new year's eve at maya

Alot of you know that in the hunt for great Mexican food, Brendan and I have fallen for the delicious food at Maya.  Maya, located at 2nd and Harrison in SF, has a warm, inviting interior, loads of windows, a semi-private dining area, full bar and room to dance.  And they really excel at modern Mexican.

On New Year's Eve they offered a four course meal with party hats, champagne toast and dancing to a DJ for $60.00 per person. So, along with our friends, Chris Gill and Larry Sepe we booked the 8:30 seating. The tables were decorated with black and silver balloons and the generous menu featured several choices for each course.

I started with the tacos de pork belly, a melt-in-the-mouth 12 hour marinated pork belly taco topped with pickled habanero/red onion relish and ancho salsa.  Brendan and Larry ordered an equally tasty treat, tacos de langosta, with poached lobster topped with avocado, black bean puree and chile de arbol rouille.  Next up, I had the sopa de langosta, a lobster chipolte bisque with roasted corn/crab truffle dumplings.  The guys enjoyed a salad of field greens, pear, caramelized walnuts, blue cheese and radish-chile de arbol vinaigrette.

The entrees were large portions that ranged from a vegetarian option to filet mignon. The camarones azteca, a sauteed shrimp dish with a tequila-lime marinade, huarache stuffed with black beans and a chive-goat cheese crema fresca was a great choice as was the piramide de filete, a tower of grilled filet mignon with grilled tomatoes, sauteed onions, black bean puree, guacamole and crispy tortilla strips.

I enjoyed the tequila bread pudding with raspberry Cabernet sorbet, Brendan had the chocolate tres leches cake with pear, vanilla bean ice cream and cinnamon creme anglaise.  Chris and Larry chose the banana stuffed empanadas with walnuts and coconut ice cream.  We were close enough to the Embarcadero to head out after midnight and watch the incredible fireworks.