Chicken Fried Everything » Mexican

It Needs to be Said: Torchy’s Queso

ben — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 13:00:06 +0000

What’s the point of naming a favorite queso? Can queso be bad? Unless you’re talking the shelf-stable stuff you find in jars at gas stations, queso is a safe bet (at least in Austin). Like pizza and french fries, even when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good.

But I need to just say this: I love the queso at Torchy’s.

The Real Deal: El Naranjo

ben — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:00:52 +0000

We finally made it to one of Austin’s most celebrated food trucks: El Naranjo. This is a truck with some serious bona fides. Chef Iliana de la Vega first made a name for herself in Oaxaca with a restaurant of the same name. These days, she lives in Austin and teaches Latin American cuisine at the San Antonio campus of the Culinary Institute of America. Here she is showing epicurious how to make corn tortillas.

The truck is in East Austin on Rainey Street, in front of a house that will soon house de la Vega’s restaurant, which will also be called El Naranjo.

Shrimp tacos were the highlight. Here, de la Vega shows Texas Monthly’s Patricia Sharpe how they’re made. We thought we’d be able to get her mole, which is only served on Wednesdays, but they had temporarily stopped serving it due to light crowds. This only makes us more eager for the full-on restaurant to open.

Taquitos.

More tacos.

Brunch: La Condesa

ben — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 04:07:50 +0000

Breakfast is not one of the more beautiful meals. But it is my favorite one. We recently enjoyed a brunch at La Condesa with our friend Amanda, who was visiting from London. Amanda introduced me and Eliza. There’s hardly a lovelier way to begin the day.

More Mexican, Please: Zandunga

ben — Mon, 16 May 2011 00:50:41 +0000

I am obsessed with queso fundido. Zandunga, a hard-to-pronounce Mexican restaurant on the East side has some of the best in town. As befits a hard-to-pronounce restaurant, theirs features huitlacoche.

Tiger Prawns “A La Diabla” are seriously spicy.

Carnitas in the shape of the Borg starship.

Taqueria Arandas #3

ben — Wed, 04 May 2011 12:17:39 +0000

Some days, you need some Taqueria Arandas. In our case, flautas and the torta milanesa.

Another Look at those Octopus Tostadas

ben — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 11:46:47 +0000

Happy Hour: Fonda San Miguel

ben — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 04:18:16 +0000

When I finally finished my month of work up in New York, I returned to Austin with Mexican on my mind. My craving for melty cheese took us to the place Texas Monthly deemed the “grand dame” of Texas Mexican restaurants: Fonda San Miguel.

Texas Mexican, by which we mean a Mexican restaurant located in Texas, is not to be confused with Tex-Mex. Not that there’s anything wrong with Tex-Mex, but you wouldn’t typically find heavenly fried oysters like this or octopus tostadas (above) at your typical Tex-Mex joint.

Even at the grand dame, though, they’re not above serving some melty cheese.

The real hero at Fonda San Miguel, though, is the homemade corn tortilla. It’s good to be back home.

Taco More

ben — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 14:03:24 +0000

When we walked into Taco More, the phrase “stranger in a strange land” popped into my head. Located in a nondescript stretch of North Austin, Taco More is just what it sounds like: a basic taco joint. But it’s also the kind of place where English might not get you very far. Luckily, the staff there couldn’t have been friendlier.

This was the only place we’ve ever been to where the staff asked us (in a kind, curious sort of way) why we were taking pictures. Maybe they don’t get that too often, which is too bad because the tacos are bona fide.

We got a few different ones to share. With tacos, I’ve found that the difference between good and great is subtle. Whatever the difference is–fresh ingredients, just the right amount of onion and cilantro–these guys have got it. I can’t remember what each of the ones below is, but I can tell you that there was some beef tongue involved, and it was every bit as tasty as tongue should be.

The chicken taco, which is something that would usually bore or depress me, actually had some taste to it. I guess chicken doesn’t have to be dry and awful.

Surprise Tacos!

ben — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 20:02:48 +0000

As if by magic, a taco truck appeared in front of our house yesterday. I’m not going to try to explain it. I’m just going to assume that I have magical powers and whenever I will it, I can make tacos appear.

Actually, it was two tacos and two fried taco-like things. Not sure what you call them, but they hit the spot.

This one was filled with spicy pork.

Barbacoa and chicharron (fried pork skin).

I Like Cheese: El Meson

ben — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 13:14:45 +0000

Austin may be bursting at the seams with Mexican food, but for some reason we never get tired of the stuff. This coming from someone who didn’t even like Mexican food very much when I moved here. It seems odd to say now, but I had my reasons. One, you have to admit that most Mexican restaurants in most cities are terrible. Two, (and here comes a true confession) I am not a big cheese eater. Yes, I know this harms my bona fides as a food person, but it’s true. I didn’t grow up eating cheese and I’ve never loved the stuff. But I’m coming along. More on that later.

At any rate, when Texas Monthly published their list of the 50 best Mexican restaurants in Texas last month we thumbed through the Austin section in search of something new and exciting. El Meson is both.

The view may not be much…

…but the food is legit. We started off with some queso fundido with rajas. I was recently flipping through some photos on my iPhone and someone stopped me at this one and said “THAT looks good.” This is my favorite part of mexican food: cheese on tortillas. See how far I’ve come! (Though I still can’t handle cheese that’s stinky and hard.)

I like to gaze at this pic when I’m feeling down. It’s chilorio: pork tips in ancho-guajillo sauce. This was a perfect meal.

I should also mention that our waiter was supremely friendly. That kind of easy rapport between strangers is typical of Austin, and is one of the things that attracted me to Austin in the first place. Between the friendly service and the excellent food, I really hope El Meson finds some success amidst the dozens of other Mexican joints in town. I know we’ll do our part.