Mi Cocina- Fire and Ice

I had a dinner date at the swanky Mi Cocina on Hulen at I-30 in Fort Worth. It's located in a shopping center and faces the highway access road. 

We started our evening off with Mambo Taxis. A Mambo Taxi is Sauza Silver tequila, lime juice, housemade Sangria with Pinot Noir, Brandy, and fruit juices. It was really delicious...not too strong but had enough booze to feel it.

My date ordered the Tacos de Brisket, three corn tortillas filled with shredded brisket, oven roasted overnight, and Jack cheese, arroz and sliced avocado ensalada. She thoroughly enjoyed her meal. The brisket was ultra moist and dripped onto her plate as she bit into her taco.

I ordered the Tacos Mi Tierra, “street style” tacos served on three soft corn tortillas topped with grilled fajita beef, Serranos and onions served with guacamole y pico de gallo. I was warned by the waitress that they would be spicy. I nodded in acknowledgement, not yet knowing what I had just agreed to.

The first issue I encountered had to do with the layout of this plate. The meat was just dumped on top of three overlapping tortillas in a haphazard manner. It made a mess and spread a lot of grease all over the tortillas. My fingers and hands were filthy with grease and juices. 

The second issue I encountered had to do with the level of heat...spicy heat.  I have to admit that the fajita meat was fantastic. It had a succulent grilled flavor and was moist and tender. However, there were so many chopped Serano peppers on it, my mouth was set aflame. Each bite was painfully hot and it took away from my enjoyment of the other flavors. It was just too much. I love the Serano flavor but, the amount should be a quarter what they currently put on their tacos.

Issue number three...brain freeze. The tacos were so spicy hot, each blazing bite was followed by a huge sip of Mambo Taxi leading to the inevitable brain freeze. It was a back and forth see saw of snot dripping spicy heat and brain freezing cold liquor. 

I would absolutely recommend these tacos but would suggest asking them to lay off the overload of Serranos. Don't forget to stop by the World Market after your meal.

Salsa Limon, The Jewel of the Museum District

I first tried Salsa Limon at the food truck park behind the Montgomery Plaza Super Target. I was so impressed, I chose to return for my birthday meal with my family shortly after. It was a big hit with everyone.

I had an opportunity to return and stopped into the University drive Salsa Limon Museo location at brunch the other day. It was unusually packed for that time thanks to a rained out Colonial golf tournament. 

I ordered a Chicken Taco. It was served on double corn tortillas that never broke. It was topped with pickled cabbage, onion, cilantro, and served with a wedge of lime. It was delicious. The pickled cabbage balances the heavier flavors. The creamy avocado tomatillo green sauce also was outstanding. The perfect heat and full of flavor.

I also ordered the steak El Capitan that came on a buttery toasted flour tortilla. It was topped with melted Oaxaca-Jack cheese, pickled cabbage, onion, cilantro, and a wedge of lime. Another very satisfying choice. My only complaint was the greasiness of the buttery tortilla. It was a bit much. A normal cooked flour tortilla would have been perfect, known as "Norte" style at Salsa Limon.

I also tried the weird orange salsa pictured. Steal clear of it. I have no idea the ingredients, but it smelled and tasted like the powdered cheese out of a Kraft Mac n Cheese box mixed with milk and served cold. Other than that...

I highly recommend this place. If your in the museum district, put this on your list of must visit places.

Torchy's Tacos: The Hipsters Dream

www.torchystacos.com

Today, I used a much appreciated gift card I had received at Christmas for Torchy's Tacos. I stopped in to the MidTown location in Fort Worth near Rosedale and Forest Park. Parking was great. There was a spot right in front. I expected there to be few customers due to the available parking spaces, however the place was jumping when I got inside. Where did all these people come from? It was noticeably heavy on the hipster vibe which I guess fits in with the Magnolia Near South Side revival that's going on in that area. Skinny jeans and beards aside, the atmosphere was warm and inviting. It even had a bar area.

I decided to order The Democrat. It had shredded beef barbacoa with fresh avocado, queso fresco, cilantro, onions served with a fresh wedge of lime and tomatillo salsa with your choice of corn or flour tortilla. I chose flour. I ordered two extra tortillas with it. I had visited Torchy's when it first opened at this location and there was so much meat on my tacos, I had wished I could spread it out over more tortillas. It was almost too big to handle and eat without it becoming a big hot mess. But, this time it wasn't quite as much meat. I still split the toppings from one taco between three tortillas and was full from it.

The appearance of the food was great. The barbacoa was juicy and moist but it didn't leave a puddle of drippings on the bottom of the taco basket. It was perfect as far as moistness goes. The tomatillo sauce was very fresh tasting and overall the taco tasted good. The tortillas were hot and fresh and not rubbery. My only complaint was the mildness of the flavors. I kept waiting for a bite or a kick of spice from something, but it never came. I guess I prefer a little more Tex than Mex in my tacos. I wish the barbacoa would have been a little more flavorful and the tomatillo salsa would have been medium instead of mild.

I ordered a soda with my taco and was pleasantly surprised by my options upon reaching the self serve soda fountain. There was no Coke, Dr Pepper, or Pepsi. Instead I got the Mexican Cola. They had a variety of Pure Cane Soda selections.
The service was very fast and I can't wait to try some of their other tacos very soon. I recommend this place.

El Pollo Regio - Pollo is in the Name for a Reason

My very first taco review is for El Pollo Regio. You can visit their website here http://www.elpolloregio.net . I went to the location at 105 S Bowen Rd, Arlington, TX 76012.

Now, I realize I should have ordered something with "pollo" actually in it. But I didn't.

I had been to a Pollo Regio before and loved the food. I was geared up for a mouth disco, when I made the unfortunate choice of barbacoa for my tacos.

Here are the options

While I was waiting on my tacos I visited the condiment bar. Impressive. The complimentary self serve chips were hot, thick, and crunchy. The selection of salsas was surprising. It was definitely fresh and made in house. I chose a medium chunky red salsa that possibly had roasted veggies in it. The green sauce had tomatillos and cilantro. Both were a medium on the hotness scale. The third sauce, a light green concoction, tasted like some sort of crema with avocado. It wasn't bad, just not my favorite. The best parts about the salsa bar were the raw peppered purple onions and the cabbage mix.

I was more than excited when my plate arrived. There were five tacos accompanied by fresh cilantro, grilled onions and a grilled jalapeño. I loaded up the grilled onions and then topped them off with the peppered onions, cabbage, and cilantro. I poured about half a small paper cups worth of red salsa on it. Then, I took the oh so anticipated first bite.

I immediately knew there was a problem. There was a....squishy feeling in my mouth. Not a good squishy either. I pulled the culprit out of my mouth and it was VERY fatty meat.  Now, I'm sure barbacoa lovers out there like this quality, but fat or gristly meat triggers my gag reflex. I only like Chipotle barbacoa. I know...I'm lame like that.

I proceeded to pick through the rest of my tacos with a fork. There was, in my opinion, so much fat that I was pretty much left with vegetarian tacos by the time I was finished picking it off. I did find two pieces of edible meat, so I tried them for flavor. There wasn't much. The salsas and other condiments saved the day as I used these to fill my tortillas. Oh! I almost forgot the tortillas. The tortillas were corn. I felt they were too greasy and had a taste of grease. I know you need some oil to keep corn shells from breaking apart, but these were a little much.

Would I eat here again? Probably. I think a different choice for meat would have improved my situation. Next time I'll try the "pollo".