Thanks, and happy taco-ing!
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Reader Recommendations
In recent weeks many of you have mentioned your favorite places to get tacos, we want all those recomendations to be in one place, not only so we can check them out, but so other readers can as well. Please leave a comment here with the name and location of your favorite taco joint. If you would rather leave the comment on Facebook, we can re-post if here for you.
Thanks, and happy taco-ing!
Thanks, and happy taco-ing!
Monday, September 24, 2012
Santa Fe Mexican Grill
Place: Santa Fe Mexican Grill
Address: 1170 NE Sunset Blvd, Renton WA 98056
What we ordered:
Him: Camarones a la Diabla (with scallops added)
Her: Chicken Avocado Tostada (What? A tostada is just a flat taco, right?)
Presentation:
Ease of consumption: Chad: I got through mine more than fine. A stout fork and a trusty spoon were capable of stuffing the tender prawns and scallops into a corn tortilla for face stuffing. Kiara: Tostadas are always tough. Wait no, they are always soft...if you take more than 30 seconds to eat them. I've yet to perfect the tostada eating process, so it ends up being a combination of scooping with a fork and breaking and folding the tostada shell into a taco shell. Definitely not first date material.
Taste and Texture: We both agreed: the Camarones a la Diabla definitely lacked the Diabla. We are used to burn your tastebuds off spice, and the dish, while tasty, just didn't quite deliver. Chad: I added about a half a bottle of Tapatio to my camarones a la diablita en la vestida de una angelita. Pardon my six year old high school/college Spanish. However, they did use a ketchup base for the sauce, which is traditional, believe it or not, and pretty much the only way to impart the spicy taste if you're actually going to pump up the heat. Overall, not bad, but they really needed to add jalapeño, habañero, red pepper, garlic, Cholula, and/or onion. Preferably all of the above. Yes, that was a secret recipe, enjoy. The tostada was pretty standard fare, reminiscent of Azteca and other chain restaurants.
Satisfaction Level an Hour Later: Chad: Satisfied, even though it was shellfish, which typical is lighter fare than meat. Impressive. Still had a snack at 9pm though. Kiara: I ate way too much. Wayyyyyy too much.
Options for Kids: Yes, but once again we just had the toddler eat off of our plentiful plates.
Hot Sauce: One option, good ol' Tapatio.
I couldn't find a website or an official Facebook page, but here's a link to the monthly coupon they send out in the ValPak.
Address: 1170 NE Sunset Blvd, Renton WA 98056
What we ordered:
Him: Camarones a la Diabla (with scallops added)
Her: Chicken Avocado Tostada (What? A tostada is just a flat taco, right?)
Brought out on huge, piping hot platters, served with beans and rice. These photos really don't do justice to how big the portions were. Chad: "These plates are bigger than three of my face!"
Ease of consumption: Chad: I got through mine more than fine. A stout fork and a trusty spoon were capable of stuffing the tender prawns and scallops into a corn tortilla for face stuffing. Kiara: Tostadas are always tough. Wait no, they are always soft...if you take more than 30 seconds to eat them. I've yet to perfect the tostada eating process, so it ends up being a combination of scooping with a fork and breaking and folding the tostada shell into a taco shell. Definitely not first date material.
Taste and Texture: We both agreed: the Camarones a la Diabla definitely lacked the Diabla. We are used to burn your tastebuds off spice, and the dish, while tasty, just didn't quite deliver. Chad: I added about a half a bottle of Tapatio to my camarones a la diablita en la vestida de una angelita. Pardon my six year old high school/college Spanish. However, they did use a ketchup base for the sauce, which is traditional, believe it or not, and pretty much the only way to impart the spicy taste if you're actually going to pump up the heat. Overall, not bad, but they really needed to add jalapeño, habañero, red pepper, garlic, Cholula, and/or onion. Preferably all of the above. Yes, that was a secret recipe, enjoy. The tostada was pretty standard fare, reminiscent of Azteca and other chain restaurants.
Satisfaction Level an Hour Later: Chad: Satisfied, even though it was shellfish, which typical is lighter fare than meat. Impressive. Still had a snack at 9pm though. Kiara: I ate way too much. Wayyyyyy too much.
Options for Kids: Yes, but once again we just had the toddler eat off of our plentiful plates.
Hot Sauce: One option, good ol' Tapatio.
I couldn't find a website or an official Facebook page, but here's a link to the monthly coupon they send out in the ValPak.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Mucho Burrito
Place: Mucho Burrito
Address: 921 N 10th St # A Renton, WA 98057
What we ordered:
Presentation:
The tacos/other food look great on simple "burger joint" style tins with checkered wrap. There's also lots of space on the plates to use the "elbows out" technique and really dig in.
Ease of consumption:
So much guacamole was piled on the taco that we scraped most of it off and used it as dip for the chips. The guacamole here is pretty solid, so it was nice to have the guac make the mess, since it had taste. No complaints on that, it is delicious! The tacos stayed together pretty well, a little smooshing of the contents back into the shell was necessary, but that is to be expected.
Taste and Texture:
Ingredients taste fresh and delicious. We love that they have cilantro as one of the topping options, it adds an extra dimension to the flavors. (Kiara) The taste here is good. It would be mediocre if it weren't for the slightly quirky hot sauce and option for cilantro to be added straight to their concoctions. At the risk of being slightly nationalistic in the taco arena, I think the taste here, as Kiara mentions about the joint's origins, is Canadian. Very well put together, easy to get around, and just barely satisfying. It's nowhere near knocking my socks off though. Everything is good until you eat it for a few bites, in which case, there's a faint "emptiness." (Chad)
Satisfaction Level an Hour Later:
Still full, no need for a snack!
Options for Kids:
They have kids options, but in this case the toddler ate one mild vegetarian taco and chips with queso.
Hot Sauce:
The sauce here is actually pretty intense. It's way more heat than you would expect from a Canadian taco place. Each hot sauce is far superior to it's Tabasco counterpart: Jalapeno>Green Tabasco, Sweet Heat > Chipotle Tabasco, and Devil's Tongue > Regular Tabasco and is also hotter than Habanero Tabasco. A spot that has its birthplace in Canada just shouldn't have hot sauce this good.
Notes:
Originating in Canada, there are now two US location, both in Washington state, one more location will be opening soon in Southcenter. An Indian family ran this, at least it when it opened, and there was a faint curry taste to everything, which we thought was awesome. They have a good catering menu, I am hoping to get to use them for a work function some time soon. No mobile taco trucks though.
Address: 921 N 10th St # A Renton, WA 98057
What we ordered:
1) Vegetarian crispy tacos with a side of chips and queso dip- one taco with mild pico de gallo for the toddler, two with spicy salsa for Kiara
2) Taco salad in a whole wheat baked tortilla bowl, topped with Tilapia
Presentation:
Ease of consumption:
So much guacamole was piled on the taco that we scraped most of it off and used it as dip for the chips. The guacamole here is pretty solid, so it was nice to have the guac make the mess, since it had taste. No complaints on that, it is delicious! The tacos stayed together pretty well, a little smooshing of the contents back into the shell was necessary, but that is to be expected.
Taste and Texture:
Ingredients taste fresh and delicious. We love that they have cilantro as one of the topping options, it adds an extra dimension to the flavors. (Kiara) The taste here is good. It would be mediocre if it weren't for the slightly quirky hot sauce and option for cilantro to be added straight to their concoctions. At the risk of being slightly nationalistic in the taco arena, I think the taste here, as Kiara mentions about the joint's origins, is Canadian. Very well put together, easy to get around, and just barely satisfying. It's nowhere near knocking my socks off though. Everything is good until you eat it for a few bites, in which case, there's a faint "emptiness." (Chad)
Satisfaction Level an Hour Later:
Still full, no need for a snack!
Options for Kids:
They have kids options, but in this case the toddler ate one mild vegetarian taco and chips with queso.
Hot Sauce:
Notes:
Originating in Canada, there are now two US location, both in Washington state, one more location will be opening soon in Southcenter. An Indian family ran this, at least it when it opened, and there was a faint curry taste to everything, which we thought was awesome. They have a good catering menu, I am hoping to get to use them for a work function some time soon. No mobile taco trucks though.
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