The reputation of this restaurant is legendary: according to various rankings “el Biko” has been recognized as one of the fifty best restaurants in the world for years and on occasions has been the only Mexican restaurant mentioned.
The reason behind its success are the chefs, Mikel Alonso and Bruno Oteiza, who brought to Mexico not only the age-old dishes of the Basque country but cutting edge flavors from this small region and combined these with traditional Mexican food. The first part of their menu is named after the philosophy of creation: Evolution.
The servings are minimalist in style, using cubist geometry and bright colors from both Basque and Mexican roots. Each dish is a work of art, some with special effects and all with unorthodox methods of preparation;(Mikel studied chemistry and truly applies it to his cooking).
The presentation deliberately makes you eat each dish with care, taking small bites and chewing with concentration. It is essential to pair each dish with the right wine as not doing so is not only inappropriate, but would ruin the experience: It should be made clear, one does not come to this restaurant to eat, but to have experience with food: to come hungry would be inappropriate. Let the waiters pick your wine: the dish that will be served is likely to be very different to what you expect, so it is better to trust sommelier's suggestions.
Once seated all that remains is to enjoy, be awed by the inventiveness of the kitchen, the ranges of taste, and the ingenious surprises.
The writer, at a wine tasting tried the menu made by Mikel six times. It included crab, fish and meat as well as desert done three ways; chocolate, anise ice cream and coconut foam. The crab and the meat were mixed with amaranth seeds; this caused a puzzled reaction from the diners due to the complexity of the flavors, the brevity of the portions and the exquisite presentation.
Being on the list of the best restaurants in the world carries on one hand extremely high expectations on the part of diners; on the other hand it requires a total commitment by the restaurant to not disappoint. Maintaining its outstanding reputation for so long proves the passion with which things are done at “El Biko”.