I'd like to eat, Brazilian from the sea:
By D.K. Crawford 12/24/2008
Moqueca: Brazilian Cuisine
3550 S. Harbor Blvd., Suite 201
Oxnard, CA 93035
204-0970
$5- $62
As I entered Moqueca, my ears filled with Brazilian music and I noticed a sleek bar on my left. Deep cranberry-and sage-hued walls bracketed a bank of open glass panes that ran the expanse of the L-shaped restaurant. In the patio area, more glass walls surrounded us and gas heaters took away the chill.
Moqueca is an homage to the sea. It features dishes from southeastern Brazil, a cuisine that often utilizes seafood. From its awesome harbor views to thoughtful touches throughout the restaurant of fish sculptures, seashell napkin rings and bas-relief sea creature tiles in the bathrooms, you are reminded of what the restaurant celebrates.
The most intriguing drink offers were two Brazilian beers, Brahma and Xingu, and Caipirinhas, the national cocktail of Brazil made with the Brazilian alcohol cachaça.
Caipirinhas are sort of like Mojitos on steroids — 86 the mint, add more oomph and a touch more bite. I tried a Straipirinha ($9, a Caipirinha with strawberries), and found it tremendously refreshing and dangerously seductive.
We started with the frito misto ($14), a platter of lightly battered and fried baby white fish, shrimp and calamari with a homemade yogurt sauce. Each piece was a crispy, light bite, the sauce lemony and crunchy from shallots.
We also sampled the casquinha de carangueijo ($5), fresh lump crabmeat baked with parmesan cheese, which came as an individual serving in a warm clay pot. The crabmeat was savory but dry, not succulent as we’d hoped.
Our final appetizer was the quibes ($8), small, fried cigar-shaped rolls of finely minced beef and crushed bulgur wheat with fresh mint, parsley and seasonings, served with a honey mustard sauce.
The quibes had a great texture due to the fine mincing, and the fresh mint shone. I found the honey mustard sauce both complimentary to them, and yet discordant. For me, it covered up the flavors. Our table was divided between which we liked best — the Quibes or the little fishes.
Our entrees were the fish moqueca ($38), pichana ($22) (a steak dish) and we splurged with the lobster moqueca ($62). The moquecas (pronounced Mo-Key-Cas) arrived in black clay pots in which they’d been slow-cooked in for 24 hours.
Moquecas are seafood, onions, tomatoes, garlic, cilantro, peppers and urucum, a seasoning that comes from a prickly fruit. Each moqueca serves two and comes with rice and an extra dish of sauce or pirao on the side that is thickened with yucca flour.
The Lobster Moqueca had three butterflied tails that were tender, buttery and sweet. The sauce was smothered, golden perfection.
The steak dish featured a charbroiled sirloin cap that was designed to be sliced, dipped into a dish of vinaigrette, then into a small container of farofa (yucca flour lightly roasted with spices and smoked meat). The char of the steak combined with the hint of vinegar and crunch of yucca flour tasted exotic.
For dessert, we ordered the pave de bombom ($8) and the mousse de maracuja ($7), a passion fruit mousse.
The pave de bombom of layered chocolate candy bar crumbles, milk flan and chantilly cream was decadent — flavors of dulce de leche, crème brulee and pure vanilla bean laced with a hint of chocolate.
The passion fruit mousse was sweet and tart, a pure passion fruit essence enrobed in a light, sublime mousse. These desserts were the surprise hit, and two of them easily satisfied five people.
Our experience at Moqueca was charming, warm, festive and exotic.
I will go back for dinner on a special occasion and want to try some of the lunch specials to enjoy more of the flavors economically. It is an enchanting new niche in the Channel Islands Harbor.
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