Description
If you can take your eyes off the plates, everything about Alma is pleasing to see. The decor is simple and elegant with white paper lanterns the shape of small moons, comfy white-leather-upholstered chairs and blue and white cotton kitchen towels rolled around the silverware. The main dining room downstairs faces west to an outdoor patio on the Henderson Avenue side, but there's a more intimate upstairs dining area that offers more tables, another sit-down bar and a "den" at the back with couches, a fireplace and antler chandeliers. Green succulents decorate the tables. The patio is fenced with a low wall of spiky snake plants. Servings of most things are XL at Alma. Two or three diners could share the ceviche con hongos appetizer, an all-veggie take on seafood ceviche. Tiny cubes of jicama, fresh beet and wild mushrooms marinate in a bowl of light citrus juice. Instead of tostadas, the dippers are paper-thin slices of plantain fried in rice bran oil that adds a nutty flavor to the chips. You'll run out of the veggie ceviche before you run out of plantain crisps, which are piled high on an oblong tray. Add a side of creamy guacamole made from the slightly oilier fruit imported from Michoacan to keep from wasting the chips. The "regional" flavors of the cochinita pibil may be the best example of a dish that sets Alma apart from other Mexican restaurants trying to expand beyond nachos and combo plates.
