Dessert review: Maximo Cocina Mexicana in North Dallas

by Jayme Campbell of Confection Confessions

We had a wonderful dinner and service, along with amazing desserts.

DALLAS — Maximo Cocina Mexicana & Margarita Lounge is located across the street from the Dallas Galleria in the recently gentrified shopping and living urban oasis of Village on the Green. I frequent this area a lot and had no idea that hidden in between bubble tea shops and furniture stores would be one of the most memorable dessert experiences I have had in Dallas.

Ladrillos de Chocolate

Desserts should be the crowning jewel of a delicious meal. I want to leave a restaurant thinking about the amazing dessert I just had and immediately start planning my next visit. Too often, I find desserts in restaurants an afterthought instead of the perfect ending to a perfect meal. Nothing is worse than having a fantastic dinner, only to be let down by sub-par desserts.

As a dessert blogger who likes to review mainly local or small chain establishments, it is of upmost importance to me that when I do a dessert review for a restaurant, that the desserts are made in-house. Not only do you find that at Maximo, but they take great pride in adjusting their dessert menu to the appropriate season.

Chef Amador Mora is definitely no stranger to fine dining, with 23 years of experience at the Mansion on Turtle Creek. His passion is obvious when you taste the food or get to chat with the smiling, jovial man himself.

I could spend hours talking about the margaritas, delicious tamales, or the trio of house-made salsas with freshly made piping hot, crispy tortilla chips. I only wish I could have sampled more that the menu had to offer because everything sounded amazing. But alas, I had work to do on the ever-tempting dessert menu. I can honestly say that I went in not knowing which desserts I was going to select because they were all so intriguing. I only wish that I would have had room enough in my stomach to sample one of each!

Doing everything short of closing my eyes and pointing to a dessert on the menu, my husband and I finally managed to make a decision. We selected the Mascarpone and Jalapeno Cheesecake, Baked Pumpkin and Cranberry Empanditas, and the Ladrillos de Chocolate.

Mascarpone and Jalapeno Cheesecake

I am not going to lie, jalapeno isn’t on the top of my list of things to pair with dessert, but I was too intrigued not to try it. Mascarpone is one of my favorite cheeses that can be used as both sweet and savory dishes; so pairing it with the thin layer of jalapeno jelly made for one amazing slice of cheesecake. Alongside the cheesecake is a generous dollop of bright, pinkish-red cactus pear sauce. This amazing tart-sweet flavor not only helped make this dish the visual masterpiece that it is, but it made a cheesecake that I was once hesitant about something that I cannot wait to have again.

Next up we had the Ladrillos de chocolate, which is a pairing of warm slices of dark chocolate and white chocolate cake, covered in rich fudge and an ancho chili peanut ice cream. My favorite part of the dish had to be the ice cream. When you first taste it, you think creamy peanut butter ice cream. A moment later, the spice from the chili hits and you’re left intrigued and wanting more.

Baked Pumpkin and Cranberry Empanditas

My favorite dish of the evening was the Pumpkin and Cranberry Empanditas. It was pureed pumpkin and cranberry filling inside delicious golden brown pastry, paired with a very fresh fruit terrine and the most luscious dulce de leche sauce I have ever had. The spicy pumpkin and the tart cranberry was one of the most unsuspectingly marvelous combinations I have had. The dulce de leche sauce would make hospital cafeteria food taste good! Better yet, next time Aunt Sally tried to force feed you one of her “world famous” fruit cakes, cover it in the dulce de leche sauce from Maximo.

It isn’t often that I leave a restaurant praising the wonderful dinner, amazing desserts and probably some of the best service I’ve seen in Dallas. I am happy to know that there are people out there with such a passion for what they do, that they leave you wanting more.