Anejo - A Mexican Delight
Wow, am I ever behind in my blogging tasks! Almost two months ago, we had our first dinner club installment of 2015. Anejo has made news as one of the top restaurants in Calgary's Avenue magazine as well as through excellent word-of-mouth reviews. Our friends Jen and Simon thankfully made the choice to take our group to this fine restaurant and I don't think anyone was disappointed!
After some initial confusion over the number of people they could serve and the menu, the folks at Anejo finally settled on a maximum of 12 guests, a deposit, and a set menu. Now, most of our group is really against a set menu and we have been known to avoid certain restaurants who try to impose this requirement upon us. I'm not sure if we would have actually gone through with Anejo if we hadn't already secured the date and time with so many people and found out about the set menu only a little over a week before the event. Being in Houston at the time and relying heavily on Jen to finalize the details, we decided to just go ahead with the set menu.
I've come to realize that there are some styles of cuisine where a set menu does work. Mexican, Indian, some Italian, and likely other ethnic restaurants could get away quite easily with a set menu. While I did not enjoy the formal set menu presented by Teatro (too much like a large corporate Christmas party meal), I was surprisingly impressed with Anejo's presentation. Large platters of food along with a variety of side dishes were served, allowing for a more 'family style' of dining. This did go over well with our entire group, so I am very happy with the 'set menu' option at Anejo. No one went home hungry and it allowed everyone who was interested to taste a variety of dishes. Formal set menus are not conducive to this, which is what our dinner club is all about, after all.
Armed with corn chips, salsa and heavenly guacamole, our group began the night in our cozy corner - the table was set for 12 but in reality it only comfortably sat 9 or 10. We relied on the shelving along the wall a lot for drinks and extra dishes! The tables were quite small, not offering much room for all the dishes and serving plates, either. But, we somehow managed. With our group, we had some specials for pitchers of margaritas, and we could order from the bar, so our drink menu was not restricted in any way, which was nice. The margaritas were amazing and I think we drank a couple more pitchers than we had intended!
First came the tortilla soup, a wonderful, slightly zingy tomato-based soup served in a funky little square glass. This was a hit and most of us want more!
Gorditas and a soft taco plate were presented after the soup. The tacos were pork, vegetarian, chicken and fish and, with 3 platters for our group, we had more than enough food for the appetizer portion of our meal. I really enjoyed the vegetarian tacos, with corn and beans.
For dinner, we were served a platter containing the main entrees: chile relleno, fish, a lamb or beef steak, and chicken mole. All were quite delectable and I would definitely go back again for the chile relleno or chicken mole! The 4 different sauces were quite fun to experiment with as well, changing the flavors of the meat in many different ways. The men devoured the steak, of course.
Our side dishes included a scrumptious risotto (which a few of us had trouble eating, despite being stuffed), wonderfully and perfectly cooked golden beets, and a superb Mexican rice dish.
At this point, no one could move - we were so full of yummy, yummy food! Of course, though, out came dessert. The churros were fantastic and went quickly, but the cheesecake and chocolate tres leche cakes were not as popular (probably because we were so full).
Dinner at Anejo was lovely - everyone had a wonderful time socializing, our waitress kept up with our many demands like a professional, and we were deliciously happy with the food selections and our ability to share.
After some initial confusion over the number of people they could serve and the menu, the folks at Anejo finally settled on a maximum of 12 guests, a deposit, and a set menu. Now, most of our group is really against a set menu and we have been known to avoid certain restaurants who try to impose this requirement upon us. I'm not sure if we would have actually gone through with Anejo if we hadn't already secured the date and time with so many people and found out about the set menu only a little over a week before the event. Being in Houston at the time and relying heavily on Jen to finalize the details, we decided to just go ahead with the set menu.
I've come to realize that there are some styles of cuisine where a set menu does work. Mexican, Indian, some Italian, and likely other ethnic restaurants could get away quite easily with a set menu. While I did not enjoy the formal set menu presented by Teatro (too much like a large corporate Christmas party meal), I was surprisingly impressed with Anejo's presentation. Large platters of food along with a variety of side dishes were served, allowing for a more 'family style' of dining. This did go over well with our entire group, so I am very happy with the 'set menu' option at Anejo. No one went home hungry and it allowed everyone who was interested to taste a variety of dishes. Formal set menus are not conducive to this, which is what our dinner club is all about, after all.
Armed with corn chips, salsa and heavenly guacamole, our group began the night in our cozy corner - the table was set for 12 but in reality it only comfortably sat 9 or 10. We relied on the shelving along the wall a lot for drinks and extra dishes! The tables were quite small, not offering much room for all the dishes and serving plates, either. But, we somehow managed. With our group, we had some specials for pitchers of margaritas, and we could order from the bar, so our drink menu was not restricted in any way, which was nice. The margaritas were amazing and I think we drank a couple more pitchers than we had intended!
First came the tortilla soup, a wonderful, slightly zingy tomato-based soup served in a funky little square glass. This was a hit and most of us want more!
Gorditas and a soft taco plate were presented after the soup. The tacos were pork, vegetarian, chicken and fish and, with 3 platters for our group, we had more than enough food for the appetizer portion of our meal. I really enjoyed the vegetarian tacos, with corn and beans.
Our side dishes included a scrumptious risotto (which a few of us had trouble eating, despite being stuffed), wonderfully and perfectly cooked golden beets, and a superb Mexican rice dish.
At this point, no one could move - we were so full of yummy, yummy food! Of course, though, out came dessert. The churros were fantastic and went quickly, but the cheesecake and chocolate tres leche cakes were not as popular (probably because we were so full).
Dinner at Anejo was lovely - everyone had a wonderful time socializing, our waitress kept up with our many demands like a professional, and we were deliciously happy with the food selections and our ability to share.
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