Restaurant: Maradentro
Location: 1168 S. Barrington Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90049. (424) 273-1377
Date: July 20, 2018
Cuisine: Mexican (seafood focus)
Rating: Very similar to Mercado
My never-ending quest to try all the new restaurants brings us to…
Maradentro, which I only realized on arrival is owned by the same group as fellow Mexican Mercado.
The menu is short and basically similar to the Mercado menu, but with a slight seafood shift.
Passionfruit Margarita. Inexplicably blue. Tasted ok, but as usual for a drink of this sort, with all that packed ice very small.
CRABIQUESO. melted cotija, parmesan, oaxaca cheese, house chorizo, poblanos, mushrooms, lump crab, fresh chips.
GUACAMOLE. hass avocados, serranos, red onions, cilantro, spicy pepitas, fresh chips.
Both quite good. I liked the chunky avocado and its interesting textures, the smoked salsas, and particularly the cheesy queso. Pretty similar to the Mercado queso except crab instead of Chorizo! Although, I actually make a better chili con queso myself, but that’s no surprise (it is a good amount of work roasting the peppers and all).
Chips.
TACOS DE PESCADO. grilled white fish, Mexican slaw, avocado salsa, chile de arbol aioli.
Dos Gringas de Camaron. Chili morita marinated shrimp, oxaca cheese, pineapple, yxta salsa brava, avocado salsa, red onions, cilantro, flour tortillas, cilantro lime rice, market vegetables. Not bad. Bright flavors. Small, which was okay today because I had a big BBQ lunch.
Maradentro is basically Mercado. It’s sort of modern Mexican without any surprises, for a reasonably sophisticated crowd not ready to venture into LA’s more ethnic South of the Border spaces. I actually like the (bright) flavors here, but they have a certain workman-like quality.