For a late lunch on a Sunday, I walked to Contramar in Roma Norte. Contramar is chef Gabriela Cámara’s flagship restaurant in CDMX that specializes in seafood. I live in San Francisco and had been to her SF restaurant - Cala - several times before it closed during the pandemic.
Contramar was packed on a Sunday afternoon. I eventually got a seat at the small bar after about half an hour without a reservation. I started with a Mezcal Jamaica cocktail, which was very nice, kind of like a mezcal spiked version of a Jamaica agua fresca. Jamaica / hibiscus tastes a bit like cranberry juice, and the mezcal gave it a bit of smokiness, as did the black salt rim.
Tomatillo and avocado salsa, limes, and marinated onions and chilis:
Tostadas de atún
Marinated tuna loin, crispy leeks, avocado & chipotle mayonnaise.
One of their signature dishes. Cala in SF had a similar dish but made with trout rather than tuna. These were great! Great combo of textures and flavors. Meaty tuna on top of a creamy flavored mayo on top of a crunchy tostada shell. Topped with some crispy oniony leek strips and some slices of avocado. Normally comes in a portion of 4, this is a half order.
Ceviche de erizo
Sea urchin ceviche. Fresh uni in a sauce that while citrusy didn’t overpower the urchin, with onion and green chili pepper.
Camarones al ajillo
My neighbors at the bar had this and it looked good, so I got a half order of this as well. Three large nicely cooked prawns with heads to suck the brains out of. I’m not sure what was in the sauce outside of garlic but it was garlicky and flavorful and had maybe some shrimp stock in it? It tasted shrimpy. It also had some garlic chips. It was served with some plain white rice which was good mixed in with some of the sauce. Delicious.
Tacos de esmedregal al pastor
Esmedregal fish “al pastor” rubbed in axiote adobo with pineapple onion & cilantro
An al pastor style fish taco. Very good. I looked up esmedregal - it’s also known as cobia. Very meaty fish. Marinated in al pastor style marinade and complete with the grilled pineapple chunks. Probably not carved off a trompo!
Mezcalita Naranja
Another mezcal cocktail, this one with orange juice and a chili rim.
Fig tart
Finally for dessert I had another signature dish, their fig tart. This was great. The tart filling was a bit like a creamy cheesecake, and it was topped with these beautiful fresh meaty fig slices. Just the right amount of sweetness.
All in it was about $85 USD before tip. Great meal! Very friendly service as well.
More pics:
