Sunday, May 17, 2009
Xochitl
Xochitl (so-cheet) is an authentic yet modern Mexican restaurant located in Historic Headhouse Square at 408 South Second Street in Philadelphia. It was recently rated #21 out of the 50 best restaurants in the Philadelphia area by Philadelphia magazine.
There is a large bar and intimate dining room upstairs and a smaller bar and cozy lounge downstairs. Table-side blue cheese guacamole prepared to order was the highlight of the evening along with their margaritas. I prefered the reposado (aged) tequila that was featured in my second margarita over the blanco (un-aged) tequila I had in my first margarita. Here’s an explanation of the aging process:
Blanco: Bottled immediately after distillation.
Reposado: “Rested” for a minimum of two months and up to one year.
Anejo: Aged for a minimum of one year.
The menu has several items that need explaining. Don’t be shy about asking what the items are. For our second appetizer we tried the Gorditas de Huitlachoche. We had no idea what Huitlachoche is. Our server was kind enough to explain that it is a fungus similar to a mushroom. I later researched its origin and discovered it is a fungus that grows on ears of corn. If you like mushrooms you will like this dish.
Entrees included the Enfrijoladas which are corn tortillas stuffed with vegetables or Chihuahua cheese, with black bean sauce, cream and cotija cheese. We also shared the Parrillada (served for one or two people) which is mixed grill of skirt steak, shrimp, chicken, morcilla (blood sausage), duck and melted Chihuahua cheese.
For dessert we split the Pan de Chocolate which is a chocolate souffle cake with cajeta (caramel) ice cream and Churros y Chocolate which is churros with Mexican chocolate and cajeta dipping sauces. Our only complaint was that the desserts were smaller than we anticipated. We specifically asked our server if two desserts could be split between the three of us and she advised it would be more than enough. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. I would say we each only had about two bites of each of the desserts. Not enough to share.
Entrees range in price from $13-$20. Servers are friendly and for the most part have great recommendations. The servers were also very attentive. It is important to never have an empty glass of water as you never know when the next spicy meal might come along. Our water glasses never even came close to being empty. Overall it was a good dining experience.
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