I’d like to start off this blog post with a special thanks to all the Hello Kitty Foodies who sent birthday greetings, texts, kind words and love! You have all really made me feel extra special and loved on my special day 💕. My heart is filled with happiness ❤️.

I truly had a wonderful birthday spent with family and friends and I got to experience dining at the newly opened Madre Oaxacan Restaurant & Mezcaleria in Old Torrance.

Madre specializes in cuisine from Oaxaca, Mexico; a city that is located in Southwestern Mexico. Oaxacan cuisine is similar to other Mexican cuisine but they have a more variety in terms of ingredients used in their dishes and this is due to the influence of the state’s diverse geography and indigenous cultures. Some of their most popular dishes have chocolate, Oaxaca cheese and mezcal.   To start off my birthday dinner, I had one of the more traditional Oaxacan dishes; the Tlayuda.

Tlayuda is a popular snack food in Oaxaca and it is what some may call a Mexican pizza.  Here at Madre, they have various different Tlayuda and I chose to get their Tlayuda El Nopal. The Tlayuda El Nopal consisted of a very large thin, crispy tortilla that was topped with aciento paste, black bean paste, cabbage, avocado slices, radishes, tomato, quesillo, chorizo, tasajo and cecina.  It truly was a dish like no other. I enjoyed the crunchiness of the thin tortilla and the flavors of the quesillo, chorizo, tasajo and cecina.

The second dish that I got to try for my birthday dinner was their Mole Coloradito.

There are several states in Mexico that claim to be the origin of mole and one of them is Oaxaca. Oaxaca happens to be best known for their mole and so I didn’t want to pass up trying one of the mole dishes here. As I stated earlier in this blog post, chocolate is a well used ingredient in Oaxacan cusine. This is seen in Madre’s Coloradito dish. This entree consisted of chicken with red mole, made from toasted chiles, nuts, seeds, spices and Oaxaca chocolate. It is served with rice and tortillas. The mole sauce is thick with a bit of sweetness. There is also a hint of spice in this dish because of the chiles. It is great topping for the rice and also enjoyable with the tortilla. The flavor of Oaxaca chocolate hits the palate instantly with a bit of a sweet kick and then the spiceness hits right after.

Alongside with the traditional Oaxaca food I got to try that night, I had a virgin Madre margarita.

Madre is not only a Oaxacan restaurant but a Mezcalaria as well. Mezcal is a spirit distilled from mash made out of the steamed hearts of various species of agaves. Madre’s cocktails and spirit selection is by Barlingual. Similar to the food that they serve, Madre’s cocktails are crafted uniquely with premier ingredients.

To top the night off and make it even more special was I got surprised with a very special birthday treat courtesy of Madre via Platanos Fritos!

My platantos fritos dessert consisted of fried plantains topped with cream and condensed milk. It was such a sweet and special birthday treat and filled my heart (and tummy hehe) with happiness.

I truly had a wonderful birthday and enjoyed dining at the newly opened Madre Oaxacan Restaurant & Mezcaleria. Once again, a thanks and hugs to all of my beloved family, friends and Hello Kitty Foodies and a special thank you to Madre for making my birthday extra special.