The Foodie Monster!: Xixa...Inventive Mexican Tapas from the Good Folks That Brought You Traif

Traif is one of my favorite restaurants in the city as they continue to create creative combinations with food in a casual cozy environment (it is in Williamsburg, Brooklyn after all!) The restaurant has done well since opening its doors a few years ago, and so when I heard that they expanded to a new space a few doors down focusing Mexican/Asian fusion cuisine, I was excited to try it. The restaurant is called Xixa, and just like Traif, they focus on small tapas style plates for sharing.

There were some great dishes, as well as a few that needed some tweaking. Here are some of the highlights...

One of their popular small plates is the duck lettuce wraps, mixing Asian influences. The spicy roasted banana sauce is amazing and the duck was flavorful.

Xixa's "nam prik num" guacamole was excellent as far as guacs go, but I do wish there was a little more heat since it seems to have a thai influence as well.

Grilled Carrots with honey, lime crema, feta, and dill. This sounds like a meager set of ingredients but it was one of the best dishes of the night. It was recommended by our server and I could see why.

One of my favorites of the night was the Steak Tacos, with bone marrow and steak tartare. This seems like an odd combination but somehow it works; the pepper marmalade ties both ingredients together really well.

Their veggie small plates were good as well, including their scallion and potato dish with anchovies, almonds, with a Romesco sauce.

Their scallop ceviche dish was so-so. It combined jalapenos, pistachios, cucumber and avocado. It sounds good but it tasted a little flat and needed more acid.

Their "carnitas" dish combined pork belly, brussels, chorizo, corn, etc and served with a carrot puree. The flavors were solid and the meat flavorful.

The biggest disappointment of the night was also their priciest dish. At $21 the yellowtail collar sounded awesome, but the dish was very overpriced for what it was....a make it yourself fish taco plate. The fish was tasty but had very little meat. The plantains were pretty good but the slaws were forgettable.