If you are in the mood for Mexican cuisine, then consider Toca Madera, a restaurant dripping with energy, where the vibrant Tulum-inspired decor is matched by the deep flavors of the food.
Toca Madera is tucked off the main entrance of The Shops at Crystals near Aria, with an attractive tree-lined entrance drawing customers in. (There’s also an entrance inside the shopping complex.) That arboreal decor continues inside the restaurant, with trees and greenery in the bar and main dining area and dynamic artwork lining the walls. The ceiling is an artwork in itself with the beams curving and seeming to undulate overhead.
The Mexican steakhouse/fusion-style menu here features appetizers like guacamole with pepitas and shishito peppers, chicken tinga tostaditas, queso fundido and crispy wonton tacos with A5 wagyu or tuna. There are several raw bar offerings including the ceviche blanco with Chilean sea bass and aji amarillo; hamachi with a smoked truffle ponzu; and a mariscos offering with shrimp, king crab, oysters and lobster. And the salads get a Mexican twist, like the Mexican chop salad with Tajín-dusted corn chips and roasted ancho chilis.
The steaks here come in numerous sizes and marbling options, from a prime petite, 40-ounce porterhouse, boneless 18-ounce Mishima Reserve ribeye, Japanese wagyu in a flight of three types, and a 40-ounce flaming tomahawk in a tableside presentation. The variety is sure to please any steak lover. Additions for your meat are varied with horseradish, steak sauce, chimichurri, Mayan prawn, Maine lobster, truffle, bone marrow, crab, caviar and three types of butter, including chipotle mezcal butter.
Other entrées include chicken al pastor with guajillo chili sauce, a chicken hot rock, short rib and chicken enchiladas branzino, seared salmon and diver scallops. Tacos include sea bass, al pastor, skirt steak (arrachera) and truffle mushroom, which is filled with seasonal mushrooms, truffle avocado crema and vegan Parmesan. Truffle mac and cheese, truffle seasoned fries, street corn and whipped potatoes with jalapeño oil and lime salt are great options for sides. Toca Madera actually has several vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free dishes and can accommodate any of those, so be sure to ask if you are looking for suitable options.
And if you feel that any steakhouse visit needs to end with dessert, Toca Madera has the means to make that happen. You’ll enjoy a gorgeous tres leches cake and the Dama de los Muertos, a concoction of peanut butter mousse, dark chocolate, cocoa nibs, raspberry coulis and fresh raspberries.
The Oaxacan chocolate mousse is both vegan and gluten-free, with strawberry mousse, chocolate streusel and oat milk ice cream. (If you didn’t know, could you tell?) The brown butter cake with bourbon toffee sauce is a specialty of the house and is deeply satisfying.
Masquerade of Fire
Celebrate with a masquerade theme and fire dancers on New Year’s Eve. Arrive with your own masquerade mask. Early seating is 4-6 p.m. with no minimum; evening seating is 6-9 p.m. with a $150 per person minimum; late seating is 9 p.m.-midnight with a $200 minimum per person. Bar experience is $175 per person. Tax and gratuity extra.
The Shops at Crystals. 725.255.9030 or tocamadera.com
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