Austin Monthly Critic Calls Comedor ‘Austin’s Sexiest Damn Restaurant’

Austin Monthly critic Jolène Bouchon reviewed modern Mexican restaurant Comedor and was impressed by its sleek design and unique dishes. Chefs Gabe Erales and Philip Speer opened the hidden-in-plain-sight restaurant downtown in April this year.

And behind an exterior of black walls and glass brick, Bouchon found a “sophisticated” interior, where the patio “dramatically redefines the alfresco experience.” She noted that this theme carries over into the food — Bouchon described the restaurant’s “[f]atty, salty, and sour” bone marrow tacos as “the single most unique bite” she’s had in Austin this year. She was similarly taken with a shrimp tostada, which she called “a bite of beachy sunshine.”

However, not everything was a hit. Bouchon said the squid-ink glazed octopus “too intensely salty” after a few bites.

Bouchon did enjoy her cocktails and desserts, particularly the chocolate tamal:

Intensely bitter, it’s meant to be tempered by the accompanying caramelized milk ice cream that’s rolled in a crust of black and white sesame seeds, puffed amaranth, and crisped rice. The deep malty flavor of the ice cream, comprised of milk solids caramelized in the oven, was OMG divine.

Bouchon concluded by describing an excellent tres leches, saying, “Each sweet bite delivered a lingering pleasure and a yearning for more — an apt metaphor for each seductive element of Austin’s sexiest damn restaurant.”

• Restaurant Review: Comedor [Austin Monthly]
• All Coverage of Comedor [EATX]