Taco Tour 2006, week seven

Posted on July 17, 2006

Special double-post this week, as I hit not one, but two places on Saturday.

The first was Wahoo’s fish tacos, which is a great place despite the fact that it’s a chain.  Okay, so Austin has the only Texas location of this California chain, but I’m still counting it as a chain.  I went with SHawna, and while she grabbed a blackened fish taco, I got a combo: blackened fish taco, grilled beef taco, rice, and beans.

The beef was excellent, but the fish was a little bland.  Strangely enough, Shawna’s tasted much better, so I split the difference.  The food filled me up (and then some!).  You’ll also remember from a previous post that Wahoo’s has the cleanest bathroom in Austin. 

Oh, and their weekend happy hour is domestics and margaritas cost whatever the outside temperature is!

Check it out!

Beef: 8

Fish: 7

Chain penalty: -2

Ultra-full bonus: +1

Average: 7

Later, we went to La Ferria with some friends, where I ordered the Pastor plate.  Mmmm, spicy grilled pork.  Delicious!  La Ferria also bosts incredible salsa and wondering mariachis.  Not a bad way to spend a Saturday.

I will be giving them a deduction for not serving the pastor tacos a la carte, however.

Pastor: 8.5

Plate penalty: -1

Average: 7.5

Taco Tour 2006, week six

Posted on July 10, 2006

Here’s the thing.  Jardin Corona, a small Mexican place around the corner from my house, used to be very good.  Now, they’re just very busy, so busy they can’t bother to do things like update their menu prices.  For example, when you order two $0.75 tacos and your bill is over $4 because they forgot to update the price to $1.99.  That’s bad business.  When you get home and find out the chicken taco you order is actually beef — cold beef with melted cheese on it instead of that nice shredded stuff — that’s fucking inexcusable.

Avoid Jardin Corona.  You have been warned.

Beef Fajita: 5

Ground Beef (should have been chicken): 2

Incorrect pricing penalty: -3

Average: 2

Taco Tour 2006, week four

Posted on July 3, 2006

Four weeks in, and I had a fun little time on Saturday.  The Taco Tour has taken me to a dark little out of the way place, the kind of place that’s a little creepy.

Welcome to El Tacolote.

I found El Tacolote On Lamar, just north of Rundberg.  It used to be a trailer.  I know this, becuase the trailer was the only other thing on wheels when I pulled into the parking lot.  El Tacolote is now located in what appears to have once been a free-standing Chili’s or something.  The neon sign next to the door assures me they’re open, so I enter.

Wow.

Apparently, the fine owners of El Tacolote could not afford all of the form restaurant space.  Instead, they rent out the front room/waiting area and a portion of the kitchen.  There were no lights, no illumination but the sunlight filtering through old windows and a dirty yellow light coming from the kitchen.  There was no sound but the far off sharpening of a knife.  A wrought iron security door stood at one end of the high counter.  Two small tables and a few tables finished up the room.  No other humans appeared to be anywhere, except for the knife sharpener in the back.

Immediately, two thought popped into my brain.

1: I’m going to die in here, and no one will ever know.

2: This is awesome!

A small Mexican woman appeared on the other side of the counter and took my order.  One carne guisada taco and one chicken fajita taco, plus a coke.  I took a seat and waited, taking in the room.  A moment later, the security door squeaked open and my food and drink were presented.  Wonders be known, my coke came in a good old glass bottle.  Don’t get that much anymore.

All in all, the tacos weren’t that great (though not that bad, either).  The experience, though, was pretty damn good.

Carne Guisada: 5.5

Fajita de Pollo: 6

Seedy experience bonus: + 3

Average: 7.25

Taco Tour 2006, week three

Posted on June 26, 2006

This Saturday, I went to Chango’s.  I guess it’s a relatively big deal in Austin, one of the more popular taquerias.  I’m not sure it counts as a taqueria, though, at least not a nice little family-owned one.  It’s owned by the proprietors of Manuel’s, a nice tex-mex place up in the Northwest region.  Chango’s, being a few blocks north of The University of Texas, shows all the tell-tale signs of being a trendy spot.  It lacks the class and charm of a small, dirty spot that’s tucked away in the middle of nowhere.  You also miss out on those little extras like free chips and salsa.

But those tacos…

I grabbed a chicken taco and a grilled Mahi Mahi taco, and both were excellent.  Moist, flavorful, and light.  I was still hungry when I left, which isn’t great, but my total charge for two tacos and a drink was $6.66, so that’s fun.

Chicken: 8.5

Mahi Mahi: 8

Still Hungry Penalty: -4

Average: 6.25

Friday at Hudson’s

Posted on June 25, 2006

As you may have read on Friday, Shawna and I went to Hudson’s on the Bend for our anniversary dinner.  We’ve hit a few of the better restaurants in town over the years, but this was by far the best.  It was the first time I would describe myself as having a “Dining Experience.”

Hudson’s is out on 620 near Mansfield Dam.  It’s not a huge place, but they do have a nice, shaded patio to eat on.  I let Shawna decide whether we were eating on said patio or not, knowing the answer would involve me sitting outside and sweating.  So, the hostess sat us down and gave us some menus.

The Hudson’s menu is varied, to say the least.  Don’t believe mw?  Go check their website.  It’s on there.  I won’t run down the whole experience, but I’ll tell you what we ate.

Appetizers: 

Fried Green Tomatoes in a Chipotle Cream Aioli.

Diamond Back Rattlesnake Cakes

Seafood Crepes (lobster, scallops, shrimp, crawfish, and crab)

Shawna’s entree: Pecan Smoked Duck Brest with Diver Scallops and Sweet Potato Hash

My entree: Watermelon Marinated Wild Boar with Watermelon Salsa

Dessert: Creme Brulee Trio

We even sprang for a bottle of wine that cost more than $20 and was brought out by the wine steward.  Much nicer than when the seventeen-year-old waitress at The Olive Garden tries to tell us about “her favorite wine.”

So, if you’re ever in the Austin area and have a few hundred bucks to spare, stop in at Hudson’s on the Bend.  Tell them Nate sent you, and wait for them to ask “Who?”

Taco Tour 2006: Week 2

Posted on June 19, 2006

Saturday found me at Rota’s Mexican Restaurant, a place that can best be described as hidden somewhere along Rutland Dr.  I grabbed a chicken fajita taco and a beef fajita taco.  The chicken was probably the best I’ve ever had.  The salsa that came with my chip was great, awesome taste without too much heat.  Interesting color, too, sort of a pale brown.

If there was any slip up, it was the over-priced taco plate ($7.25 is still pretty cheap for two tacos with beans and rice, but it’s up there compared to your average taqueria) and the beef fajita.  It was pretty bland.  I’m starting to wonder if I’ll find a really good beef fajita taco on this sear.  Next weekend I plan to start hitting the big guns.  We’ll see what happens there.

Salsa: 7.5

Chicken Fajita: 9

Beef Fajita: 4

Overall: 6.83

Hell’s Kitchen

Posted on June 15, 2006

Well, I finally got around to watching the Hell’s Kitchen season premiere last night.  The show’s a guilty pleasure for me, as I love watching Gordon Ramsey tear potential chefs apart.

This year’s group of contestants seems to be pretty clueless.  Only Heather, who kept delegating responsibility even as she waited for an ambulance for her badly burned hand, seems to have what it takes to run a high profile kitchen.  I can’t wait for that smug fuck Giacomo to get the boot.  Other than that, I like sweaty Tom and plucky Sarah, but that’s about it.

So, I’ll be watching to see what’s up.  Maybe I’ll even pick up an idea or two.  We’ll see how it goes.

Taco Tour 2006, week 1

Posted on June 12, 2006

For my first stop, I went to a little taqueria near the in-laws’ house.  I think it was called Taqueria Nocolataz, but I can’t be sure, as their sign was practically scribbled.  Hell, I don’t know if nocolataz is even a word.

Good food, though.

I stepped inside and ordered a chicken fajita taco, and beef fajita taco, and a coke (I quickly noticed I’d have to drop my ground beef gold standard, as a lot of local places can’t be bothered with something so basic).  The fine folks brought me chips and salsa (two flavors), and both flavors were just about the best salsa I’ve ever had.

And the tacos.  They were of good size, and a great value.  The chicken was delicious, if a little too subtle.  The beef was strangely tangy, with a little bit of orange flavor.  Interesting, but I probably won’t have the beef again.

RATINGS

Salsa: 9.5

Chicken: 7

Beef: 5

Total Rating: 7.16

 

Summer 2006: Searching for the Perfect Taco

Posted on June 6, 2006

For those of you who might be new around here, I should tell you that food is a very big deal to me.  I spent almost three years working the kitchen at the Argosy Casino in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Once I left to move to Texas, I started teaching myself how to cook.  Now, not a week goes by that I’m not trying some new recipe or attempting to improve my chicken stir-fry.

So, yeah.  Food’s a big deal.

Last year, we tried Fear of a Tasteless Planet.  This experiment with restaurants in Austin that I haven’t tried had some high points (Tino’s) and some low points (Hole in the Wall).  It was a great time, and I wanted to try something similar this year.

Thus, The Search for the Perfect Taco.

Austin is home to just under 42000 taquerias.  These inexpensive little eateries are an excellent food source, and I plan to storm them like Normandy.  Every weekend, I will eat at a local taqueria on my hunt for the Perfect Taco.  The only rule is that I must have one baseline taco (ground beef, cheese, lettuce).  This will be our gold standard.  I’ll try to remember to take pictures.

Everything will be given a score between 1 and 10, and on September 1st, we’ll award one lucky taqueria to title of the Perfect Taco.

This will be fun.

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