Craig Laban awards Blue Corn a two-bell review for its ‘eye for quality ingredients and distinctive specialties’

Blue Corn restaurant at 940 S. 9th St. isn’t all that new of an establishment, having opened in the Italian Market over two years ago, but the Inquirer‘s food critic has just now paid the restaurant a visit.

Craig Laban awarded the family-owned Mexican food spot a two bell review for its generally “fine blend of style and authentic substance.”

From the review:

But I’d also return just for the special called pescado parroquia, a thick red snapper filet my night (and more recently branzino), that comes stuffed with huitlacoche corn mushrooms then glazed with vibrant green poblano cream. That same sauce, at once piquant and rich, is featured in another stellar dish, Offrenda de los Dioses, which is essentially a wedge of tortilla lasagna stuffed with more huitlacoche plus stretchy Oaxaca cheese.

There were a few dishes that let me down. The pork chops in sweet Manchamanteles sauce were thoroughly overcooked. Tiny tostadas topped with braised beef suadero lacked crunch, and the meat itself was bland. On more than one occasion, some of Blue Corn’s standard taco toppings (like the al pastor), lacked some complexity or an edgier seasoning. Was it restrained with the restaurant’s large gringo clientele in mind?

Who knows? There were too many other successes to really mind, like the deeply rustic tortilla soup, or the thick slice of traditional turkey glazed in spicy-sweet chocolate mole, or the oval huarache, whose hand-formed ridges offer a substantial showcase for the extra nutty sweetness the fresh blue corn masa brings.