I never liked going to the circus as a child, but going to StreetXO was like going to the adult gourmet version of the circus and I loved everything about it.
A trip to StreetXO starts waiting in line as it is not possible to reserve a table. The restaurant is basically a counter surrounding the kitchen and a small bar where we started with a few drinks which kept coming through the entire evening. It goes without saying that the décor is something else. Naturally, the menu has dishes from all over the World with focus on Asia and Latin America.
In that spirit we started with a Peruvian salmon tiradito. The best one I have ever had. A fatty salmon, crispy salmon eggs and a very rich and spicy sauce with more depth than usually is the case. A Smokey oil and hibiscus naturally had a big hand in those flavors. It was of course served on a piece of paper directly on the counter to be eaten with your hands.
Following this we had a dish with amazing textures. A Vietnamese duck roll with a raw prawn and a sweet chili with a creamy aioli. The soft prawn against the crunchy roll was a great match.
One of my favorite dishes was to follow. Chicken masala with baby corn, a sous vide and naan bread filled with delicious cheddar cheese. The sauce was similar to the masala we had just a week earlier at DiverXO and it was just as delicious as I remembered. Equally was the naan bread. Just an amazing dish that I could eat every day if I had the option.
Dabiz had decided that we were to try some of his favorite dishes and the first one was to follow. Iberian pork pancetta with mussels, cabbage, various pickled vegetables and different leaves/herbs. The meat was very delicious and a great match with the mussels. I just didn’t think it worked very well with the cabbage taco. For this the meat was just too chunky.
The next dish however just blew my mind. Another Dabiz favorite and I can understand why. A rabbit leg of extremely high quality served with 4 different sauces. The idea was to mix them all. Sauces such as peanut, coconut and other spicy sauces. Of course the combination created both debt and heat to the rich rabbit. Dam it was good! and eating it with your hands just enhanced the experience.
At this point I cannot say that I was hungry but I did want to try more of the dishes. In hind sight I should have decided for something more lightly than beef checks in a Japanese curry served with crunchy and steamed rice. Needless to say the meat was breaking apart just by looking at it and the cream was smooth and spacey.
The only bad thing I have to say about StreetXO was that at this point I really wanted something sweet and they didn’t have any desserts. A natural explanation is however that the kitchen is probably too small for a pastry section.
The food is full of flavor and Dabiz can express his love for spices and food from the entire World in more free boundaries. I am still impressed by how his dishes from both Peru, Japan and India just to name a few countries can be both authentic and delicious at the same time. Not that many restaurants can have a menu literally with food from this many countries and still be authentic and delicious. Despite the name not all of the dishes are based on street food, but they are in the same family.
The restaurant doesn’t serve wine but it has a delicious cocktail menu which naturally goes much better with the overall atmosphere than a wine menu. It is hard to describe the atmosphere of the restaurant which is a mix between party, a diner experiencer and just overall crazy. We went here to celebrate our first wedding anniversary and a special one it was. I would recommend StreetXO any day, but just don’t expect a quiet evening. The restaurant is by no means a fine dining restaurant, but the flavors of the food and the originality of the place is spot on.
Naturally I would return to StreetXO any time I am in Madrid to see which new crazy things Dabiz has cooked up.
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