

 

Mackerel ceviche was plated with sliced carrots.  The strong taste of the mackerel was nicely moderated by the citrus preparation.

 

Potatoes mousseline topped dark crab meat.  The crab had some jello like substance mixed in with the mild crab.  The creaminess of the potatoes made the dish rich and very nice.

 

Confit salmon with nettle coulis was served with glazed potatoes and shallots.  The really fresh potatoes were the major flavor in the dish.  The salmon was velvety and fell apart into a silky eating experience.  The nettles were just the right seasoning to complete the dish.

 

Bread was a brown variety that was nicely dense with a crisp crust.

 

Seared foie gras was plated with confit lemon, fennel, romanesco and placed in a broth of fennel and chile oil.  The little spice in the broth went perfectly with the foie gras.  The subtle flavors all worked well together to make a tasty dish.  The accompanying vegetables were perfectly cooked and added to the successful ensemble.

 

Roasted cod was served with Jerusalem artichoke puree and apples.  Some of the apples were rolled in apple powder (brown shade) and some reduced apple juice dotted the green oil sauce.  The apples were tart yet sweet and the fish was cooked perfectly.  The white and green balls were Jerusalem artichoke.  The cod was perfectly cooked.  It was another good plate.

 

Female, half-wild duck was served with celeriac presented in 3 ways, as purée, whole baked in salt crust and then poached in red wine and chili and as crumbles.  The duck was quite tender and the celeriac was very tasty, especially the purée.

 

Chocolate soufflé had some chocolate ganache in the center and was served with a mandarin sorbet that was plated with a very tasty chewy chocolate crispy cookie.   The souffle was a good chocolate/sweet fix.  It was lightly caramelized around the edge.

 

Greek yogurt was plated with ginger ice cream topped with caviar and a caramelized tuile.  It was refreshing and the caviar an interesting touch that worked.

 

Final sweets included a lime meringue and pistachio profiterole.  The profiterole had good pistacchio flavor and a fun creamy center while the top stayed nicely crisp.  We tried a glass of tequila to go with it.