I wasn’t looking for my ideal happy hour when I stumbled across it at Urbe, Hugo Ortega’s chic, casual Mexican street-food outpost at Uptown Park.
The Malinche, my favorite cocktail on their menu, was two bucks off, and I marveled anew at beverage director Sean Beck’s skills. Smoky Mezcal twined through an off-kilter Margarita variant made with peach brandy, lime and a hint of pineapple syrup, its tart-and-sweet balance finely tuned.
Then came the queso flameado studded with hunks of smoked brisket that blew my mind. The pieces of beef had a good char and a rosy, juicy core that any pitmaster in town would be happy to claim. In the surrounding mesh of pale, molten cheese snaked strips of green chile and…what’s this?…a woodsy mushroom or three.
The queso was the centerpiece of the Urbe Trio, and its happy hour price of 13 bucks seemed a breathtaking bargain. Arrayed on the paper-lined metal trays that are a serving signature here were a scoop of fresh, chunky guacamole and a ramekin of dusky red salsa Mexicana. A couple of house-made flour tortillas and a flock of sturdy totopos stood ready for rolling and mixing and matching.
It was the kind of spread made for sharing. Or an indulgent early supper.
Urbe Street Foods of Mexico
1101 Uptown Park Blvd., Suite 12, 713-726-8273
I had been on an afternoon errand, hoping to get a glimpse of the brand-new Rocambolesc Gelateria before it opened, and Urbe was right across the broad patio that runs from Etoile, past Songkran and the two-story colonnaded outdoor seating it shares with Urbe.
“Two-fer!” I thought, remembering that Ruben Ortega, Hugo’s pastry-chef brother and right hand, had told me months ago they were working on a happy hour menu.
I’m not a devotee of the cut-rate form designed to lure in customers at a slow hour, in hopes they will linger and spend or imprint on certain dishes they’ll crave later. Too often for my tastes, happy hour deals center on the least interesting wines and cocktails on a drinks menu, so by the time I end up paying for something I actually want to sip, the reduced-price food items on offer don’t end up as much of a bargain.
And — may I be honest here? — the dishes restaurants choose for mini happy-hour versions aren’t often the ones I really want to taste.
That’s exactly why Urbe’s happy hour delighted me. The menu is full of interest, with good prices on dishes that at normal hours might seem like an extravagance. That queso flameado, plus guac and totopo sides, would run you $25 total during dinner hours. And the surprisingly delightful Ostiones Diablitos that run $18 per half dozen at dinner only set me back 10 bucks at happy hour.
These raw oysters worked startling well with a cold boiled shrimp on top. I thought the two kinds of shellfish might fight each other, but instead they held a dialogue: the cold brine and slipperiness of the oyster set against the chipotle-spiked, pearly crunch of the shrimp, with a sharp “Mexican mignonette” holding it all together. Super refreshing — and a fine lead-in to a snacking session.
Diablitos de Ostiones at Urbe, raw oysters dressed with cold boiled chipotle shrimp, avocado and Mexican mignonette.
Alison Cook / StaffI also encountered a new beer preparation Hugo had come up with that very day: a Tecate can swathed in bright red chile salt, with one of those deviled oysters balanced on top. It’s an amusing addition to the showy cerveza preparada genre.
I did not stop there. Happy hour means you can sample Urbe’s various tacos singly, instead of in groups of three. So I got to taste the roasted sweet potato version that had caught my eye on an early visit — and they were even better than I had imagined. From the roasty singe on the sweet potato cubes to the salty tang of goat cheese, from the deep-dark thrum of salsa macha to the fragrance of hand-rolled corn tortilla, they hummed with life.
For my money, which in this case happens to be four bucks, this may be the finest vegetarian taco in town.
Even Urbe’s Old Fashioned was a happy surprise. It’s not among my favorite cocktails, because it’s usually too sweet for me, and too heavy. But Beck’s version combining Gran Centenario Añejo tequila with rye, bitters and and a hit of ancho agave syrup had an unexpected lift and briskness to it. It changed my attitude toward the form. And it did so for $11, two dollars off the regular price and dancing close to the $10 mark — which in this day and age I count a victory.
The La Roma Old Fashioned at Urbe, with Gran Centenario Añejo Tequila, rye, bitters and ancho agave syrup.
Alison Cook / StaffI relished my outdoor seat at the bar counter opening into the restaurant proper, and the well-behaved lab mix who milled about at my feet, and the sounds of an international crowd speaking several languages.
My only sorrow about my happy hour foray was that I was too full to order one of Ruben Ortega’s famous desserts. I have my eye on several for next time, though: the coconut flan with orange blossom cream, perhaps; or the Mexican house-ground chocolate cake; or the sweet-corn-and-blackberry ice cream with a puerquito on the side.
That’s a piloncillo and anise cookie shaped like a pig, if you please, and I think I’ll need several.
alison.cook@chron.com
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