Thursday Afternoon Lunch: Mesa Grill

What to do on a slow Thursday? Go out to lunch...and take pictures of it!

Jon came down to my neck of the woods this afternoon to meet me for lunch at Mesa Grill. We started with spicy tuna and salmon tartares. I'm starting to think I could eat spicy tuna every day...for every meal.

Smoked lamb Cobb (or was it kabob?) salad for me (left). Chile relleno for Jon (right). I've got to hand it to him...Iron Chef Flay sure can make a pretty plate. Allez cuisine!

Comments

[Lorraine]

WOW - you guys really know how to live and I applaud that!!

[AJ]

It is beautiful, but how did it taste?

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

Hi, Lorraine. I guess we've come a long way from brown-bagged PB & J sandwiches...

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

Hi, Alicia. The food was good. Not "best meal I've ever had" good, but you can tell that someone put some thought into the dishes and how they were presented.

The flavors aren't as "groundbreaking" or "new" as they they were when Mesa opened so many years ago. I'm sure you can find similar items at lots of restaurants now.

The tuna and salmon tartares I loved. Tasted fresh, spicy (with the sauces and peppers), and salty (with capers). It was served with plantain chips so that you could use each tartare as a kind of dip.

My salad was good. I really liked the flavor and texture of the lamb. My only complaint was that it was too big by 1/2. But it was a good salad. (But then again, how hard is it to mess up a salad?)

The chile relleno was good. (I've had it for dinner at Mesa before.) The crust is really crunchy, and the sauces and stuffing go well together. I think the downside with this is that it was too small by 1/2. (But then again, what doesn't taste good after it's been deep fried?)

The tuna and salmon tartares, by far, were my favorite. If you're not a raw fish person, don't worry about tuna. It's more of a flavoring delivery system than anything else.

[Lan]

was bobby flay there?? the dishes look great but did you leave full?

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

Hey, Lan. No, Bobby wasn't there that day. (Maybe he was throwin' down with somebody...) I know I left full...I needed Jon's help to finish my salad, which was a little too big for lunch. I think Jon's dish was a little small, so he didn't have any trouble picking up my salad slack.