Maroma changes as the day goes on, and that is the whole idea. At lunch the room is bright and coastal, the sort of place where a ceviche and a cold glass of something make sense at noon. By dinner the lights come down, the patio glows, and the mesquite grill takes over. Chef Omar Flores calls it daylight to dusk. It is a simple concept, and the kitchen follows through on it.
Maroma opened on May 4 in the Thirteen Thirty Three Building at 1333 Oak Lawn Ave. in the Design District. It is the latest from Flores and the Marshi family through Big Dill Hospitality, the group behind Casa Brasa, Muchacho and Even Coast. The room seats about 150 between the dining room and a temperature-controlled patio that stays at 70 degrees year-round, which matters in a Texas October. Reservations go through Resy.
Start at the raw bar, because that is where Maroma is at its sharpest. The Yellowtail Aguachile Negro arrives in a dark broth of burnt habanero with cucumber, red onion, cilantro and avocado. It is smoky and sharp and cool all at once. Next to it, the Red Snapper Ceviche goes the other direction, bright aji amarillo leche de tigre with charred pineapple, serrano chile, olive oil and cilantro. The Spot Prawn Aguachile Verde comes in a serrano-cucumber broth with pickled red onion, and the Lobster Maroma is served chilled with aji verde, jicama and a mango xni-pec salsa. If you are celebrating, the Marisco Tower is a chilled spread of oysters, lobster, snapper ceviche, poached shrimp and montaditos built for the table.
The tostadas deserve their own moment. The Bluefin Tuna Tostada comes on a house-fried corn tortilla with chipotle mayo, peanut salsa matcha, serrano chile, avocado and cambray onion. There is also a Peekytoe Crab Tostada with guacamole salsa, Kewpie mayo, smoked trout roe and furikake, a Maine Lobster Tostada with guacamole, serrano and grapefruit, and a Caviar Tostada with crème fraîche and Kaluga Gold. Any of them works as a first course, and two or three of them together make a meal.
From the shareables, order the Little Neck Clams Chori-Papa, which swim in a white wine and chipotle broth with Mexican chorizo, fingerling potatoes and fennel confit. The Chargrilled Oysters come with chile toreado, garlic herb butter, lime and grilled baguette. The Smoked Beef Cheek Barbacoa Sopes are heavier, on crispy masa with salsa taquera, pickled red onion, crema and cotija, and worth the weight.
When the mesquite grill fires up, Maroma becomes a different restaurant. The Jumbo Prawns are mesquite-grilled with a gochujang adobo glaze, chile butter sauce, Rancho Gordo corona beans and mojo verde. The Red Snapper is the dish to order if you want to see where this kitchen really lives, a fillet in a lemongrass coconut broth with beech mushrooms, pea tendrils and sliced finger chile. The Sea Bream A La Talla, wood-fired with gochujang and served with slaw, tortillas and black beans, is a full plate. And the Spanish Octopus “A La Brava” comes with smoked potato puree, saffron aioli and crispy fingerlings.
The steaks are mesquite-grilled and served with a chile toreado and cebollitas. There is an eight-ounce wagyu outside skirt steak done fajita-style, a center-cut filet and a 16-ounce prime Delmonico ribeye. Steak sauces are chimichurri, a house steak sauce and a bone marrow bordelaise.
At lunch, the menu shifts toward tacos and sandwiches. The Baja Fish Tacos use masa-battered halibut in fresh corn tortillas with chipotle chile mayo and carrot salpicon slaw. The Tacos Dorados Gobernador are crispy folded shrimp tacos with Oaxaca cheese, poblano peppers and salsa divorciada. And the Green Chile Burguesa, a double Angus patty with roasted Anaheim chiles and sauce especial, is the lunch order for anyone who walked in planning to eat light and changed their mind at the table.
The cocktail program fits. The Corona y Caña, made with artisanal pineapple rum, Diplomático Reserva, lime juice and honey syrup, arrives with a sugar rim and a tuft of piña colada cotton candy. The Maroma Paloma is clean and grapefruit-forward, available without alcohol if you prefer. The tequila and mezcal list runs deep, with bottles from Fuenteseca, Fortaleza, Del Maguey and Clase Azul, and the wine list leans Spanish and Mexican with a few smart detours into French and South American bottles.
Flores has been one of the most productive chefs in Dallas for the last few years. Casa Brasa earned a Best New Restaurant nomination, and Flores himself was nominated for Chef of the Year. He is a James Beard nominee. Maroma is the most focused thing he has done, coastal Mexican seafood and fire in a room that knows what it is from the moment you sit down.
Maroma is at 1333 Oak Lawn Ave., Suite 100, in the Design District. It is open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Happy hour runs 2 to 6 p.m. daily at the bar. Call (214) 644-7662 or visit maroma-restaurant.com.
