Mexican Restaurants – Page 38

Ch-Ch-Chain: Chipotle

January 4, 2006 mmm-yoso Chains, Mexican Restaurants

~~Chi-poodle~~, um, Chipotle is one of the "regular stops" for our office. To the extent that we’ve won a few "free lunches" for the office. You know how those work, you throw a business card in a glass jar, and they make a weekly drawing. And sometimes you do win! Chipotle is one of those "Fast Casual" chains, and subsidiary of McDonald’s Corporation, that serves modified "Mexican Food".

You can tell when a restaurant becomes a regular part of the work rotation when you give it a nickname. I’ve started calling Chipotle, "The Poodle", as in "Chi-poodle". Not to slight Chipotle, but if you like a salty, drenched in sour cream, burrito stuffed with rice and beans, and pay 6 bucks for it, Chipotle is your place.

One of the great things about Chipotle, especially for our office is that you can fax in your order by filling out one of these handy-dandy order sheets:

When I order form Chipotle, I’m strictly a vegetarian, yes, VEGETARIAN. I’ve tried all of the "meats", and really don’t care for them. So what I get is a Burrito "Bowl"(you can tell how much I love the tortillas here), with Black Beans, Corn Salsa, Hot Salsa, Sour Cream, Guacamole(extra $1.40), Cheese, and Chips(45 cents).

Can you imagine all of that in a Burrito, along with some "meat", sheesh! I mix everything together and use it as a "dip". The only thing is, that it costs me almost 7 bucks! To be perfectly honest, this veggie bowl is alot better then some other "Fast-Casual" offerings I’ve eaten.

I do enjoy the rather large portion of chips that have been flavored with a lime-salt. Nice and salty, and tastes rather good with the "Veggie-Bowl".

So I’m satisfied just to be able to fit in, at least I know I can order something from "The Poodle".

Question – The quickest way to turn me vegetarian?

The Answer – Keep ordering from all these "Fast-Casual" restaurants.

Chipotle – Coming to a neighborhood near you!

El Potosino Mexican Food

December 27, 2005 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

**** El Potosino has closed

I had heard that El Potosino Mexican Restaurant in Lemon Grove made good Cabeza(Beef Head/Cheek) tacos. So we took a drive down to the strip mall near the intersection of Federal Boulevard and College Ave. You could say, I really work hard looking for some……..cabeza.

Entering the large and "breezy" dining area, we looked over the fairly large menu that included Mojarra (usually deep fried tilapia), Cosido De Res(Beef Shank Soup), and all the usual suspects.

We decided to try several of the "meats" and the best platform would seem to be ordering several tacos. We started with Shredded Beef($1.89) and Cabeza($1.89) Tacos. First off these tacos were pretty large. The shredded beef was served in a fried corn tortilla "shell", and overall was pretty bland, and forgettable.

We had made this trip mainly for the Cabeza, so the Cabeza Taco was the focus of my attention. The Cabeza taco was served up in the traditional way, with onions and cilantro, in a mediocre, brittle double corn tortilla. The portion size was fairly large. This cabeza was just okay, fairly gamy, but lacking the condensed beef flavor I was looking for, and not nearly as tender as my favorite Cabeza tacos. The meat was very much like head cheese, and cut into chunks, and more waxy than moist. Not bad, but not good.

In order to "cover" the meal, in case the Cabeza and other tacos are horrid, we will always order a few standard tacos, like the Beef(above) and a Carne Asada($2.29), along with a Adobada($1.89). The Carne Asada, was moist and tender, but flavorless. In fact, this tasted like a guacamole/pico de gallo taco.

The Adobada was the real winner. I had thought that Adobada was pork stewed in a "red" sauce, that included oregano, vinegar, and chipotle. But this Adobada seemed really close to Al Pastor, the dry rubbed, and sometimes marinated pork, usually grilled on a vertical spit(trombo). In fact this would qualify as a real good Al Pastor in my book. The meat was nicely grilled and caramelized, with a balanced "chili" flavor, slightly spicy, with some sweet hints. Delici-yoso!!! I enjoyed the additional taste the onions and cilantro added to the taco, and a squirt of lime brought it all together. If I ever return I'll have an Adobada Burrito, maybe an Adobada with Rice Burrito.

Overall the adobada made this a successful trip. The tacos here seemed to be on the expensive side but were quite large. In fact we left El Potosino more then satisfied. As is the norm, a red and a green hot sauce is served with the tacos. The hot sauces are pretty unremarkable, the green sauce has a better flavor.

El Potosino Mexican Food
6929 Federal Blvd
Lemon Grove, CA 91945

Ray’s Mexican Restaurant – And the Post That Didn’t Want to Be….

December 21, 2005 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

Ray’s is a neighborhood taco shop located on El Cajon Boulevard, whose delivery service is very popular with one of the Departments that the Missus works with. Everytime she’s there they order from Ray’s, but it’s always been delivery, and the funny thing is, none of them have ever set foot, nor do they even really know where "Ray’s" is located. I guess it’s called legacy ordering. Maybe once in the past a former Employee was a regular customer of Ray’s and would always place an order, and said practice has perpetuated itself, now becoming a ritual.

That said, trying to create a post about Ray’s has been the bane of my existence. On our first visit I forgot my camera, and thus you missed a very tasty Birria(Goat) Soup, nice tomato flavor and slightly spicy, though a little short on the goat meat. The Missus had the house specialty Mojarra($5.99), which turned out to be a whole deep fried Tilapia(I thought it was a kind of ocean perch, but found out later that the term is also used for Tilapia), served with beans, rice, salsa fresca, and tortillas. I must say, even though I really don’t like tilapia, the fish was fried perfectly, crunchy on the outside, with a moist interior, and not muddy tasting at all.

Then last week, I had finished my post on Ray’s and Typepad crashed…….. So now like a Phoenix, or at least a Tilapia, my Ray’s post has risen from the ashes. No thanks to Typepad though. I had to recreate it from scratch.

What really keeps those people ordering from Ray’s is the Carne Asada and the Shredded Beef. And on our next visit, the Missus ordered Soft Shredded Beef Tacos($3.95), with no cheese(go figure):

Nicely moist and slightly stewed shredded beef filled some corn tortillas. Unlike other versions, these were quite tasty, and with the provided Salsa Verde these were nice a flavorful. Tomato and oregano flavors stood out. I have gotten used to cabbage in my tacos though, and have a problem going back to lettuce…..

She also ordered the Carne Asada Nacho Deluxe($5.50), with no sour cream and other stuff(sigh….)

The Carne Asada at Ray’s is fairly tasty, with nice lime overtones. Though not grilled I still enjoy the Carne Asada here more then Santana’s.

I ordered the Texas Burrito($3.99), something I first heard about from Howie of A Foodie’s-Eye View.

Basically Pollo Asado ("Grilled" Chicken), Potatoes (most version have french fries, but these had cubed potatoes), Salsa Fresca, Sour Cream, and Guacamole. Actually very tasty, and slightly artery hardening. Though moist, I found the chicken to be not as flavorful as the carne asada(of course, you dummy…). The potatoes were nicely salted and fried, and is of course a starch, ’nuff said. And need I to say, quite filling.

On our next visit the Missus tried the Fish Tacos($3.95):

Ordered no sauce and no cheese, just bleh….we’ll stick with El Zarape.

The 3 Rolled Tacos($1.95):

We ordered 1 Beef, 1 Chicken, and 1 Potato. I guess this is great if you got two bucks and are really hungry. There ain’t much in them taquitos, only the potato tasted like anything.

My advice? Stick with the Carne Asada Burrito($3.75), maybe a bit on the salty side, but at least not bland. Make sure you get the "green"(salsa verde) salsa, tangy and spicy.

Or maybe the Mojarra. Ray’s is a good example of a San Diego neighborhood taco shop. Perhaps not outstanding, but with good prices, and some pretty good food.

When the Missus mentioned to Ray’s "Satellite Customers" that she had actually been here, they had one major question; was it a dump, what did it look like? Ray’s is definitely not a dump. The interior is well lit and clean. Service is very efficient. And the one Gentleman always working (Ray?) is very nice and friendly. Yep, that’s Ray’s a nice neighborhood Taco Shop.

Now hopefully this post will finally see the light of day…..

Ray’s Mexican Restaurant
2885 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104

Open Daily from 8am to 10 pm.

Santana’s Mexican Grill – Hillcrest

December 4, 2005 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants

**** This location of Santana's has closed and is now Tony's Mexican Food

Santana's is part of the "rotation" at the office, along with El Cuervo and ~~Chi-Poodles~~ Chipotle. We usually order from one of these three places about once a week.

Doesn't it look like Santana's is having a little cerveza there? Once one of my favorites, I've been rethinking that designation based on 3 "surprises" on my recent orders.

I really only get two items from Santana's; either a Carne Asada Burrito(CAB) or my favorite cholesterol bomb; a California Burrito(Cali). The Burritos that Santana's serves is relatively large, and wrapped in the usual flour tortilla:

Well here's the first surprise. Santana's had raised their prices 50 cents since our last visit, and the Cali now costs $4.25. Not really a big deal. For those who don't know what a California Burrito is; in San Diego, it's a burrito that contains at minimum Carne Asada(marinated and grilled beef), Cheese, and most importantly, French Fries. Santana's version also has pico de gallo(tomato, onion, cilantro, and chile garnish).

This burrito had a pretty good amount of carne asada, and fries and cheese are always great, right? But here's the next surprise, the carne asada was extremely salty. So salty, that all the other flavors were eliminated. It had become a "salt lick" burrito……The usual starchy, meaty, cheesey, and mildly spicy burrito was utterly ruined.

Well, two weeks later the office decided that it was time for another Santana's run. This time I decided on a Carne Asada Burrito($4.25). I had believed that my previous experience was just a blip on the Taco Shop radar, I opened up my burrito:

First thing I noticed was that my burrito was somewhat "swollen", in a water balloon like way. Sorry to say that this is the only photographic evidence that I have of my Xiao Long(soup) Burrito. For as soon as I cut into it to set-up a photo, a huge amount of liquid poured out everywhere; creating a new office game – chase the soup. My third surprise! I really don't know how Santana's managed to get all of that brown meaty liquid and salsa into the burrito. At least this time it wasn't too salty! Could you imagine if I had just held my burrito and bit into it? Saved by Food Blogging again. Maybe Santana's has been dipping into the cerveza……I'm just wondering what surprise is in store the next time, if there is a next time!

Santana's Mexican Grill
719 W Washington St
San Diego, CA 92103

Cotijas – Clairemont Drive

November 22, 2005 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

**** This location of Cotijas has closed.

Cotijas is one of three "Taco Shops" in our neighborhood. This is about the only view we've ever had of Cotijas:

You see we've never been in Cotijas, we've always just used the drive thru, aren't they wonderful?

And in the several years we've lived around here, we've only ordered two dishes. Either this:

Or this:

Yes, look closely, these are two different dishes. The first is an artery hardening American Mexican concoction called Carne Asada Chips, the second is an equally cardiac unfriendly creation called Carne Asada Fries(both $5.09). Whoever invented these are obviously on the Surgeon General's ten most wanted list.

But oh, man these a really pretty darn good! I could go on and make glib, obtuse comments of how all the major food groups are represented; but I'm sure you can see them for yourself. The chips are in my opinion better then the fries, which get soggy much too quickly. I like versions with larger cut fries. But why split hairs? If you do need an inventory of what's in this, I'll list a few; sour cream, two cheeses, guacamole (not bad), Salsa Fresca, carne asada(little too mild, but what the heck), refried beans(luckily, not too much), cilantro, green onions, and either fries or chips. Now I know I've missed a few, but what the heck. Oh, and don't forget the hot sauce…….

Calories, we don't care 'bout no stinkin' calories, right? But in all honesty you really don't want to eat too much. Why? If you can't figure it out for yourself, let me spell it out for you:

As we're exiting the drive-thru I always laugh at this sign:

Yeah, if I live that long…..

I've never had a Shrimp Burrito from here. Can't get past those chips. I'm still trying to figure which is the lesser of two evils; this or Loco Moco's. Would it help if I said, "I just tasted, but I never swallowed?" Hmmmm, didn't think so.

Cotijas Mexican Grill
3066 Clairemont Dr
San Diego, CA 92117

El Portal Fresh Mexican Grill

November 15, 2005 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants

I pass this little shop almost everyday, but have never given it much thought:

But I’ve always seen Police Cars and Post Office Vehicles in the parking lot. And you know what they say about Cops and Postal Carriers, well maybe not Postal Carriers……not that I have anything against the Post Office mind you, I love getting my mail, and living, and stuff. Well, before I make anymore comments that get me in trouble, let’s proceed.

Doing this Food Blogging thingy has given me alot more courage, I finally gave El Portal a try. The first thing I did was read a little pamphlet that told me El Portal was one of those "Fresh Mexican Grills" that seem to be in every strip mall nowadays. You know, grilled lean meat, grilled chicken breast, no preservatives, no cholesterol, no lard, and many times, no flavor.

I ordered a Carne Asada Torta($4.15):

Expecting to be underwhelmed, I was rather surprised. I mean this isn’t really Mexican food, but it was pretty tasty. A well toasted bollilo, a good amount of very well marinated and grilled carne asada(though I’m pretty sure it was heated up in a microwave), and the sandwich wasn’t over-dressed. So many times I’ve had a torta that’s just smeared in beans or mayo that it’s a soggy mess. On the minus side, the guacamole was fairly flavorless, and what’s with the one slice of tomato right smack in the middle of the roll?

I did enjoy the Caesar Pepita Salad($4.05):

Though a bit short on the Cotija Cheese and Pepitas(pumpkin seeds), the salad was well dressed and tasty. The dressing was not quite the usual Caesar dressing, being alot looser and tangy. But overall a pretty fair salad. BTW, I didn’t take a photo of the chips that came with these dishes; but just let me say, they were really bad; dry and stale tasting.

About a week later I was doing some shopping at Long’s Drugs in Mission Valley, and to my surprise El Portal had opened a second location:

In need for some sustenance, I walked in. No Police; this time it was the Highway Patrol, and one Postal Worker, with a UPS Guy thrown in.

I decided to try the Pollo Asado Torta(grilled marinated chicken $4.15):

Can you say B-L-A-N-D! This tasted like a sour cream and cardboard sandwich. Really not worth my time. But I was comforted by the tomato; I now knew that the single lonely slice of tomato is the standard.

I did manage to get a Carne Asada Taco($2.45):

Though a bit more expensive then what I’m used to paying for a taco; this was absolutely stuffed with, well "stuff". The Carne Asada was just as before, pretty good; but so was the tasteless pasty "guac", and the pico de gallo was the usual run of the mill type. Not a disappointment, but not really great, and pretty consistent as a whole; just what the masses love in a "fast-casual" type restaurant. If looked at in that way, El Portal is pretty good.

Some notes; El Portal is a prime example that "healthy" doesn’t equate to "low fat". For example all Tortas have guacamole and sour cream. El Portal opens at 7am and has a large variety of omelettes and breakfast burritos.

El Portal Fresh Mexican Grill
4101 Genesee Ave
San Diego, CA 92111

5618 Mission Ctr Rd
San Diego, CA 92108

Yuma Part 4 – Breakfast & Tourist Stuff

November 11, 2005 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Yuma

After a great dinner, I spent the evening watching Football in my room at the Best Western Mo(tor Ho)tel. I got up the next morning and walked on over to the office to check out. The Lady at the front counter seemed absolutely shocked that I didn’t take advantage of the "free breakfast" voucher. Honestly, I can get eggs, bacon, and hash browns anywhere. I had something else in mind:

Tacos Mi Rancho, sits almost right across the street from the Best Western, and I was looking forward to getting some Birria(goat). I stepped into this crowded little restaurant and sidled up to the counter and had a seat.

I could see plates fly past me, the breakfast crowd seamed to be a ravenous bunch! Unfortunately, no Birria yet this morning, so I ordered a Lengua Taco($1.99), and a Taco Al Pastor($1.79).

What arrived were two tacos packed with meat, cabbage, onions, salsa fresca, and cilantro. The lengua(beef tongue) taco, is not really what you think. It’s soft and moist stewed and shredded beef tongue. This taco had a mild beef flavor, the cabbage added crunch, and the onions and cilantro gave the taco some "punch". The only challenge with this taco was the amount of "stuff" piled on the little corn tortillas, eating became a real battle as meat and vegetables kept falling out on the plate with every bite. In the end, there was more taco filling on the plate as was in the taco when I started, not really a bad thing I suppose. I guess that’s why they gave me a fork and spoon with the tacos!

The Tacos Al Pastor had a generous amount of meat, along with the same toppings as the lengua. The pork in this case was alot drier then the version I had the day before. The Al Pastor meat was very aggressively seasoned and the "chili" taste came through front and center. I ended up eating half of the taco filling off the plate, as filling spilled everywhere with every bite.

If I were to compare the tacos of the day before with the ones at Mi Rancho, I’d say that Mi Rancho’s tacos have alot more "stuff" and they deliver a much more "polished" product. The taco stands meats were more moist, and I thought the true taste of the source meat (i.e. beef) really came through. Much of it could be due to the "ambiance", but I enjoyed the stand tacos more. That’s not to say that Mi Rancho’s tacos are bad, they’re quite good!

Tacos Mi Rancho
188 S 4th Ave
Yuma, AZ 85364

As I left with a full belly, I decided to take in one tourist site in Yuma; the Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park.

Located on a bluff above the remains of the Colorado River, this facility was in use between 1876 and 1909. The guard tower is one of the original structures still standing:

During the 33 year period of use, 3069 prisoners, of which 29 were women, were incarcerated here for crimes ranging from polygamy to murder.

Even though it was 9am, the temperature was already nearly 80 degrees F. I could only imagine what it would be like here during the summer, when temperatures exceed 100 degrees.

Crime does not pay……..

One final item. If you’re driving East on Interstate 8, say maybe to Tucson, or Sedona, and have a sudden craving for a Spam® Musubi, you’re in luck!

Take the 16th Street exit and turn into the Yuma Palms Regional Center. And believe it or not, you’ll find Yuma’s Hawaiian BBQ. Just goes to further support my belief that Hawaiian BBQ will soon take over the world!

Yuma Part 3 – Dinner

November 8, 2005 mmm-yoso Memorable Meals, Mexican Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

After hitting Ranch 49.5 Market, Ed dropped me off at 315pm to "freshen up", telling me he'd be back at 430 for dinner! And there he was at 430 on the nose. When I mentioned that I'm still a bit full, Ed laughed and said, "I've seen those meals on your site, I know how much you can eat, I've seen the Sam Woo post." I had to remind Ed that the post was actually THREE MEALS, not one! We drove back down 8th Street, scene of the first part of our Taco Truck Crawl. A bit further down the road there was a small stand in what looked like a former garage, across a patch of maybe lettuce, or broccoli – Ed said pick either one and you'd have a 50% chance of being right. The name of the stand was El Nayarita, named after the coastal region of Nayarit.

We got our ice chest out of the back of the car, and had a seat at one of the lawn furniture tables. We were a bit early and Ed's friends had not arrived. So we popped a few cervezas and Ed ordered a dozen Empanadas. What arrived were what looked like deep fried folded tortillas. Though these were bright red in color:

Ed theorizes that achiote, and perhaps some other seasonings were folded into the masa, before these were stuffed with shrimp and deep fried. Topped with some salsa verde and a squeeze of lime, these empanadas were delici-yoso! Crunchy, slightly spicy, with nice plump shrimp, this was simply amazing. The groups on the other tables were having Seafood "Cocteles" and wonderful looking Seafood Tostada's topped with a large amount of chopped octopus and shrimp. I on the other hand, was really busy scarfing down my empanada(s).

Soon Ed's friends started arriving, and the orders started "flying". 2 dozen more empanadas, fish tacos, shrimp tacos, seafood salad, seafood cocteles, all taken by a very pleasant, smiling Young Lady. Ed and I split an order of fish, and an order of shrimp tacos.

In each flour tortilla either a battered shrimp or battered fish filet was placed with some cabbage and salsa. A squirt of white sauce completed the taco.

The tacos were good, though I must say that I've had tacos just as good in San Diego. The tacos were delivered to the table wrapped in foil, causing them to not be as crunchy as they could have been.

Fairly soon the sun went down in the horizon, and in what seemed a heartbeat the coolers were empty and the kitchen had run out of empanadas. As I stepped out to take this picture the Young Lady who did a fine job waiting on us asked me if I enjoyed my meal. My guess is that there aren't to many Asian customers at this fine little food oasis.

I'd like to express my sincere thanks to Greg & Loidene, Chip & Betsy, and Chris for the fine conversation and laughs. None more funny then when Loidene looked at the photo's in my camera and asked me, "Don't you take pictures of anything else, except food?" And of course a very grateful Mahalo to Ed, for ferrying me around and showing me a great time in Yuma.

As we left the stand and drove up 8th Street I could see an ocean of headlights making their way down 8th Street. The long, hard workday over, the customers, mostly Latino, many Migrant Workers and Laborers were finally ready to start their weekend. We passed what was an empty lot with a banner with "Corona" written on it during the afternoon, had suddenly been transformed into a "hotspot". I could hear the music blaring, blue and red disco lights spinning, strobe light blinking, and most of all, see the large Al Pastor turning on the vertical spit.

I turned to Ed and said "This is pretty neat!"

Ed turned to me and said "Damn, I forgot to order the whole fried fish!"

Leave it to him to put things into perspective!

I've got one more post on Yuma, which I'll do on Friday. Tomorrow it's back to San Diego…..

Yuma Part 2 – Taco Stands and Some “Errands”

November 7, 2005 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Road Trip, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

As we pulled out of Tio Juan’s lot, I suddenly thought about the weather! Ah, yes, the weather, a nice 80 degrees, with no wind. I mentioned this to Ed, who said, "you, picked a good day, this is about as good as it gets here".

We drove further up 8th Street, and noticed a Taco Stand set-up in the parking lot of this meat market:

So Ed parked, and took me on an little tour of the Market. But of course, this was about tacos. So Ed paid for two tacos, and took the receipt outside:

What Ed got were 2 Tacos Al Pastor, or "Shepard-style tacos". According to the interesting story; Lebanese immigrants brought with them Middle-Eastern style of grilling meat, mostly lamb, on a vertical spit. Eventually this was adapted by Mexicans, who marinate pork, and also apply a dry rub, usually grilling the meat on a vertical spit, topped with a slices of pineapple. The final product is a slightly spicy, red meat:

At this location, the meat is obviously grilled, and placed by the Young Lady on top of corn tortilla’s. You grab your tacos and walk over to a metal "cooler" and add whatever "garnish" you want. In this case Ed added shredded cabbage, and a nice salsa. You could clearly taste the nice "spice" and slightly smokey taste. The meat was nicely balanced, moist and tender. I was starting to understand the "other" part of eating a taco; that is the melding of textures, the soft and slightly chewy tortilla, the moist and tender meat, and the crunchy cabbage. This was a "new" location for Ed as well; He usually takes a "right" at the intersection before this market. And it actually has an address:

El Toro Meat Market
1007 W 8th St
Yuma, AZ 85364

The next stop? Ed’s favorite Meat Market, Coronado’s on 24th street. We finally saw some "Gringo’s" here grabbing a burrito, otherwise, we were the only "Gringo’s", well maybe I’m closer to a "JA-ngo" :

Though Ed shops here often; he had never tried the tacos from the market’s stand:

What we got here were two Cabeza Tacos. Literally "head" tacos; traditionally made from the head of a cow, that is steamed overnight, then shredded and mixed with the beef drippings(broth). Ed told me that these are very popular in Sonora, and most versions in Yuma are made with Beef "cheek". I’m assuming he meant the "cheeks" on the head side of the cow….

The moist stewed meat was placed on corn tortillas, Ed placed some cabbage and salsa fresca on top. The moist meat made this a somewhat ponderous taco. Oh, how did it taste? Delici-yoso!!! If one could condense "beef" taste into one bite, this is what it should taste like! Totally awesome. I asked Ed how he liked it? His response? "I’m almost ready to do a delici-yoso dance over this one." Perfect textures, for perfect beef. I’m basically at a loss for words over this.

Yuma Market Coronado’s
890 E 24th St
Yuma, AZ

Before dropping me off to "freshen up" before dinner, we went on a little side trip. Need Kim Chee in Yuma? Well the only place is the Oriental Gift Shop:

This little store is stuffed with everything from souvenirs and lucky bamboo, to health products, to asian food products. And according to Ed, on Saturday afternoon Kim Chee is delivered from Los Angeles, so he had to make sure he got a bottle. This is Yuma’s only Asian General Store, I jokingly called it Ranch 49.5 Market. The Korean Proprietor laughed when we asked when a Korean BBQ was going to open up in Yuma!

Oriental Gift Shop
1701 S Ave B Ste 107
Yuma, AZ 85364

Next – Dinner in Yuma! Stay tuned….

Yuma Part 1 – The “Taco Truck” Tour

November 6, 2005 mmm-yoso Food Trucks, Mexican Restaurants, Road Trip, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

*** Ed from Yuma has an update on Yuma Taco Trucks, you can find it here.

Earlier this year Ed from Yuma, and I were having one of our dinners and I broached the subject of a possible visit. At first Ed's response was, "huh"? But after pondering this for a while, Ed had come up with an idea. Ed has enjoyed some of Yuma's best Mexican Food at various Taco Stands and Trucks, and thought we should do a "Taco Truck Crawl". Ed's been wanting to this for a while, but couldn't find any takers. This sounded really good to me, I know next to nothing about Mexican Food, other then the "something" – Berto type Taco Stands we have here in San Diego.

We scheduled the visit during an open weekend on Ed's schedule; and so here I was fulfilling a very strange fantasy. You see, I often pass the 161 miles to Yuma sign on the 8 Freeway, always tempting me to "just keep driving" until I get "there". The drive took a shade over 2 hours, and was not what I expected. I'd assumed that El Centro, and all of the points East of San Diego was just desolate desert, but was changed as I passed all the fields of green. I got to Yuma at about 1115, and Ed picked me up in the Best Western Motel parking lot at 1130, and we were off.

It seems that there is an abundance of Taco Trucks in an area down 8th street in Yuma. There are literally empty lots lined with trucks around the perimeter. Many of these "shops" don't open until after sunset. Probably because most of their clientele works during the day, whether in the fields, or other manual labor, we also joked that the Dept of Health closes at 5 as well. Not very many "Gringo's" here. Ed wanted to take me to a specific Truck. So we drove down 8th avenue, which is being repaved. I thought the rough dirt road added a definite ambiance to the whole "event".

The specialty here is Caguamanta – Stingray Soup. Ed explained that dried salted Manta ray fillets are rinsed and re-hydrated I'd imagine much like bacalao, and cooked in a tomato based broth, with onions, celery, and other vegetables. The taste is somewhat briny and oceany; Ed describes it as a sting ray Manhattan Chowder. The stingray meat is slightly dense, not as tender at a fish fillet, but much more tender then the usual piece of rubbery clam that you'd get in a chowder. There is a nice bit of spice, and the cilantro and onions equate to a somewhat bracing flavor. You get a 12oz cup of soup, and either 2 corn tortillas or tortilla chips with your soup. Actually, I'd have loved a bowl of rice with this!

While waiting, I took look around the lot. There were several other trucks; some of them looked mobile, others looked like they were towed and left on the site. All of them were painted with the "specialties of the house". I turned to Ed and told him, "I know what this is, it's a food court!"

None of these "shops" were open; some were grilling meat in preparation for the "dinner rush". We came up to a truck on the corner of Eleanor and 8th that was open:

Unfortunately, they were out of everything that Ed tried to order. So we settled for 2 carne asada tacos. These were just ho-hum, I've had better before. But the one thing I noticed was that shredded cabbage was used instead of lettuce, and everything is with corn tortillas, not flour.

As we drove up 8th Street, Ed saw this sign and made a sudden turn into the gravel lot:

In this lot was a trailer, a counter with seafood in ice alongside a concrete "pad" covered with a tarp. Ed placed his order, and in a few minutes, this was delivered:

This large chalice contained a wonderful seafood cocktail. If it's in the ocean, it was in this. Chock full of shrimp, squid, octopus, scallops, great tasting oysters, cucumbers, celery, onion, all in a refreshing clamato and tomato water broth. But the item that surprised me the most was this:

In case you're not sure. Yep, that's abalone, there were at least 5 slices of nice sweet abalone in this goblet, amazing! The broth was just mild enough to add a little taste to all of the seafood. This was fabulous! I also discovered a hot sauce that I really enjoyed, Bufalo Jalapeno Hot Sauce.

Needless to say, we left with smiles on our faces. And lunch isn't over yet! And there's still dinner! STAY TUNED.

To Be Continued…..