Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Verde y Crema resumes service, this time on La Revu

Beloved Tijuana restaurant is back with Baja-inspired favorites, old and new

Korean tacos, a Verde y Crema favorite, tasting better than ever - Image by Matthew Suárez
Korean tacos, a Verde y Crema favorite, tasting better than ever
Place

Verde y Crema

Av. Revolución 1010, Tijuana, BC

A feather in Tijuana’s culinary cap since it opened in 2013, farm to table restaurant Verde y Crema closed the doors of its site near the Club Campestre de Tijuana golf course in mid-2018, offering little public explanation but promising to return at a different location.

Short rib, braised 13 hours and served with squash and kale

It finally did so this month, opening its doors two miles north, in a part of town that will be much more familiar to tourists: Zona Centro, specifically, a busy corner of Avenida Revolución (Avenida Revolución 1010, Zona Centro, Tijuana). The newly returned restaurant and bar spans the second and third floors of a modern building at the intersection of Calle Cuarta, sporting multiple small patios with a view of its bustling new neighborhood. It’s quite easy to spot, thanks to bright green accent lighting and large vertical sign, spelling out its name in matching, backlit letters.

Smoked corn in a spicy, creamy sauce at Verde y Crema, Avenida Revolución

That name, originally borrowed from the Tijuana bus lines and the taxi (and the bus driver union next to the original restaurant), travels to La Revu mainly as an expression of quality established by the restaurant’s founder, celebrated Mexican chef Jair Tellez. Like his restaurants in Mexico City and Valle de Guadalupe, Verde y Crema received universal praise renowned for great service and the excellent dishes turned out by its olive-wood-burning kitchen, made to feature high quality ingredients raised in Baja, California, whether meat, produce, or seafood.

Sponsored
Sponsored
A view overlooking Avenida Revolución from inside the new Verde y Crema

The new property’s atmosphere may not match that of the original’s: which boasted an artistically rendered storefront and a splendid covered dining patio framed by lush green vines. But it succeeds in feeling sheltered from the more manic energies coursing along the street outside, and even from the dance club next door. And, the young location’s plants are growing.

Jurel tiradito, featuring Baja-caught mackerel

There’s no question the kitchen has picked up where its predecessor left off, returning a menu stocked with old Verde y Crema favorites. It may be a case of absence making the heart grow fonder, but the trio of tacos coreanos (Korean tacos: 240MXN, ~$13) tasted better than I remember. Verde y Creams’ signature blue corn tortillas are topped with strips of grilled ribeye, and dressed with kimchi, hoisin and cacahuates japoneses (so-called Japanese peanuts, a Mexican snack invented by a Japanese immigrant wherein the nuts are coated with a soy sauce flavored, cracker shell). In the best way, the ribeye tastes like backyard barbecue, and the fusion of Asian and Mexican flavors, including the nutty crunch, are reason enough to make reservations (though, we were able to talk the newly trained staff into letting us order at the more casual third-floor bar, which pours plenty of beers from both sides of the border).

The new location of Verde y Crema, now on La Revu in Zona Centro

Also a pleasure to revisit was the tiradito, made this day with jurel (195MXN, ~$10), the raw mackerel coated in olive oil with avocado slices, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes, which help diminish its own oily, fishy nature to result in a surprisingly restrained crudo.

The new dining room of one of Tijuana’s most revered contemporary restaurants

The most satisfying plate on our table may have been the savory and lightly spicy Costilla braseada (braised short rib, 380MXN, ~$20), slow-cooked for 13 hours with and served with roasted carrots, pattypan squash, and kale. But the dish I’ve been thinking about most is the appetizer, esquites Verde y Crema (195MXN, ~$10). Here, kernels of smoked corn swim in a tiger milk-like guajillo and pequin pepper sauce with panela cheese and cilantro. The browned kernels have a nutty corn flavor and the nuggety texture of cooked farro, brightened by the creamy, and spicy sauce, really more like a cool chili chowder.

You won’t often catch me claiming a restaurant served me any best dish of my life, but there’s no equivocation here: this was the best corn dish I’ve ever sunk my teeth into. So, yeah, I guess I’m pretty happy that Verde y Crema is back.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego beaches not that nice to dogs

Bacteria and seawater itself not that great
Next Article

Victorian Christmas Tours, Jingle Bell Cruises

Events December 22-December 25, 2024
Korean tacos, a Verde y Crema favorite, tasting better than ever - Image by Matthew Suárez
Korean tacos, a Verde y Crema favorite, tasting better than ever
Place

Verde y Crema

Av. Revolución 1010, Tijuana, BC

A feather in Tijuana’s culinary cap since it opened in 2013, farm to table restaurant Verde y Crema closed the doors of its site near the Club Campestre de Tijuana golf course in mid-2018, offering little public explanation but promising to return at a different location.

Short rib, braised 13 hours and served with squash and kale

It finally did so this month, opening its doors two miles north, in a part of town that will be much more familiar to tourists: Zona Centro, specifically, a busy corner of Avenida Revolución (Avenida Revolución 1010, Zona Centro, Tijuana). The newly returned restaurant and bar spans the second and third floors of a modern building at the intersection of Calle Cuarta, sporting multiple small patios with a view of its bustling new neighborhood. It’s quite easy to spot, thanks to bright green accent lighting and large vertical sign, spelling out its name in matching, backlit letters.

Smoked corn in a spicy, creamy sauce at Verde y Crema, Avenida Revolución

That name, originally borrowed from the Tijuana bus lines and the taxi (and the bus driver union next to the original restaurant), travels to La Revu mainly as an expression of quality established by the restaurant’s founder, celebrated Mexican chef Jair Tellez. Like his restaurants in Mexico City and Valle de Guadalupe, Verde y Crema received universal praise renowned for great service and the excellent dishes turned out by its olive-wood-burning kitchen, made to feature high quality ingredients raised in Baja, California, whether meat, produce, or seafood.

Sponsored
Sponsored
A view overlooking Avenida Revolución from inside the new Verde y Crema

The new property’s atmosphere may not match that of the original’s: which boasted an artistically rendered storefront and a splendid covered dining patio framed by lush green vines. But it succeeds in feeling sheltered from the more manic energies coursing along the street outside, and even from the dance club next door. And, the young location’s plants are growing.

Jurel tiradito, featuring Baja-caught mackerel

There’s no question the kitchen has picked up where its predecessor left off, returning a menu stocked with old Verde y Crema favorites. It may be a case of absence making the heart grow fonder, but the trio of tacos coreanos (Korean tacos: 240MXN, ~$13) tasted better than I remember. Verde y Creams’ signature blue corn tortillas are topped with strips of grilled ribeye, and dressed with kimchi, hoisin and cacahuates japoneses (so-called Japanese peanuts, a Mexican snack invented by a Japanese immigrant wherein the nuts are coated with a soy sauce flavored, cracker shell). In the best way, the ribeye tastes like backyard barbecue, and the fusion of Asian and Mexican flavors, including the nutty crunch, are reason enough to make reservations (though, we were able to talk the newly trained staff into letting us order at the more casual third-floor bar, which pours plenty of beers from both sides of the border).

The new location of Verde y Crema, now on La Revu in Zona Centro

Also a pleasure to revisit was the tiradito, made this day with jurel (195MXN, ~$10), the raw mackerel coated in olive oil with avocado slices, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes, which help diminish its own oily, fishy nature to result in a surprisingly restrained crudo.

The new dining room of one of Tijuana’s most revered contemporary restaurants

The most satisfying plate on our table may have been the savory and lightly spicy Costilla braseada (braised short rib, 380MXN, ~$20), slow-cooked for 13 hours with and served with roasted carrots, pattypan squash, and kale. But the dish I’ve been thinking about most is the appetizer, esquites Verde y Crema (195MXN, ~$10). Here, kernels of smoked corn swim in a tiger milk-like guajillo and pequin pepper sauce with panela cheese and cilantro. The browned kernels have a nutty corn flavor and the nuggety texture of cooked farro, brightened by the creamy, and spicy sauce, really more like a cool chili chowder.

You won’t often catch me claiming a restaurant served me any best dish of my life, but there’s no equivocation here: this was the best corn dish I’ve ever sunk my teeth into. So, yeah, I guess I’m pretty happy that Verde y Crema is back.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Houston ex-mayor donates to Toni Atkins governor fund

LGBT fights in common
Next Article

Hike off those holiday calories, Poinsettias are peaking

Winter Solstice is here and what is winter?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader