When I arrived in Shanghai a few days ago, the thought of dining in a tex-mex restaurant never occurred to me. After all, you don’t think of Mexican food when you think of Shanghai. But Mexican food I did have and it was stellar.
Maya is located in an apartment complex so when you head there, look out for the Maya Restaurant sign. The restaurant boasts a lounge area and a dining area so you can, depending on your mood, choose where you want to sit.
Like every Mexican restaurant, you get the usual chips, salsa and avocado dip. But unlike every Mexican restaurant, the avocado dip was fresh and flavorful so much so that a whole bowl of it was quickly polished off. The margaritas and mojitos were excellent and that was the beginning of things to come.
The tuna cerviche was fresh and light while the aguacate relleno (a half avocado filled with shrimp, red onion and mango) whetted a personal craving for ripe, delicious avocado in all its delicious glory. The Churrasco Estilo Argentino (blackened Angus beef served with chili-roasted potatoes) was unlike anything I have tasted. Packed with intense flavor, this is a must-have dish. I wish I could say the same for the 1/2 Green Chili Roast Chicken With Jalapeno – it was perfectly cooked but was severely lacking in flavor. I had to ask for jalapeno salsa which helped but even then, it was hard to get excited over this mild dish.
Despite that, I had a go at their latest dessert – Blueberry Crisp With Vanilla Ice-Cream. It came warm and was simply delicious. The light sweetness of the vanilla ice cream contrasted with the slight tartness of the blueberries to create a wonderful bite of delicious flavor.
Maya updates its menu twice every year and strives on maintaining consistency. It was an excellent meal and well it turns out, you really don’t have to go to Mexico for great Mexican food. Maya (Shanghai, China).
