Exterior

Interior

Ceviche

Corn chowder with chorizo

Caper guacamole beef tartare

Black bean risotto and skate wing

Corn

Pork belly mole

Duck

Poached pear and ice cream

***** (5 stars)

I’ve had lots of Asian-inspired Mexican food, and Lots of French-inspired Asian food, but this is the first time I’ve had French-inspired Mexican food, and boy, was it good!

The food is nothing short of spectacular, and defies all your expectations for either Mexican or French cuisine. It’s Mexican-influenced modern dining.

The essential thing is to get the tasting menu. It offers six of the menu’s highlights in small portions that give you an idea of the vast range of the kitchen’s skills. On off-nights, or if you go early enough, you can ask for an eight-course tasting menu that is even better.

The people around us were ordering two courses each, and the servings were huge, and ended up costing almost as much as what we paid to taste our way through much of the menu.

The wine list is quite short, but the selections are reasonably priced and perfectly chosen to accompany the food. Our server was extremely knowledgeable about the wines, and did our wine pairings herself. Each wine perfectly matched the accompanying course. I can’t remember such a consistently excellent set of pairings. And yes, there were eight wines to match the eight courses, with about a two-ounce pour of each.

At $80 for the six-course ($100 for the 8-course) tasting menu, it’s a great deal. And the $40 wine pairing ($50 for 8) is a no-brainer.

The sleek space seats at least fifty, and the quietest tables are toward the front.

Mexique
1529 W Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
(312) 850-0288
http://www.yelp.com/biz/mexique-chicago