Madre is a new Mexican restaurant in the Valencia area next to the Olive Garden, taking up the vacant space that Black Angus used to occupy. Surely, you have seen Madre’s long lines and I’m here to say the food is definitely worth the hype.
Before I get into the food review, I’ll have to go into the history of Mole. Mole, originally called Mulli by the Aztec, is a Mexican sauce made out of dried chilies, nuts, seeds, spices, chocolate, and dried fruits. The recipe was originally written in the 17th century by a nun in the Santa Rosa convent. This sauce is utilized incredibly by Madre in their classic Mexican dishes.
When you walk into Madre it’s easy to tell that they strived for that mexican minimalist design and it really blends well with the theme. They have huge panel windows in the foyer of the restaurant. These panels are actually showing the patio of the restaurant,which was neat and tidy while still fitting the overall design of the restaurant. They play good music, with half the playlist reminding me of my Abuela. These songs are authentic and would be playing on the regular when I’d arrive home after school. Their bar is immaculate, it has a pretty large and, according to my mother, great alcohol selection. The vibe is also very trendy and modern. Overall, the atmosphere as a whole was very chill and enjoyable.
The service was also great. Their staff is very friendly and they all have very good people skills. During my visit at Madre, I ordered the Enchiladas Oaxaquenas, Madre’s Enchiladas, a gringa taco, chicharon, elotes, and flan. Every single dish I received was honestly to die for. The Enchiladas Oaxaquenas consisted of Mole negro, wich has Dry chilis, sesame seeds, nuts, Oaxacan chocolate, with the three tortillas sumerged inside the sauce. It also comes with cheese and your choice of meat. You can choose either chicken, beef, carnitas, or chicharon. I chose carnitas. The Madres Enchiladas were really good, too. This dish also consists of Mole negro with chicken picadillo and Coloradito, which is a version of mole with what looked like more ingredients: toasted chilies, nuts, sesame seed, Oaxaca chocolate, herbs, tomatillos, chives, olives, dry chilies, pickled jalapenos. The enchiladas themselves also included white rice and shredded beef. Something else that I ordered that night was the gringa taco which was actually a quesadilla, if you read its description on the menu. The gringa taco was very impressive. It contained cheese melted to perfection with immaculate flavors all throughout the taco, or quesadilla. The flan they serve is so good. It comes with a little complementary flower used to make the plain desert look more fabulous. The sweet textures and tastes of the flan was almost too good to be explained in words. This dessert was also topped with coconut and white rum infused pineapples, which complemented the flan very well.
Overall, the whole dining experience was very good and calming. From the service of the host to the whole atmosphere of the restaurant, it just really helped make the experience all the more enjoyable. The Madre restaurant is a great new addition to the Santa Clarita foodie scene; I wholeheartedly recommend this dining experience to anyone looking for something new to try.
