Alamexo

Address: 268 South State Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111. 801.779.4747.

Review: In the middle of trial, lunch is a sanctuary. There is no arguing during lunch. No objections. No questions. If the food is good, that's just an added bonus. 

Alamexo is the new Mexican joint in town. It's also exceedingly close to the courthouse. Perfect for lunch.

We started, as does every other person who has ever frequented Alamexo, with the guacamole. Made table-side, this guac is a combination of perfectly ripe avocado, chopped jalapeño, tomatoes, and cilantro. 

Luscious, creamy, slightly acidic, herby. Only real gripe was lack of salt.

Next up was the cochinita pibil with corn tortillas.

The pork is marinated in anchiote and bitter orange and served with habanero pickled onions. Sounds fantastic, right? In reality, it was pretty bland. I didn't pick up any bitter orange flavor. The habanero pickled onions lacked any assertive vinegar taste, and there was no heat at all. The tortillas, far as I could tell, were industrial-made. The accompanying black beans, in contrast, were money. And the fried plantains with crema. Goodness. Sweet, crunchy, starchy. Just gorgeous. So, the actual dish was not worth the time spent chewing, but the accompaniments were worth every second.

Last up: dessert. I don't usually order dessert, but when I heard one included fried plantains with crema and chocolate drizzle, how could I resist?  

This was the first time I've ever experienced plantains and chocolate. Brilliant. Totally works. The crema added additional fattiness. Just good, good, good.

Rating: 6.5/10 (5/10 is average).

(Note: I usually focus only on food. Good food warrants any amount of money. This said, Alamexo is simply too expensive for the quality. With the exception of dessert (which was heavenly), I have found more flavorful food at taco stands. (And this is not a knock. taco stands produce some of the better Mexican food in America. They just happen to do so at prices 1/4 to 1/5 of Alamexo.))