Denver Affordable Michelin Restaurant Review ！！🍽️⭐

Among the four Michelin-starred restaurants in downtown Denver, Alma Fonda Fina (Mexican cuisine) stands out as the most budget-friendly! 💰🌮 🏠 Ambience: The space is quite cramped 😅. Group reservations are extremely hard to get—I lucked out with a solo bar seat after refreshing the page endlessly! 🍀💻 However, the bar had no proper bag storage—awkward for diners with belongings 🎒❌. 🍠 Camote Asado: Unexpectedly my favorite dish of the night! 🖤🍠 Roasted sweet potato topped with fried salsa macha (a Mexican chili oil) and whipped fennel requesón cheese 🧀✨. The cheese was the star—rich, aromatic, and perfectly balanced with the sweet potato and spice. Highly recommended! (Though the black appearance looks a bit weird 😆) 🐚 Grilled Scallops: Prepared right in front of me! 🔥🍅 Scallops were topped with tomato butter sauce, baked at 450°F, then finished with ponzu (citrus soy sauce) and green onions 🌿. The scallops were semi-cooked—classic pairing with ponzu, but just "good" rather than "wow" 😐. 🌮 Chicken Tacos: Recommended by the server 🗣️👍. Corn tortillas filled with cheese and chicken. The chicken was tender, but overall, it tasted similar to other Mexican spots—nothing special 🐔💤. 🍖 Braised Lamb Shank: The lamb was fall-off-the-bone tender 🐑😋, with a soft, gelatinous texture in the tendon parts. The mildly spicy sauce complemented it well—like a Mexican-style hongshao (braised) lamb. Tasty, but not groundbreaking. The side tortillas, avocado dip, and bean puree felt disconnected and overshadowed the lamb’s flavor 🥑❌. 💵 Final Bill: $123 including tip (I overordered 😬). Normally, ~$80 per person—cheap for a Michelin star in North America! But given the tight space and uneven dishes, it didn’t fully meet my expectations for a one-star experience 🌟😕. Still, a solid Mexican restaurant! #USA #Denver#MichelinStar #DenverFood #MexicanCuisine #FoodReview #BudgetFineDining #AlmaFondaFina