El Asador Vasco

There are restaurants you visit and restaurants you return to. El Asador Vasco is, after one quiet Sunday in Mexico City, very much the second kind.

The room is exactly what you want it to be: 1940s comedor with stained glass. We were seated near the back, given menus we hardly needed, and brought a small bowl of olives without being asked.

We started with a half-dozen oysters from the raw bar, which set the tone — generous, unfussy, and confident enough not to crowd what was coming. With it we ordered a quiet Brunello from the back of the list, and were glad of both.

Then the main event: chuletón vasco, the dish that puts El Asador Vasco on every short list. There was a thumb of butter melting into the cross-hatch, and a single sprig of thyme on top, and not one thing more. The signature touch — Basque grilling in the Centro Histórico — is not a gimmick; it is the reason to come.

For sides we asked for asparagus with hollandaise and grilled radicchio with anchovy butter. Both arrived hot, both arrived early, both were exactly large enough to overdo it. We overdid it.

Dessert was key lime pie, mostly because the waiter raised an eyebrow when we hesitated. He was right to.

If you are passing through Mexico City, do not pass El Asador Vasco by.