D.F. Mexican Restaurant

D.F. - prounounced "Day Effay" - the official name of Mexico City and now a rather young Mexican restaurant located in Portland's Pearl District- is attempting to take traditional Mexican cuisine and enliven it with the modern urban themes of Mexico City. A number of local foodies having been raving about the place for the last year, so it was time to check it out. I went with a group of about 10, Sunday June 17 2007.

We started out with guacamole and margaritas. If you use really fresh ingredients, it hard to make bad guac, and this one didn't disappoint. The chips were light and crispy, but I didn't get the sense that they were freshly made just for me, like they seem to be at Por Que No?. The "Tradicional" margarita was bright and cheery, and literally intoxicating. Good. There was a trio of dips to accompany the chips. There were two runny sauces (a red and a green) that I assume were reflective of traditional sauces served in Mexico City. Don't get me wrong, they were very flavorful, but some more Americanized folk may long for some straight up chunky salsa. The third item was a pickled relish with jalapenos, carrots, and onions. Really really good.

Our main entree was the Mole Amarillo. This is a pork chop. A really freaking huge pork chop. It's served with a mildly spicy brick red mole made from amarillo chiles. The chop was seared and cooked to perfection. It must have been about 3 inches thick. It was a monster and it was delicious. Some of their house rice was served to tie it all together. This was a delicious chop, and I really, really, want to go back for another. I had a glass of Faustino IV 2004 Rioja and it washed the chop down tremendously.