First Look: BOCADO Brings Mexican Tapas to Old East Dallas

BOCADO, which occupies the space where Dahlia used to be on Ross Avenue in Old East Dallas, has been serving bites, sounds and drinks since its unveiling in December last year.

The Mexican restaurant is co-owned by Jesus Almazan and Humberto Novoa, who according to the Advocate, want an upscale hacienda-style restaurant frequented by artists. The restaurant gives a little bit of Komodo vibes based on its Instagram account, which includes a photo op with a monkey. We stopped in for the 411.
When we arrived, we were leaning on the casual side of the required business casual dress code. Our bad. They let us in, but they did ask us to remove our hats. The tricky part is from the outside, given the patio and massive flat-screen TVs, BOCADO doesn't look like an overly upscale spot.

But inside, there is a lavish bar lined with Clase Azul Tequila Bottles, which retail for about $150 each. The tables are dressed nicely and there's even a speakeasy in the back of the house: maybe for those who are dressed correctly (not us) during a later hour in the evening. Also, every table has a purse rack, and the waiters place your napkin in your lap for you. See? Classy.
This is no patio-casual spot. So you can imagine how out-of-place we felt getting wined and dined with hat hair, but they treated us no differently because of it — not always the case with nicer restaurants. Some will flat-out turn you away.

Most items on the menu are tapas, so you order in multiple and share with the table. There are soups, salads, cold plates like hamachi Pink Panther, hot options like fuego esquite (a fun play on elote), seafood plates, plates from the grill, tacos, sides and desserts. Plenty of cocktails and wine, too.
Everyone starts with a trio of salsas that were quite good. With more than two people you'll be fighting over the last spoonfuls, but it's perfect for two people and chip refills are free.

For starters, we grabbed the Mazatlan Ceviche ($25) and the Pork Belly Temptation ($18). Also a glass of white wine that the owner recommended. Only bottles are advertised on the menu, but you can get wine by the glass.
Our ceviche made for a nice Instagram photo with its pile of colors and edible flowers, but when it came time to dig in, the essence of the dish was lost. The draw of ceviche is the freshness of the fish brought out by lime juice, onion and fresh, regional ingredients. Alas, digging through a mound of crispy onions, it's as if you're eating an entirely different dish. What we love most about seafood is that it shines when it's simple, but here simple is difficult.
The same goes for the Pork Belly Temptation. When we've ordered pork belly in the past, it's generally the only thing that comes on the plate, served in large cubes or thick slices.

What we ordered had some refreshing elements (avocado, cabbage, radish, morita sauce and red onion), but we weren't expecting those things to be the focus of the dish. It was actually an arugula salad with a bit of pork belly, and arugula isn't even listed in the item description.

Things turned around when the tacos were dropped off. They were so full of salmon we could barely close them. 
What made this dish was the salsa, which was hotter than expected, but perfect if you like to sweat a little when you eat. The salmon was fried, but it didn't have any type of seasoning on it, which was a bummer especially considering these are priced steeply at $19.

Based on some online photos, the Taco Capricho (pastor and chorizo with a cheese crust) and Arrlon (beef filet and sirloin) looked better for more reasonable prices, $16 and $17, respectively. Even so, they've got stiff competition with some gas station tacos down the road.

Sevice was spectacular. Our water glasses never saw the halfway line, finished plates were cleared immediately and they even offered to plate our appetizers for us. We stopped in with no reservations or invitation, so it was a surprise to us when the owner came to our table, recommended many drinks and dishes and checked on us multiple times throughout the night. In addition, we had multiple servers throughout the night tending to us. The service was bordering helicopter mom, but we do appreciate that not once did we need to flag anyone down.

In our Teva sandals and all.

BOCADO, 3300 Ross Ave. Wednesday – Thursday, 5–11 p.m.; Friday, 5 p.m. – 2 a.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m. – 2 a.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.