Taquiza Jireh

This is the latest taco truck to set up at Dave's Express on Root Road. Picked up dinner for us the other night. We had a fajita burrito, the Papas Locas with al pastor, a chicken taco and a chicken gordita. Washed that down with a jamaica agua fresca.

The people are very friendly and there's a menu with pictures on the side of the truck. It has no prices--I guess if you have to ask...

They gave me a good sized sample (about 6 ounces) of the jamaica to drink while I decided on my order. It was very tasty and we got a 32 ounce cup for the full order.

The food was fine. The burrito was a big one, a good pound and a half. The meat did not have a lot of flavor on its own and was somewhat gristly. It was helped by very good salsa. The red salsa has great depth of flavor and a heat that builds over time. It's actually pretty spicy.

The Papas Locas is a loaded french fry dish, with parmesan cheese and a cheese sauce on top of the al pastor meat and the fries. The fries were very fresh, but to make this dish work they need to be super crisp--breaded ones work best. These were not so crisp so ended up kind of limp with all the moisture. Decent flavor.

The taco and gordita were fine, good representations.

The truck has a professional look and feel. I would say it's fine if you're right there and hungry. They also have Salvadoran hot dogs on the menu, I would try those next time.

My Yelp Review

HiPot

This is an unusual review for an AYCE Korean BBQ and hot pot place--I went by myself. I had my reasons--no one around me currently is familiar with this concept (including me) and I wanted to test drive it before bringing friends and family.

I ordered both the hot pot and bbq, since it's only a $5 upcharge to get both. Got a selection of meats, seafoods and vegetables for both. What I'm going to do here is share lessons learned that are specific to this restaurant--I don't think the general guides helped enough.

My server was friendly and encouraging but didn't give me a lot of guidance--she was a young woman and I'm an older man and may have given the idea that I knew what I was doing, even though I told her it was my first time. Standout items for the review would be the shrimp, the HiPot pork chop, the vegetables, and the bulgogi beef.

I started with the hot pot. The idea is to put slower-cooking vegetables and meats in first, then add the faster cooking items. I got a chicken broth base, feeling like that would be relatively neutral. I kind of thought about it like I was making soup, but that's probably not the right approach. I don't make soups often but when I do they simmer on the stove or in a crock pot for hours. So I put some seafood and some pork belly in with the noodles and veggies and let it go while I did my bbq. But in the end I kind of gave up on the hot pot.

The bbq went much better. I felt pretty competent cooking the meats on the grill, and they were very tasty. Not so much on the veggies--I didn't get them seasoned properly.

What stood out well:
I got the HiPot pork chop, a marinated loin cut chop. That came out beautifully and was delicious. The other meats were good as well.

Not so good:
I got shrimp as part of my hot pot order. I received two beautiful large prawns--head and shell on. I don't eat them that way, but what to do? At home I'd shell them, remove the head and de-vein them before adding them to the soup pot. That seemed awkward in the restaurant. Don't think I'll order shrimp in the future.

Learnings:

1. I need more specific guidance on what comes out well in Hot Pot, where you don't have all day to let the soup come together.

2. At this restaurant the seasonings and sauces are available at the sauce bar at the back of the restaurant. There are no seasonings at all at the table. In the future I would want to consider the ingredients I was ordering and prepare a mis en place of sauces and seasonings. Pretty much as though I was making it at home. That's a bit daunting if it's busy, which it always is.

3. You don't get a knife by default, they are available at the bar.

Other notes:
There's an appetizer bar with some standard Chinese buffet appetizers. These were quite tasty. There were also some buffet dessert cakes that were much better than average.

They have a fairly large selection of drinks. I got the Thai milk tea and it was a good representation.

There's ice cream available when you're winding down. The green tea ice cream was very good.

The restrooms were clean and ready. The ambiance is perfect for table conversation--the acoustics reduce noise and TVs are not obtrusive.

The place has been busy since opening, so the demand is absolutely there. I feel more confident that I could have a good experience with a party now. I plan to go back.

My Yelp Review

Sea and Lemon

We stopped in to try this new Mexican seafood place--they are still in the soft opening phase. We got a Horchata Nutella refresher (offered free with the meal but likely that's over by the time you read this), a fish al pastor taco, a Zarandeado shrimp roll, a signature Zarandeado fish taco, and a mango and avocado ceviche.

The service deserves mention up front. The staff are all in on the success of the restaurant, which is great to see. It is a counter service place, but since they were slower and wanted to show us the refreshers they took our orders at the table.

The way the refreshers work at present deserves explaining. There are about a dozen refreshers on the menu. Not all of them are available on a given day. They brought out samples of the refreshers available. I ended up with the Horchata Nutella refresher. Both flavors were apparent and it's a nice tasty drink.

The tacos and buns are done kind of like a tapas menu--small items that encourage you to order multiples. The ceviches and aguachiles are more full-size dishes that are shareable.

I'm not 100 percent clear on what is in a Zarandeado sauce, but it is a mild savory sauce that doesn't interfere with the flavor of the other ingredients. The shrimp roll was like a small po' boy. They offered it with cheese--I was a little skeptical but went for it. The cheese is mozzarella and actually pairs well, adding savory flavor and a grease factor. Quite good. The shrimp was done perfectly. The fish taco was similarly mild. All of their food is just a little shiny with oil, not severely so and this is a feature for me.

The fish al pastor is tilapia with pineapple and onions. The al pastor flavor is very mild, which is a plus for me as I'm not a fan of strong al pastor flavor. The staff was happy to make salsa recommendations for the items. They have mild, medium and hot salsas--I tried the medium ones and they packed a serious punch. Be ready for the hot ones. Excellent homemade flavor.

The menu has a plant-based section with several tasty-looking options. The mango and avocado ceviche was definitely the highlight of the meal. The seasoning they use created an absolutely unique and delicious flavor in the mango. I've never had anything like it. Combine a bite with mango, avocado and onions on the provided tortilla chips and you've got a near perfect flavor experience. You really need to try this.

The decor carries forward the seafood theme. Some fake lemon trees and a fun mermaid sculpture. The effort really shows. The issues that keep it from being perfect are minor. Their salsa is in squeeze bottles in a cooler, like the ones you'd use for ketchup. Ketchup is smooth, salsa has lumps and seeds, so it doesn't dispense real well. The way they are handling refreshers is a bit confusing. They will figure that stuff out. The gendered but identical bathrooms were clean and ready. Two of us had a nice meal for about $30. Definitely worth a try.

My Yelp Review

Lebanese Cuisine Aileen

This food truck recently moved to La Plaza de los Food Trucks on Gosling Road. We've been in a couple of times to try them.

On my last visit I ordered a chicken bowl, which comes with chicken, tabouli, and hummus on a bed of rice with babaganoush and tahini sauce. To go with it we got an order of falafel, an order of baklava, and a blossom lemonade. The service is gracious and generous. I was given a plate of hummus and pita chips to enjoy while I waited for my to-go order. The chips were well seasoned and cooked to a nice brown--very crisp, just like I like them. The hummus was well-seasoned and the whole chickpeas were a nice touch. Really good start.

We got an order of falafel and it was very good. Crisp on the outside and fluffy inside, with great flavor. If you specifically want falafel I would say this is a great place to go. The rest was not quite as good. The chicken had decent flavor but was on the dry side. The sauce helped some, but not really enough. The hummus with chips was great, but hummus on rice mixing with the tabouli, babaganoush and tahini sauce ended up having too much going on. The baklava was tasty and sweet but not too sweet. The bottom was very firm and it ended up coming apart as I ate it. They have two floral drinks, a rose water lemonade and blossom lemonade. The rose water has rose water, of course, and I believe the blossom lemonade is flavored with jasmine. When using floral flavors in foods you have to be very careful--just a hint. These were both way too floral for me, pretty medicinal. The only other place to get mediterranean around here is Nadia's, and I don't think this would displace it as my preferred place. But they are super nice folks and your mileage may vary. I wish them well.

My Yelp Review

Below Deck

We went with some friends to try out this new bar in our neighborhood. It's where Pichurro's Mexican Restaurant was, briefly. It's a bar with food (as opposed to a bar & grill that advertises food), but the menu has lots of entrees and is a reasonable dinner choice. Our party had the Bacon PB&J burger (a featured item), a classic burger, a chicken sandwich, Buffalo wings, and Bacon Jalapeno Firecrackers. We ordered our entrees with tater tots, but they have fries too. We washed it down with a margarita, a Cucumber martini, and a couple of draft beers.

The Bacon Jalapeno Firecrackers were a real hit. Nice and crisp, with delicious flavor from all the ingredients. Top notch bar food. The chicken sandwich was also really good--nice crisp outside and good flavor. The Classic Burger was a perfectly good burger, done properly and as ordered (though we did have to wait for the mustard).

Our Buffalo wing expert (raised in Buffalo) thought the wings were well cooked but the blue cheese dressing was a little on the mild side. The PB&J burger is complicated. This is an unusual but legit burger. The staff enthused about it. I ordered it in a triumph of hope over experience--I actually don't like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I liked this burger better than a PB&J sandwich--the jelly kind of serves as ketchup. The bacon should balance off the sweetness of the jelly. If you like PB&J you should try this burger, but I'd probably get something else next time. Something fried.

The tater tots deserve special mention. They are fried in beef tallow, like all the other fried items. The high smoke point means they get really crisp on the outside. They are finished with ground salt and a few other seasonings, and they are the best tots I've had.

The Cucumber Martini was quite tasty--the cucumber and mint flavors made it very refreshing. There's an aftertaste that stays with you. The margarita was on the sweet side. The drafts were $5 on special which was nice.

The waitresses were absolute sweethearts. They spent time with us and made recommendations, and made us feel very welcome. One even went next door to Kroger to get a cucumber when they found they were out. They don't serve like a restaurant--each item was brought out as it was finished, which was a little awkward.

This is probably the cleanest bar I've been to. The tables were shining, the floor was spotless, the restrooms were 100% clean and ready.

A dive bar tries to establish an atmosphere to attract and keep a particular clientele. This place definitely does that. There are flags from all the military services as well as some nautical decorations. Sports on TV over the bar and a UFC neon sign. Frying in beef tallow is the best if you're a meat eater, but it means there's nothing but drinks for vegetarians and that's likely deliberate. I think it's working. We were in early but by the time we left the place was buzzing.

My Yelp Review