Xocolat - Upscale Mexican Cuisine

Always on the hunt for a new experience, friends joined us last night to try out Xocolat, a relatively new Mexican restaurant to the Calgary food scene.  Located on 11th Avenue SW near the popular King and I Thai restaurant, Xocolat is refined elegance in an open concept dining room.  Surprisingly, for a Thursday night, the place was practically deserted, but perhaps the word has not yet been spread about this gem.  

Or, perhaps, people haven't noticed it driving or walking by.  

Xocolat's sign is stylish and simple, yet, because it's relatively small compared to neighbouring adverts, and because it's not lit up or designed to stand out, it was very easy to pass by their front door.  They need to place some lighting behind it or impose a more eye-level (and eye-catching) sign to draw customers in.  Outside was an Erdinger beer sign with the name and specials written in chalk - not exactly an accurate advertising scheme for this intimate dining spot.

However, once inside, we had no complaints.  Our waitress was friendly and helpful - she even let us try to pronounce the Spanish-language menu items, and clarified how to say 'Xocolat' (it's 'chocolate' with a Spanish accent, really!).  The menu offers starters, appetizers, entrees and desserts, each with their own price tag, as expected.  To draw you into the experience and enable you to try a few different options off their scrumptious-sounding menu, they also offers various courses for a set price.  You can choose any options from the a la carte menu for these courses; you just choose your number - 3, 5, 7, 9, or 12 courses.  

Both couples chose to share a 5-course meal; please note that our waitress strongly urged us not to order a meal to share due to the size of the portions.  We maintained our decision because we thought we could order more later if we were hungry.  As it turns out, this was perfect for all 4 of us - the portions seemed small as they were presented, but by the end of the evening, we were comfortably full and satisfied.  The 5-course meal was $85.00.  

Our meals began with an 'amuse bouche' - a small spoonful of a nice bean salad.  It was good, but not spectacular; we appreciated the gesture.

I wish the menu was posted online so I could get the names of the dishes correct...Bryan and I began with a starter, an apple-cranberry salad.  It was absolutely delectable!  The creamy pink sauce beneath the diced apples was lightly sweetened so that it seemed to me that I was getting my dessert first!  This was, by far, my favorite dish.  

Our friends chose the scallops appetizer as their first course.  Both declared complete satisfaction with this dish, as well, and it was a highlight of their meal.

Our second course was the chicken tortillas and cheese, an appetizer on the main menu.  I love corn tortillas wrapped around cheese, beans and chicken, and these little guys did not disappoint.  The flavours were what you'd expect by this combination of fresh food, and I found the appetizer very enjoyable.

Third was the "dirty rice" - a mixture of rice in a black bean sauce, various seafood, chicken, artichokes, and possibly pork.  I loved the rice texture and flavour in this dish (and, thus, was extremely happy to see subsequent dishes served with more of this great staple), and the shrimp on top was the largest one I had ever seen!  This is a signature entree and our waitress was correct in recommending it to us.  

Our friends ordered another appetizer, shrimp on a pineapple sauce.  Both exclaimed this was so good, so I think it was another winner.

The chile rellenos came next for Bryan and I.  There was a definite spicy kick to this dish, served breaded and stuffed with rice and shrimp.  This is one of my favorite Mexican dishes, and I'm used to having it served with a tomato or mole sauce, but I was very impressed with the taste and texture of Xocolat's version.

Last, we received red snapper, served on breaded and deep-fried tortilla and more black bean rice.  The fish was cooked to perfection - light and flaky and melt in your mouth.  This was Bryan's favorite of the night.  

The steak was our friends' last course and it was deemed to be extremely tasty and cooked very well.  Overall, we had an enjoyable evening of testing out a new establishment in Calgary.  Hopefully Xocolat is here to stay because it is definitely a place I would recommend and return to again.  They even have a large group-sized table for 20 people.

Most unique was the delivery of our bill - our waitress brought out this huge box, not dissimilar to one that contains teas, and placed it on our table.  Unsure what we were getting, we asked what this was about.  She laughed, telling us it had chocolates inside as our final farewell, along with the bill.  Opening it up, 4 handmade, good-sized chocolates sat as a thank-you.  Okay, this may have been the best part of the meal!  They were superb - rich, creamy and melted in your mouth!