Mexican Restaurants – Page 34

Tacos El Compita

January 15, 2008 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

*** El Compita is gone….to where who knows…..

I'll let you in on a little secret right now. If I'm deeply engrossed or otherwise distracted….perhaps concentrating on the ratio of soup to meat in a Xiao Long Bao, or some other similar task, there's a way to get my complete, and undivided attention…..you simply whisper "Barbacoa de Borrego", "Birria de Chivo", or maybe "Cabeza" into my oreja, and you will have an attent, straight backed, wide eyed, slobbering, taco lover on your hands. Or you could simply wave a banner….perhaps like this one, in front of my face:

My eyes were instantly glued to this sign…..affixed…..in fact, I'd even say that my head rotated a complete 360 degrees as I drove past, a la the Exorcist. At that moment I knew…that I must, no needed, to check this place out. I had driven by the corner of 25th and Imperial dozens of times, but never noticed this taco truck. Probably because it is covered with a tarp when not in service.

I parked on a side street, and walked toward the taco truck. As I entered the parking lot, I saw the 6 tough looking gentleman sitting at the portable tables set-up in front of the truck stand up, all eyes were fixed on me……I noticed that none of them were eating, which made me a tad uncomfortable. The first thought that crossed my mind was "uh-oh, this must be a front for some illicit business." One of the Guys starting walking up to me, and I quickly said "you have Barbacoa????" The Guy stopped in his tracks, stared at me suspiciously, tilted his head, and said, "Si, goooood Barbacoa!" He turned and walked into the doorway into one of the strip mall's "offices". I could hear a flurry of Spanish, and soon enough a lady walked out, and started talking to me….and I couldn't understand a darn thing, She didn't speak English…… But once it got to food, I had no problems, "Dos Barbacoa…….Cabeza, Lengua." She walked into the taco truck, opened a container of masa, and proceeded to make tortillas with the skill of an Itamae making Nigiri sushi.

So here they are……2 Barbacoa de Borrego, 1 Cabeza, and 1 Lengua taco – each cost a mere $1.25! Four tacos – 5 bucks.

First off, these were the best tortillas I've had in a while, great texture, great flavor. The cabeza had a nice beefiness to it, but was a bit on the dry side. The Lengua was a bit too greasy for me, but had decent beef flavor, and some gelatinous goodness. The Barbacoa de Borrego was nice, very moist, mildy "wild"….great roasted flavor. The one thing that the meat lacked was salt, but with the addition of one of the salsas it was very good.

Four different salsas, and the usual garnishes are provided on what looks like a retired taco cart. The only problem I had was that the onions look to be a bit on the "sour" side. Still, these tacos were very good, and well worth the price.

I had visited on a week day during the Christmas long weekend. On a recent weekend, I decided to head on down to El Compita. On this day, the woman was working on the "cart", and the Taco Truck was empty.

As I waited, I could see the various trays in the steam table being opened, and the wonderful aroma of the various roasted meats hit me, which got my salivary glands going.

On this day I ordered 2 Barbacoa, 2 Birria de Chivo, and 1 Adobada(marinated pork):

I saved one Barbacoa, and one Birria for the Missus, and consumed the other 3. I found the Adobada to be a bit too oily for me, and the flavor was surpisingly mild. The meat was very tender and moist.

The Birria de Chivo was nice and gamey, but lacked the spicy bite that I've had with other versions. As with all the other meats, it was very moist and tender.

The Barbacoa on this occasion was even better than my previous visit, rich, moist, tender…with a nice dollop of salsa, some onions and cilantro…things don't get much better than this. In fact, though the tortillas were not as good this time around, I'd say all the meats were much more succulent. Looks like weekends are the way to go. And I'll be sure to be back soon.

Overall, it's hard to feel ripped off when you pay $1.25 for tacos. And these are much better than those that start with the word 'Del' or end in 'Bell'. Light years better…….in fact, it is of a completely different universe.

Tacos El Compita
2586 Imperial Avenue
San Diego, CA 92102

Filibertos Mexican Food – Linda Vista

January 8, 2008 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

This location of Filibertos (not "that" location) always struck me as the Teal and White Taco Shop looking for an edge:

First off, they have a menu that rivals some of the larger Vietnamese establishments I know of. Than they started the $1(now $1.25) "Mexico City Tacos". And recently, they’ve put banners up advertising their "Panaderia", specifically fresh bread. I’m trying to figure out whats coming up next!

Being a sucker for good tacos, I dropped by on a recent weekend morning. The interior of this location of Filibertos is rather large, but on the dingy side, not necessarily a bad thing for a taco shop. On one side of the long counter is the bakery case, and on the other the drinks/aguas frescas, and the salsa bar.

I ordered a Suadero(Beef Shoulder), Lengua(beef tongue), and an Al Pastor(marinated pork). Each cost a mere $1.25:

I don’t know if I chose a bad day, or what…the suadero had a decent beef flavor, but was very dry, the lengua was gummy and greasy, and the Al Pastor was under flavored and tough. Even for $1.25 a piece, these weren’t very good tacos…heck for a quarter more I could get these right down the street in a few hours.

One thing did get my attention. As I was leaving, I noticed several groups of Hispanic males eating Menudo. I made mental note to return at a future date, which I did. Unfortunately, they were all out of lengua….so since they’ve been "advertising" their bread, I ordered a Torta….actually, I think I ordered a Carne Asada Torta, but the Gal at the counter told me, that I had ordered a Al Pastor Torta($3.96):

In this case the flavor of Al Pastor was even worse than the last time….just really bland. I was floundering, looking for a "silver lining", and I finally found one….the bread was indeed good, fresh, placed on the griddle and toasted, even the charred edges couldn’t spoil the bread. Even the faux liquid butter flavor couldn’t spoil the bread…..I scraped off the contents of the sandwich, and just ate the bread.

For now, I think I’m going to give this location of Filibertos as "rest"…though I’ll try to be back for the menudo…maybe.

Filibertos Mexican Food
2399 Ulric Street
San Diego, CA 92111

Postscript – For those that think you can’t get good tacos for a "buck-n-quarter"……I was expecting something more like this – Two Barbacoa de Borrego, one Cabeza, and one lengua Taco, in tortillas made fresh while you wait – total $5.

It can be done…….

Coming up in a future post.

Soup Weather! A revisit to Palomino’s-yes, soup but not pho.

January 5, 2008 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog. The bloggers are friends. The bloggings vary and are mildly interesting, informative and sometimes bizarre. Today, its Cathy, with her blogger-ish perspective of mildly interesting food.

Hi again. We are having lots of rain storms this weekend. If you are daring to venture out of the house and driving about and maybe want soup, but *not* pho…well, there are options, you know. Here are a few choices. Really. If you are going to any taco shop, you may have noticed (and ignored) the “soup” part of the menu. This weekend (and any time, actually) would be the perfect time to try some.

You may recall I did a post about non-pho soup abou this time last year, but that restaurant (Los Michoacaños) is in Santee and so this time I am doing a more central location, and showing more of the variety Palominos has to offer, just on the “Soups” (or “Caldos”) side of the menu.

There are 11 caldos listed on the menu on the wall above the cash register and I will only show you five, however know the “basics” of pozole and menudo have been extensively enjoyed by The Mister and myself, are plentiful and really good.

These first two photographs are of Caldo Talapeño ($5.99)..Yes, chicken soup…but there are three “chicken soup” choices listed on the menu board-the bottom one that is simply called “chicken soup” for $5.99 is just the “American” menu listing of Caldo de Pollo-the third soup I will be telling you about-below.

This soup was made with all chicken breast meat and had hominy as the starch.

As you can see, a LOT of chicken breast meat. There was no “add in” plate to top this soup. There was a chipotle pepper in it and that added enough spice. The usual vegetables- carrot, and celery as well as zucchini are in large chunks and barely cooked (i.e, not mushy). Also, there were a smattering of garbanzo beans, same size as the hominy at the bottom of the bowl. All in all, a good, home made chicken soup stock base topped with sliced fresh avocado.

The Caldo de Camaron(Shrimp Soup)($8.50) is an absolute delight! There are more than 15 of these large, juicy plump, flavorful shrimp in the bowl and the broth, tomato based, was a deeply rich and flavorful seafood stock and quite filling. The vegetables in the soup were carrots and celery. A simple and wonderful meal.

This side plate of cilantro, onions, limes, pepper and dried herbs(a mix or marjoram, thyme and some oregano) as well as a choice of corn or flour tortillas accompanied this soup. You can mix in at the start, or after you are eating. I usually enjoy the initial soup “plain” and then do add ins, to give myself a whole new soup later in the meal.

This is the Caldo de Pollo ($5.99), yes, a different, more basic chicken soup which comes with the sides plate, above, as well as the tortillas and the cup of rice as the starch, although, as you can see, there are corn, carrot, zucchini and potatoes in the soup…as well as a *lot* of dark, flavorful thigh meat. I really kind of was hoping this soup would have had more broth, but am not complaining. It is the same base stock as the first chicken soup (caldo de talapeño) pictured above.

Caldo de Res (Beef Soup) ($6.25) By far, the deepest, richest broth of those shown here. Plenty of non-fatty stew beef, potatoes, carrots, zucchini, corn and cabbage, served with tortillas and rice. This broth will satisfy you even more than the chicken broth if you are losing your taste buds due to a cold or flu. There also was almost too much meat in the bowl. Again, not complaining.

I’ll just end this post with the traditional Albondigas Soup ($5.99). At least five of these large meatballs, made with rice, celery and onion as well as the dry spice mix(again, mostly oregano) and in the mix, corn, potato, zucchini, cabbage and carrots. The broth of the albondigas is the same as the pozole broth(not pictred and usually what I have for breakfast when I come here)…kind of what I call “hollow” and absolutely the only broths here that I feel I have to add in those side items to give it a deeper flavor- the lime automatically enriches the flavor and the onions, cilantro and pepper flakes give the depth needed, especially on cold, wet days such as are in our midst right now.

To summarize: there are five main broths for ten soups: chicken, beef, seafood, the pozole/albondigas broth and the menudo. All are used for homemade, flavorful and filling soups. So, don’t be afraid to enjoy the soup at any of your local taco shops – not at all your everyday “Taco Shop” meal. If you are on Clairmont Mesa near the Registrar of Voters office, stop in at Palominos. Parking is tight at lunchtime, but not in the morning or after 3 p.m.

Palomino’s #2 9353 Clairmont Mesa Blvd, suite I San Diego 92123 (858) 292-8470 Mon-Fri 6:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m., Sat 6-9, Sun 6-8

Somerton Tamale Festival

December 16, 2007 ed fromyuma Festivals & Events, Mexican Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Believe it or not, Kirk is letting ed from Yuma do another post on mmm-yoso. Any rumors of my death were greatly exaggerated, though I have been buried under stacks of student papers for the last three months. I finished grading on Friday, and (seredipitously) on Saturday, the south Yuma county town of Somerton was hosting its first annual Tamale Festival.

It’s always a little scary going to the "first annual" of any event; sort of like showing up the first day a
new restaurant has opened. Do they know how to do this right? Are they ready for what is going to happen? But this was a tamale festival. Me miss a tamale festival that’s only a few miles from where I live? Not gonna happen – which explains why I was pulling into the first annual Somerton Tamale festival, a little after noon on Saturday.

The central two blocks of downtown Somerton had been closed off, and both sides of the street were lined with little tentlike coverings under each of which there was one or more tamale vendor happily selling single tamales, combination plates, and bags full of dozens of tamales. As advertised, there were well over 20 vendors, far too many even for the intrepid stomach of mmm-yoso to sample. What’s more, not a single restaurant name could be found; these were all the real deal, homemade tamales prepared according to traditional family recipes.

To pay for the tamales, one had to purchase tickets,and since this was for a good cause (college scholarships for local youth) I bought a few more than I needed.

My first sample came from this nice young woman. At first the rich chili flavor seemed deceptively mild.The long shreds of abundant beef were full of meaty flavor accented by a deep red chili sauce – all complimented by the slightly sour stuffed green olive. After I was half way through, I realized that there was a distinctly picante note of hot chile flavor probably from the thin shreds of green chile mixed in with the meat and sauce.

Then I went across the street to try one of the few tamales de puerco. This was another rich, succulent, spicy, treat. This one was slightly doughier andsaltier than my first tamal. The porky goodness of the meat was a perfect match to the dried red chile sauce.

As soon as I saw these women standing over their tamale kettle, I knew I had to sample their wares. They were having a good time and showed me the festival’s largest tamal.

When I said I wanted a sweet corn and cheese tamale, they insisted that I also had to have one of their tamales de res. Who was I to argue with two abuelas? The beef tamal had more of an upfront heat than the first two I had sampled earlier.

Along with two un-pitted green olives (twins) , there was one additional secret ingredient. Yes, that is a french fry, so maybe California burritos truly have along history.

The corn and cheese tamale was perhaps a little doughy, but the sweetness of the corn and the mild cheese flavor made a nice contrast to what had come before.

The next beef tamal that I purchased came from a couple guys who were hawking their product like carnies outside a sideshow. Theirs was the mildest of the afternoon and contained the most potato. Nonetheless, it was full of beefy goodness, and the beef flavor was nicely balanced by strips of green chile.

By now, I was full enough that I could wait in a line for the spicy beef tamal.

At first bite, I was disappointed; it hardly seems spicier than the previous mild version. However, two or three bites into it, I became aware that yes, indeed, this one packed some fiery punch.

My last tamal (and dear reader, by now I was eating for you rather than satisfying any hunger that I might have had) was made by using a different approach. Not only was this beef shredded, but it seemed to have been sliced or chopped at some point as well, so there were no long shards of beef.

This one also had no potato and the least amount of chili flavored sauce (if any at all) – excepting of course the cheese and corn tamal. It also had a very thin layer of masa, so all together it was extremely beefy, but perhaps a little greasier than its predecessors.

Throughout the festival, music was playing, and as I was getting ready to leave, one of my favorite local bands, the Chuckawalla Rhythm Kings, began playing.

It is certainly a unique group. Probably the only group named after a lizard of the Desert Southwest performing Celtic folk music. Certainly the only one performing this day at a tamale festival, that’s for sure.

When I went to get my half dozen tamales to go, the purveyors of my two favorites from the afternoon had already run out, so throwing caution to the winds, I got my tamales to go from a completely different vendor. Who says I’m not a risk taker? Right now, I have no idea whether they are any good or not as the last thing on my mind is eating another tamale today.

Seeing the turnout and tasting the tamales, I am convinced that the Somerton tamale Festival is going to become a new tradition (now that’s an oxymoron). In any case, it’s also a good thing.

JV’s Mexican Food

November 26, 2007 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

First off, my apologies…..I’m sure after eating more calories in a few days, than you would in a month, the last thing you’d want is to have me waving a burrito in your face. But with a small backlog, I decided to start the post-Thanksgiving diet with a very popular taco shop. When we lived in the area JV’s was a regular stop, in those days we thought they made a pretty good burrito. So not having eaten at JV’s in 4-5 years or so, I was wondering how my tastes had changed, if at all, and recently paid a visit to JV’s.

One of the reasons I enjoyed grabbing a bite from JV’s was that service was very quick, and the crew at JV’s were almost always friendly…….

In fact, the attitudes are almost as bright as the orange and yellow colors that comprise the interior…. There always seems to be a steady stream of customers.

The menu at JV’s goes beyond the usual San Diego Taco Shop fare, with items like the Del Mar Burrito(shrimp, fish, beans – $7.10), the Surf and Turf Burrito(Shrimp and Carne Asada – $7.10), the Tuna Melt Quesadilla(!!! – $4.90). On this day, I chose the Al Pastor Burrito($4.40):

For some strange reason, I always like to place my burrito next to another object when taking a photo….just for the sake of determining scale. I guess it’s just a bad habit…. The burritos at JV’s are fairly large.

This was just okay, the Al Pastor (marinated pork) was mild in flavor, though the meat was tender. I thought that the guacamole and large quantity of pico de gallo detracted from the overall flavor of the Al Pastor. In this case it was obvious that the pork wasn’t spit roasted, the hallmark of Al Pastor.

Nevertheless, the burrito did fill me up. I also like the hot sauce at JV’s, and the salsa bar stocks roasted jalapenos, marinated carrots, and the like for free.

Of course, I had to make another visit and grab the ubiquitous California Burrito($4.95):

This burrito, as with all the burritos are pretty hefty in size. The Carne Asada was pretty mundane, dry and bland, not quite what I remembered. I also wished for more french fries, and less sour cream.

Still, not bad for under 5 bucks. But not as good as I recall. These days, I’m less of a burrito guy, and more of a taco dude…..

I had thought of going back to JV’s to grab more of our favorites from not-so-way-back-when, the Red Chile Burrito($4.20), and other stuff(Lengua Plate!), but I think, that at least for now, I’ll just rely on my memories.

Still, if you’re in the mood for some "different" burritos, like the Big Chicken Philly(grilled chicken, onions, and mushrooms), perhaps JV’s is worth a try.

JV’s Mexican Food
1112 Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110
619-276-0758

Open Sunday-Thursday 9am-11pm
Friday-Saturday 9am-2am

Birrias Chivos & Cheves

November 12, 2007 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants

**** Birrias Chivos & Cheves has closed

Several months ago I noticed little shop while driving on Highland avenue in National City.

With a name like Birrias….I knew the Missus would want to check the place out.

The walls of this little shop feature reproductions of vintage photos of Tijuana. The menu is written in Spanish, but there's a English translation on the reverse side of the laminated menu.

Even though the menu features items like Sopes, Huaraches, and Tacos, with a name like Birrias, was there any doubt as to what we'd be ordering? We placed our orders, a "complete order" of Birria de Chivo(goat) and one of Birria de Res(Beef – $8.95/ea).

All "complete" orders (half orders are $6.95) include Tortillas, salsa, onions, lime, cilantro and consomme.

We found the salsas to be nice and lively, the tortillas had an excellent corn flavor, but was very brittle, tearing and falling apart.

The consomme looked very rich, but was really mild, and served lukewarm. More oily, than flavorful.

The Birria De Chivo:

The meat was slightly tender, but like the consomme, it lacked spiciness and much flavor. The Missus added a hefty amount of salt, garnishes, and salsa. The meat was very mild, and lacked the "wild" flavor the Missus enjoys.

The Birria De Res was much better.

The very tender meat had a good beefiness to it. The Missus agreed, and thought this to be quite good. I'd have this again if in the area. How two almost exact dishes could vary….you got me.

The service was very nice and friendly. Though Birrias won't divert us from La Nortenita, it wasn't too bad. The young man told me that Birrias will be opening a Imperial avenue location in the near future.

Birrias Chivos & Cheves
2401 Highland Avenue
National City, CA 91950

Hours 8am-8pm Daily

Saturday Stuffs……

August 25, 2007 mmm-yoso Cooking, Mexican Restaurants, yoso-silly

More aimless weekend wandering………

Juanita’s Tamales:

The Missus sent me on a mission early on a recent weekend, She had been craving Barbacoa from La Nortenita. Unfortunately, suffering from some "vapor-lock" I arrived and parked on Imperial Avenue at 8am…..the restaurant opens at 830! So with some time on my hands, I went for a very hot and sweaty stroll. And on my way back, I decided to grab some tamales from the Tamale cart that always occupies the corner of 25th and Imperial.

I ended up buying 2 pork and 2 chicken($1.25/ea) from the funny Lady who laughed at my pronunciation of "Pollo"……

The Missus is the Tamale eater in the family, and She had a Chicken to start:

Her verdict? Nice flavor, decent amount of chicken, but way too dry……

Coming soon to San Diego:

We were driving down Clairemont Mesa Boulevard when a "coming soon" sign caught my eye. I immediately turned into the parking lot of the strip mall that Thai Cafe is located in, and this is what I saw:

It seems that the Hot Pot fad that had hit the San Gabriel Valley is making its way to San Diego. I know it is much too hot to think about Hot Pot right now, but I’m looking forward to this restaurant. From the sign, it looks to be an outlet of Little (Fat) Sheep, a Hot Pot chain. Hot Pot is kinda going out of style in LA, the Hacienda Heights location of Little Sheep closed down a few months ago. You can read about Little Sheep on Professor Salt’s blog here. So let’s see it took 4 years(after moving from LA) for us to get good Sichuan, 6 years for Marukai, maybe by 2010 we’ll see some Hunan food?

From the "making it’s way to San Diego" department……

Some fads hit quicker than others. Remember the post on the San Gabriel "foot fetish"? Well guess what I saw today?

I guess some fads don’t take very long to get here…..might come in handy if you do a lot of Barefoot Running!

From the "What been cooking" department:

This past weekend the Missus wanted me to grill some Hot Dogs, and joy of joys, She even let me know a day beforehand! Since we’d be grilling, I went and picked up a few "goodies" for me. I went to Zion Market and picked up some thick cut Short Ribs for Kalbi:

I decided to do something I hadn’t done in years…many, many years. That would be to butterfly my short ribs. Back home in Hawaii, my friends and I used to call this "Korean-style" Kalbi, mainly because in most of the good Korean Restaurants didn’t serve cross-cut ribs, but butterflied thick cut ribs.

You separate the ribs into sections…"riblets" if you will.

Making sure that one end has a decent thickness of meat on it, you position the rib bone side down and cut across right above the bone, making sure to NOT cut all the way through. You fold that portion over and continue making 2-3 "flaps".

One thing I quickly noticed, I haven’t done this in a verrrrry long time, and am severely out of practice. So basically my cuts sucked….

Still with my usual Kalbi marinade, it tasted pretty good.

Making the most of my grilling opportunity, I went looking for some chicken…but for some reason, I couldn’t find anything satisfactory, so I modified my "half-cup" chicken marinade, and bought a Tri-tip from Seisel’s. Usually, it’s a half cup of Creamy Peanut Butter, Soy sauce, Sugar, Beer, and Miso, with some garlic and ginger. This time a doubled the sugar and miso, and added this:

And some Red Pepper Flakes for zip. The Sichuan Peppercorns I added having tasted Professor Salt’s fantastic Tri-tip.

Turned out much better than I thought it would……..though next time I’m adding even more Sichuan Peppercorns!

Photo of the week:

If this pooch could talk….

He/She’d be saying, "are we there yet???"

Birrieria Y Pasteleria La Nortenita

July 31, 2007 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants

**** Birrieria Y Pasteleria La Nortenita has closed

I readily admit that at I will over strategize at times. If I'm not sure that the Missus will enjoy a particular restaurant, I'll usually try it out first. But at times, this approach just doesn't work out. La Nortenita is a good example of that. I first drove by La Nortenita earlier this year, and made a note to check it out. The problem was that each time I tried to stop by, the place was either packed, or no parking could be found. Finally, I just told the Missus about the place, and early one weekend morning we made a drive down to La Nortenita.

As you can see this little restaurant is partially hidden by trees, and if you're driving down Imperial avenue at a fast clip, you might just blink and miss it.

But if you slow down a bit, you won't miss this:

So let's all rub our greedy little hands together, and go "mmmm Barbacoa"!

The little restaurant has a "homey" feel to it, except for the "window" which looks a bit out of place. And the wonderful aromas floating in the air!

Though the menu is written in Spanish, it is pretty easy to understand. The Missus and I have a little joke, even though I won't be able to ask for the restroom in Mexico, I sure won't starve……..

The menu is broken down into tacos, gorditas, sopes, and tortas on one page, and the "combination plates" and guisados on the other. First the condiments were delivered to the table:

Since this is a barbacoa/birria restaurant, ordering was pretty easy. I started with 1 Birria de Chivo and 2 Barbacoa de Borrego(in this case slow cooked lamb) tacos($2.14/ea):

Three large size tacos with a generous amount of meat, wrapped in rustic, steaming hot tortillas that were made to order arrived at the table.

The Birria de Chivo taco consisted of shredded roasted meat, that had been dunked into a chili infused broth, which delivered a nice rich chili "punch".

With just a touch of onions and cilantro, I needed nothing else to enjoy this taco.

The Barbacoa de Borrego consisted of shredded lamb that had been mixed with a bit of the lamb broth/consomme.

Adding a tiny squeeze of lime to balance out the richness, and onion and cilantro to act as a counterpoint to the wonderful mildly wild and gamey flavor of the meat. A touch of salsa roja added a nice bit of smokey heat to the taco, making it mucho delici-yoso…….

The Missus was torn, She couldn't decided whether to get the Birria de Chivo or the Barbacoa….so She got both! Luckily, there were medium sized (mediana) portions available.

The Birria de Chivo was the first to arrive (mediana – $4.95):

Along with the good sized bowl of soup, a warmer with about a half dozen thick and steaming tortillas arrived…so hot you could barely hold them! The actual broth was not as spicy as it looks, and had more of a peppery-spicy flavor, with just a tiny hint of sweetness. The broth was hearty, though not too rich.

There was an abundance of meat in the bowl as well.

The Missus also ordered the Barbacoa de Borrego(mediana-$4.95):

A plate arrived with fragrant barbacoa topped with a steaming tortilla. As was our previous experience with the barbacoa at El Borrego a bowl of lamb broth/consomme arrived as well. The consomme was a light broth flavored with lamb drippings, with small shreds of lamb and garbanzo beans. The flavor was not a pronounced as the version at El Borrego, and a small squeeze of lime added some brightness to the dish. The barbacoa had been flavored with the broth as well.

Here's a better look:

The meat was moist, with a nice and rich lamb flavor. As with barbacoa, there's a salt shaker on the table for flavoring…..which I think is unnecessary. As the Missus started to dig in Josefina Ramos delivered 5 more steaming hot tortillas to the table. Man this was good! The Missus, who believes, but doesn't follow the "Yin-Yang" philosophy of eating (i.e. "hot foods" balanced by "cold foods"), told me that even though She almost finished both dishes, there was no feeling of being stuffed silly, probably due to lamb being "hot" food, thus giving Her invigorating energy! Until we went home and She proceeded to go into a food coma…….

A week to the day later, the Missus had a craving for lamb, and so we drove back down to Imperial, and La Nortenita. We arrived at a bit before 10am so the restaurant was empty, and Josefina greeted us with a large warm smile. I think she recalled the Missus's appetite! Not wanting to stuff ourselves silly, the Missus ordered the Birria de Chivo "grande"(sorry, no photo!), and I ordered the Barbacoa (grande – $7.63):

This time a larger plate! Along with the steaming hot tortillas and consomme. On this day, I thought the barbacoa was even better than on our previous visit. Still moist and flavorful, but this time the meat to fat ratio made this an almost decadent dish. The Missus who thought the birria was better, changed Her mind after tasting the barbacoa.

This was very satisfying, and too much for me to finish. Luckily, the Missus was on hand. By this time the little restaurant was completely filled. And through some restaurant ESP, it seemed that everyone knew that the barbacoa was excellent today since almost everyone had plates of barbacoa in front of them. It was interesting watching the different techniques for eating the lamb. Some made little tacos and dipped them into the broth, some poured the broth over the meat and made little tacos, and those dubbed the "efficient eaters" added the cilantro and onions to the plate, and mixed in the broth, and went to town! The Missus kept telling me…just think if we had some rice! So I'm guessing a rather large take out order is in our future.

For us, the experience of eating at La Nortenita is like eating in your favorite Aunt's home. The service warm and friendly, and if they know you love their food….. As an example, while waiting for our food, the Missus was checking out the various cakes, and other confections. Josefina seems to be quite an accomplished cake maker. As we were finishing, the nice young lady working on this day, brought us both a little sample for dessert, now that deserves an exclamation point! The restaurant can be on the hot side, and the ventilation is not the best, so when this tiny restaurant gets full…. The barbacoa is not as refined as El Borrego, but I prefer the rustic flavors and richness of the lamb at La Nortenita. Though I think the broth at El Borrego is much richer in flavor.

Birrieria Y Pasteleria La Nortenita
2455 Imperial Ave
San Diego, CA

Tacos El Rico

July 23, 2007 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

*** Tacos el Rico is now a location of Tacos el Paisa

I've tried unsuccessfully to eat at Birririeria El Nortenita on Imperial a few times in the last 2 months. Call it bad timing if you will, but the place is always too busy, so I usually just have a meal elsewhere. On a recent trip, the elsewhere was a colorful new Taqueria called Tacos El Rico:

If I recall this used to be Delia's, the Clairemont Drive location of Delia's has closed as well, I'm not sure what happened. One thing is pretty clear, El Rico sure makes good use of the colors red and yellow!

As you can tell from the lively and brightly colored menu, basic taco shop fare is served here. The variety of "meats" is pretty decent, with all usual suspects; Carne Asada, Al Pastor, Lengua, Cabeza, and Tripa, all present and accounted for……… And all served as Tacos, Burritos, Gorditas, or Mulita.

I placed my order, and waited a few minutes, grabbed my tacos, and went to sit outside, under the bright sunlight, and the even brighter red umbrellas.

I had ordered 3 tacos ($1.75 each). From left to right Birria(I was going to get some Birria one way or another!), Cabeza, and Al Pastor.

Please excuse the somewhat unsightly "bloody" tint to the photos. I didn't realize until I downloaded my photos, but the light filtering through the, yep you got it! Red umbrellas gave the photos this strange tint. The tacos were served on double corn tortillas which had a nice flavor, a bit chewy, and not brittle at all. Each taco also had a generous portion of meat as well.

I started with the Al Pastor:

The pork didn't have the caramelized appearance of typical Al Pastor, and was very "wet". I think of this as more of a marinated pork, rather than something spit roasted on the Trompo. The flavor was very mild, with just hints of chili flavor. There was also the problem of the pool of oil at the bottom of the taco, if you look at the photo closely you'll notice it. Not the best Al Pastor I've had.

The Tacos de Cabeza, was more of the solid "chunk" style, rather than the long cooked shredded meat that I enjoy.

This meant that the texture of the meat tended toward a more "waxy" texture. The overall flavor was very mild, not like the condensed beef flavor I enjoy. On the good side, this wasn't oily in the least, and it tasted okay with a touch of the Salsa Roja. As you can tell, there was so much meat, it was falling out of the taco.

And of course, I had to get my Birria.

This was by far the best. The meat had been cooked until soft and moist, than shredded. It had retained some of the "wild" flavor I was looking for, gamey and rich. The onions and cilantro helped to cut through the richness of the meat, and the corn tortilla stood up well to the moist, but not watery meat. This taco made the meal a success….I did get my Birria! Which made me a happy man(call me obsessed – but you know that already…).

The reason I sat outside, was so I could check this out:

Yep, this Taco Truck looks pretty new(where's all the bright red and yellow colors??). Got me wondering where we might be seeing it soon!

I'm not quite sure if I'll be stopping by Tacos El Rico anytime soon, since there are so many choices in the area. But who knows, I may run into that taco truck one day.

Tacos El Rico
2494 Imperial Ave
San Diego, CA 92102

Los Manjares de Pepe – Yuma

July 12, 2007 ed fromyuma Mexican Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

It’s just ed from Yuma again – this time writing a real long post about probably the best restaurant in town. Just in case you might someday be stuck in Yuma at mealtime, this is one place to remember.

Los Manjares de Pepe is widely recognized among the culinary cognoscenti of Yuma (well, at least among my friends and me) as the best Mexican restaurant in town – and that’s saying something considering how many good Mexican restaurants our town boasts of. It doesn’t get this acclaim because of its wonderful signage:

Or because of a beautiful building:

No, people love Pepe’s for several reasons, all of them connected with the great food served. First, Monday through Friday, the restaurant features incredible specials, all at $4.99. On Mondays, you can get a caldo de albondigas. Like all meals here, the soup comes with good chips and spicy (if somewhat thin) salsa. You also get rice, beans, and your choice of tortillas. This great bowl of soup contains a nice rich stock, filled with 4 or 5 large and flavorful meatballs and an assortment of vegetables – celery, onion, carrot, and potato. Like the other specials, this a great deal.

On Wednesday, the special is peurco en salsa chipotle. This dish may be the tastiest thing I have ever eaten in Yuma, anywhere. Chipotle is not a common flavor used in most of Yuma’s Mexican restaurants, but Pepe achieves something fantastic in this dish. The large chunks of rich and slightly fatty pork are bathed in a intensely smoky and moderately picante sauce. The balance of flavors achieved is excellent. The chipotle flavor is strong and rich enough to please the palate without drowning out the meaty flavors of the pork chunks.

Friday’s special is truly special as well. I have always liked pozole since I first had a taste of this wonderful concoction of pork, hominy, and chile flavors years ago. The version at Los Manjares is, nonetheless, far and away the best I have ever eaten: Pozole broth with its meaty richness and deep red chile flavors is basically a great taste. Plus, Pepe doesn’t short change customers in any way with this dish. This stock is as powerfully rich and as densely flavored as it looks. The bowl is full of hominy kernals and huge chunks of pork. In addition to the chips, salsa, beans, rice and tortillas, the customer also gets a selection of add-ons (the picture is of the extras for two). Each bowl is served with chopped onions, lime wedges, chopped cabbage, and a generous helping of cilantro. These can be dumped into the soup to add flavors and crunchy textures. Other people add these extras onto the tacos or burritos made with the pork and tortillas. Either way, they provide a nice addition and add to the taste and mouthfeel of the dish.

For those of you who are sure that your cholesterol has gone up twenty points just looking at the last set of pictures, I need to add that another reason why I think that Los Manjares is so outstanding is its chicken. We all have experienced lousy Mexican restaurant chicken. Take a chicken, boil it until tasteless, shred it, and then dump these wet flavorless shards of fowl into a flour or corn tortilla. But there is no boiled chicken at Pepe’s. For example, take a look at an order of Pollo Deshuesado (boneless chicken)($7.99):

Each of these chunks of chicken is a delight to the mouth – tender, well-spiced, and full of chicken flavor. But Pepe uses his flavorful grilled chicken in his whole range of chicken dishes. I recently ordered the chicken enchiladas (senior size with 2 enchiladas, $4.99) and was served this wonderfully flavoful plate:

As much as I love posting at Kirk’s wonderful blog because I can show all of you folks pictures of these wonderful things I have eaten, this picture does not do justice to this savory and succulent meal. The enchilada sauce, although it looks like most other enchilada sauces, has double the intensity of deep red chile flavor. And inside each of these rolled cylinders of tasty corn tortilla hides spicy and tasty morsels of Pepe’s flavorful grilled chicken.

A picture does begin to convey the quality of the world’s greatest chicken taco salad (no shell, $5.50):

It is hard for me to write about this salad without sprinkling superlatives over my sentences the way some of us sprinkle black pepper on scrambled eggs. On top of a smear of creamy frijoles, a mound of iceberg is surrounded by shredded pollo asado and topped with diced tomato, dollops of crema, rich fresh guacamole, shredded queso, pickled red onion slices, and chopped cilantro. Is it by chance that the colors across the top reflect the colors of la bandera – the flag of Mexico? Anyway, as beautiful as this looks, the looks don’t come close to the flavors. Each shred of chicken is full of spice and is chewy tasty. The neutral background of crunchy lettuce brings together each biteful of salad. Overall, my mouth is full of multiple contrasts of temperatures, textures, and tastes (particularly after I drizzle salsa over the whole thing).

One of my favorite meals at Los Manjares – and years ago at El Zarape when Pepe cooked there – is the pollo al carbon, bone-in, well marinated chicken grilled outside over charcoal. Sometimes, after smelling the aromas of the chicken cooking outside, it is impossible not to order it for lunch (with beans & rice – 2 pieces $4.99, 4 pieces $6.99), so I have probably eaten this meal 20 times at least. I knew I had to have a photo for this post, so on a recent dinner visit, I order the 4 piece dinner:

Sad to say, this was the sorriest version of the pollo al carbon I’d ever eaten. First, the 4 pieces were 2 legs and 2 thighs. And the pieces look bigger in the pic than they were in real life. Second, the chicken had either been overcooked on the grill or had been sitting around under heat for too long so that the crunchy exterior almost extended to the bone. In any case, this was a disappointing meal. Still, though, the chicken had an excellent flavor, and the overly crunchy meat was OK in tacos. I just missed the usual moist and chickeny interior that I have come to expect from this dish. It also reminded me that sometimes even the best places don’t always get everything right.

In addition to the daily specials and the (usually) great chicken dishes, Los Manjares also serves a wide range of wonderfully prepared Mexican restaurant standards. Since I had decided to do this post, I have been trying a few dishes that I could not remember eating before at Pepe’s. So recently, I ordered a carnitas torta ($3.99):

I was astounded by the size of the sandwich; it filled up an entire plate. I know now that I had never ordered this dish before because it was a truly memorable torta, and not just because it was so large. The bottom layer of filling was a smooth beany smear of frijoles. On top of that was a layer of porky and crunchy carnitas. The carnitas was covered with chopped lettuce. The upper half of the bolillo was spread with Pepe’s flavorful fresh guacamole, chopped cilantro, and pico de gallo, that flavorful fresh salsa of diced tomato, onion, and jalapeno. I never for a moment considered trying to pick this sandwich up with my hands and eating it. Doing that would have spilled goodies all over my shirt, and goodies this good need to be in my mouth, not on my wardrobe. So I attacked the torta with knife and fork and began devouring. Nonetheless, as good as it tasted, I could not completely finish it. Wow!

Los Manjares also prepares a number of dishes in a rich and tomatoey ranchero sauce:

This is a plate of Camerones Rancheros ($10.99), one of the most expensive dishes on the menu. The shrimp were tender and tasty, their mild flavors enhanced by the subtle ranchero sauce. Equally good is the Steak Ranchero and the Lengua, which is also served in this sauce. Unlike the deep red chile or chipotle flavors of some sauces, the ranchero with its tomato and bell pepper accent stays in the background and compliments the flavors of the shrimp or meat.

I want to end this long post by looking at one last dish done very well by Pepe, Al Pastor:

Believe it or not, this gigantic order of tender dry rubbed pork slices sells for $7.50. No, that is not a misprint. There is so much food here (and don’t forget the chips, salsa, and tortillas) that I only order this if I am really hungry, and I still often bring enough pork home for a midnight snack. I doubt if there is a vertical spit in Pepe’s kitchen, but this dish does not suffer from that in every way. The spices rubbed onto the meat before cooking add flavor to the meat. What’s more, the pieces of pork are often tastily charred:

As this picture also illustrates, my favorite way to eat the Al Pastor is folded into a taco with the pico de gallo (and sometimes the pickled onions) from the plate added to the taco. Moments after this photo was snapped, I ladled a couple of teaspoons of salsa on this homemade taco and chowed down. Chewy, spicy, meaty, tender, crunchy and corny all at once. Yum!

I do have one fear about writing this post for Kirk. I can imagine some big city restaurateur reading this blog and suddenly deciding that he could make a fortune selling Mexican food this good in New York City. Then virtually overnight, Pepe would be pulling down six figures, living in a Manhatten condo, and charging willing diners, who had lined up outside the restaurant 2 hours before it opened, $50 for a plate of Al Pastor. If that should happen, New York, as well as Pepe and the restaurateur, would be the richer, but poor old Yuma would be left with a huge culinary hole. So if you are a New York restaurant owner, just let me say, "Nah, it’d never work."

Los Manjares de Pepe, 2187 West 8th St., Yuma AZ. (928) 782-2366