Charmed by Chiles & Chocolate

Earlier this week, I was walking home up 8th Avenue and was surprised to see a Mexican restaurant I've never noticed before called "Chiles & Chocolate". I am huge fan of using hot chiles in sweet chocolate concoctions and unsweetened chocolate in savory cooking, so I was immediately intrigued. Then when I signed on to Seamless tonight to order something in for dinner, it popped up as a new restaurant and already had some good reviews! We didn't hesitate and were quickly 30-45 minutes from what we fervently hoped would finally be some good Mexican food in our neighborhood. 

Finally, our order arrived. The Nopal Salad was incredible!  I've never had anything like it before: Nopal cactus cooked and then chilled and tossed with sweet peppers, chiles, pickled red onion and cilantro. Then, we moved on to the Sopesitos: thick corn masa tortillas topped with sauteed vegetables, pickled red onions, and guacamole. Also good. Next time, I'm sure we will try the pulled pork variety.

Although I really wanted to get the Mole, Enchiladas Verde is my barometer for Mexican food, so I ordered the Enchiladas XOXO with Oaxacan cheese. The first thing I noticed is that in a lot of Mexican food the Queso Blanco used in everything is pretty bland. This cheese however, had a wonderful, mild flavor. The Mr also ordered the Enchiladas XOXO, but with chicken and red sauce. After his first few bites, through a full mouth, he exclaimed "Oh wow! This is really $*%&# good!".

So there you have it. Oaxacan Mexican food that passed the Texans' palate. I hope to update this in the future when we visit the restaurant in person and try the Mole!