This month I decided to review a restaurant that just recently opened up in the little alley of Ludlow in the heart of East Market Place. Mi Vida is a Mexican cuisine-focused restaurant created by Chef Roberto Santibañez who is also the owner of FONDA restaurants in New York City. Mi Vida’s traditional Mexican menu takes the familiar, empanadas, enchiladas, and tacos and turning into a new tasteful passionate experience. Whether you’re looking for a night out with friends, a place to watch baseball season, or a romantic date night, Mi Vida may be your next spot!

Vibe

Walking into Mi Vida was definitely a change of scenery from some of the restaurants in the area, in a good way. While still having the modern and trendy aesthetic it takes a traditional Mexican twist to immerse in the dining experience. The restaurant provides areas of tables that are not on top of one another and the booths have dividers for added privacy. The most staple designs are the possible take of the Mexican Tree of Life in the center of the dining area and the tassel garland that runs above the length of the bar. The tree makes me think its a type of callback to the Mexican Tree of Life cause of the little different colored flowers that are placed throughout the tree, but I could be wrong! I also tried to research a bit about the importance of tassels in Mexico and what they symbolize but I had a bit of trouble, I found something here that makes a bit of sense! But from the articles I’ve read, they’re mostly used for celebration and to show heritage and of course each color used symbolizes something on its own.

Food/Drink

Visual to taste, the traditional Mexican style doesn’t stop at the decor. I ordered a drink and a couple items from their botanas (snacks) section since I wanted to taste a variety of their dishes. I for some reason went into the mindset of, “what would my friends and I get to pick on?” So I acted on that! To start, the flor de lola is one of the specialty N/A drinks on the menu. I usually love going for one of these instead of a regular soda cause it’s such a great way to include non-drinkers to pair whole meal with a fun beverage. The drink was described simply as guava, ginger, pineapple, mint , and bubbles. I found it to be very refreshing and not super sweet. While drinking it, it tasted like a vacation with the fresh fruitiness flavor that feels like a rare luxury.

Taco dorados was my first dish that I ordered. When it came out, I was a little nervous it was going to be a soggy messy taste because it was covered in salsa. But I could not have been more wrong. The two moist chicken filling topped with the Pasilla de Oaxaca & Tomatillo-Serrano salsas gave it the extra bit of heat, flavor, and smokiness. Down to the last bite, the taquito shell was crunchy and not super flakey, allowing the dish to not be very enjoyable.

When I first saw the queso de hongos on the menu, I knew I had to try them. I was never a big fan of mushrooms and only just recently started to like them, but I’m still picky with how I want them prepared. But something kept calling me to these and I’m glad I picked up! On the menu they are described as mushrooms, cheese, and tomatillo quemado salsa on the side. The empanada shell had a beautiful golden crisp to introduce you to the warm, cheesy, smokey mushroom on the inside. This dish was a perfect example of simple ingredients for an exquisite heavenly taste. What I liked most was that it wasn’t filled to the brim with ingredients it was a perfect amount of shell and filling to leave you satisfied. Honestly it’s a dish that doesn’t need the salsa! It tasted as though it overpowered the simple delicious flavors of the empanada.

Okay so let’s cover this real quick cause I was confused too and though it was a regional thing but: esquites and eltoes (or street corn) are the same type of dish. However! Elotes are grilled on the cob and eaten off a stick while equites are boiled or roasted kernels in a cup! Pretty cool huh? Mi Vida’s esquites were delicious, a little more heat and tang than I was expecting but the corn was cooked perfectly-the outer shell giving the initial crunch while the inside was a warm softness. This is a side dish on their menu, however I can see two people sharing this!

I have a rule when I do my restaurant reviews. I only have dessert if offered, otherwise I take it as a sign that I’m done. Because that is my only form of restraint when it comes to chowing down on the comforting sweet dishes. So, Mi Vida figured out the rule and my server brought me the dessert menu. I wanted to try the churros since I thought they were traditional Mexican desserts, however churros actually originated from Spain! But at the time I asked my server how big they were and they are your classic full length churros and I fear I was but one person at the table. So I tried their Citrus Tres leches, which IS a traditional Latin American dessert. The cake was absolutely heavenly, not an overpowering citrus taste but a dance of that iconic creamsicle taste with fresh fruitiness that melts in your mouth. The cake was topped with berries, citrus slices, and sliced almonds to add a bit of texture to the soft sponge cake. However, this dessert was still pretty big so I would share! Two people can definitely finish this dish.

Service

The service was fine dining. Okay, not like white glove but this staff very clearly runs a tight ship. Even though lunch was a little busy I could still hear the team communicate efficiently about turnover and coming in and out of the kitchen. It’s honestly impressive, work like that is so stressful and intense so seeing the ship operate so smoothly made the experience so enjoyable. You could also tell with how the food came out, hot, not too quick, and presented really nicely shows that the passion isn’t just in the kitchen but also in the surrounding staff.

Reservations

Making reservations was super easy! Mi Vida uses OpenTable and they look to have a lot of room and have a quick turnover so if you reserve a day or two in advance you should be good. I was able to reserve for one person which is always nice, lunch still had plenty of room, crowded area but the whole restaurant was not packed. Although but the time I was leaving, around 4, the bar was getting pretty busy.

In Conclusion…

I’ll definitely head back. If I’m in the mood for a more high class mexican vibe, this is the first place I’ll recommend to my friends. It is on the pricey side, however the love, passion, and service that goes into the experience is worth the price. It’s also in a great hot spot, I think East Market place is trying to build a little bar hop vibe and so far I’m loving it. It’s really just The Wayward and Mi Vida in that area but I would call that a successful night in my opinion.

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