brucesw

A bit of a confusing topic with the distinction between chain burger and fast food burger. I don't consider Five Guys or Smashburger, which we have here, fast (nor as good as local shops that turn out a burger about as quickly), but they are chains. Among places with a drive-thru my choices would be, in order, Whataburger, JIB, BK, Wendy's, McD, Sonic. Time was you couldn't call Whataburger fast - they used to brag they didn't start cooking until you ordered and it could take 10-15 minutes depending on the line and the propensity of the teenage staff to spend a lot of time chatting about last night's date (or tonight's) rather than doing their jobs. Now you can get through the drive-thru at Whataburger here in 60 seconds; the quality has gone down as the speed has gone up but it's still my first choice as it tends to be reliably delivered good and hot. I've only been to Culver's twice (it's a two hour round trip from where I live) but I was impressed with the freshness, quality and variety of ingredients as well as the taste. I don't recall if they had a drive-thru, I went inside both times. You order at a counter but your food is brought to your table and it's not particularly fast so maybe it doesn't qualify even if they have a drive-thru.

From The Press. I had no idea they weren't doing well. A lot of very apt comments on the piece about their lack of marketing, location/parking issues, suitability of the cuisine to Houston tastes (European/Continental doesn't do as well here as SE Asian, Latin, etc.).

I have been exploring street vendors in Houston for several months, now. I seldom stop at a place the first time I see it unless it's been recommended to me. I like to pass by several times on different occasions to see what kind of business it does. I also like to try to look it up on line to see if anyone else has tried it or if they're on Facebook or Twitter. Staying busy itself is not necessarily a good sign, though. One very busy truck (I tried to stop a couple of times but there was no place to park) was finally reported on by a couple of bloggers including Robb Walsh, recently of the Houston Press, and turned out to be quite mediocre - it had the benefit of a great location and no competition. I'm not eating at roadside vendors just because I'm hungry, I'm also looking to experience new tastes so I like to get a good look at the menu to see if there's anything unusual available. Here in Houston in some neighborhoods I can find a taqueria or taco truck every 100' or so; I want to find something other than the usual suspects as far as taco fillings, for instance. I'll try most anything once but if a vendor doesn't fix things fresh, has them ready-to-eat, I likely won't be back. One big disappointment was a Venezuelan vendor that had a wide variety of empanadas but they were pre-made and kept warm in a display case. I did learn that by studying the case I could order one of the varieties that was sold out and get a fresh made one. Another big disappointment is samosas at Indo/Pak places, nearly always cooked in advance and kept warm but sometimes served at near room temp. Of course I pay attention to the look of the truck itself and try to get a good look inside. A vendor whose vehicle isn't well maintained on the outside likely won't see my face again unless the food is outstanding and if the interior looks like a slop pit I won't chance it again though I've never yet walked away just at the sight of a place.

Here in Houston I've encountered numerous taquerias, taco trucks, panaderias, etc., with Tierra Caliente in the name or the phrase 'en estilo Tierra Caliente' referring to the cuisine offered but what does this mean in terms of preparations, sauces, ingredients? I know what the geographic reference is, I'm asking about the significance of the term with regard to the food.

I have just read an excerpt from Robb Walsh's book Are You Really Going to Eat That describing a trip to Monterrey, Mexico, the cabrito capital of the world (they claim) where his wife went ape over some goat liver sausages which he said were called machitos. I thought that was another word for tripas but whatever. No recipes but you might Google for one.

I'll be looking for word of when this happens; I've seen several articles recently about gourmet food trucks. I get up to Austin occasionally (probably not until fall) and will plan on hitting a few.

Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Thanks for the suggestions - I'll check them out. I've decided I rather like the little taqueria so I'll probably be back at some point but I like a lot of variety so maybe not for a while. I'm intrigued and will probably try the dish. The waitress hasn't been much help so far but I'll ask or maybe I can figure it out.

I don't know if it's the same thing as the table salsa which is served steaming hot, thin gravy consistency, and has a little cilantro, a little ancho, maybe more guajillo (?) and I'm not sure what else. It's medium heat and I've become fond of it. I'm assuming the salsa served over enchiladas would be thicker but what else? I just looked at the menu I picked up and it says only Enchiladas Huastecas - Five enchiladas con queso fresco en salsa huasteca con frijoles, ensalata, frijoles y cecina. I think the cecina was not listed on the menu board; I've seen Enchiladas Huastecas on other menus and cecina was usually included but I had the impression this was a meatless offering. I've had the dish at another taqueria some years ago served with skirt steak and a somewhat tomato-y sauce that I'm sure was thicker than this table salsa.

I've been trying out a taqueria that features some of the foods of this region - zachuil, bocoles, enchiladas potosinas. The menu says the dish Enchiladas Huastecas is served with Salsa Huasteca but I can't find anything about it. Anyone know what is meant by this, what's in it?

Never had a goat curry at a Jamaican place that I can remember. I've usually gone to Caribbean Cuisine on Bissonnet, near Sharpstown Hi; very good jerk chicken. There's another one on Biss near Boone, Tropical Island or something, but gets mixed reviews on b4 and never any cars there. I checked in on Milpa Real today wanting to try the pollo rostizado but they didn't have any. I think they may have had a power outage and lost a lot of supplies. It was dark inside and fans only. She said they wouldn't have it until next week. The WalMart Neighborhood Center near there at S. Gessner and W. Bellfort was even more barren than it was the first time I went in after Ike; they lost power yesterday and had to throw out all their perishables. I've decided the tortillas at Milpa Real are not any better than store bought except that they're fresher; by the time a couple of days pass they're pretty indistinguishable from store-bought. I stumbled on the Udipi at 3559 Hwy 6, near Settler's Way the other day. I've never remembered to try them up in the Hillcroft neighborhood so I took advantage and went in. It was kind of late in the lunch hour and the food on the buffet was not very warm but good otherwise and I want to go back and get there earlier. I had the vegetable biryani, not as spicy as the biryani's at Himalaya but good; iddly and iddly fry (I liked the fries better), bajii pokara (I think I got that right - battered and fried chile pepper strips), mehdu vada (lentil donut), a mushroom masala that was very 'meaty' tasting, and an eggplant curry I can't remember the name of, all very good. They bring you out a freshly made dosa and the guy was very helpful, explaining about the chutneys - he brought over the 3 - a coconut chutney, one with tomato (served warm, the warmest thing I had) and another one. One of the last two was pretty spicy, can't remember which now. Also tried the gulab jamoon which were cooked almost to the point of dissolution. Everything is labeled. I skipped a few things; they also had Rasam, a soup, daal, plus fresh fruit sections and Sheer for desserts. Looks like they've got a big enough menu to have different things on the buffet regularly. $7.99 for the lunch buffet, 11a-3p ($2 more on weekends). I haven't been impressed with Bombay Sweets buffet on Hillcroft; this was better as far as I'm concerned, not as good as Bhojan but I'll be going back to try again.

Stopped in today at Tortilleria Milpa Real, 10001 W. Bellfort, just off the Beltway, to pick up some tortillas for practice sessions for the enchilada cook-off. They had a sign up for almost a year before finally opening. Tortillas, tamales, champurrado. The tortillas are not as good as those from El Bollilo but better than store bought and they'll serve my purposes. Tamales were great, larger than any I've had except those from Dona Tere, piping hot, a little dry, possibly due to the fact they were too large for the shucks and so only loosely wrapped in two, but the juices from the meat and flavorings permeated all the masa and they were very tasty. The pollo rostizados, a vivid orange color, looked great but I wasn't in the market for one. They have birria de chivo and lengua de res on the weekends only - didn't see any. Champurrado was very good, just a hint of cinnamon so I added a bit more. No churros in evidence or listed. I should have headed on West to Shipley's at 59 and W. Bellfort - does Shipley's do churros? Tamales $1 apiece, tortillas $1 a lb., champurrado (about 16 oz) $1.25, birria de chivo $8.99/lb, pollo rostizados $6.99/$9.99. One of the workers spoke good English.

Have you tried this place, Ostioneria Mar Azul? I haven't been but have heard it is Mex-mex, not tex-mex. It's on Bellfort by 59. ← I went there once when it was Ostioneria Michoacan - emphasis on seafood and I had a couple of pretty good meals there. I wonder if they all changed names (there are 6 or 7 of those around on b4). The menu I have from then had 'Authentic Mexican Dishes': Enchiladas Verdes Enchiladas al Chipotle (translated as 'in hot devil sauce!) and Tex Mex Enchiladas. ← That's not the same place. This place is a place where you would probably be one of the only non mexican patrons in it, and it is not part of a chain. It is not listed on B4. Look it up on CH. ← Same place, different name. Was part of a chain, may not be now. Was not listed on b4 before, either. I was the only non-Mexican there and one of only 2 people who spoke any English. Even when I was there which was over a year ago there was a sign up that they were changing the name to Mar Azul but it took many months to take effect.

Ouch. Thanks for the warning. I haven't been hitting any new places for a couple of weeks after a couple of really disappointing experiences. I've been hitting some old favorites like Capt. Benny's, Capt. Tom's, Hickory Hollow for CFS, and whittling away at all the stuff in the freezer. I went to La Sani today for the first time in a long time: Clockwise from 11am - Daal, Chillies in gravy, Kari Pakora (fried vegetable balls in yogurt), and Grilled Chicken Boti. I also sampled the Chicken Karahi which wasn't as good, had some naan and the Shahi Kheer with pistachios, almonds and saffron. Very satisfying. I skipped the Beef Masala which didn't look very interesting to me and some brown rice. Those chillies were the hottest thing I have ever had there and they did a nice job on my congestion from all the pollen these days. I needed tissues within a few seconds of finishing the first one. I've never seen them before. I think the place may have undergone a change of ownership. The condiments/salad bar component has been expanded. This is my favorite Pakistani place after Himalaya and it's real convenient to me for a quick lunch.

Either that or we got different batches. Yours sound great. I'll give the place another try but wait until later in the day. Since they have other locations, I wonder how much is done on premises? I'll have to look for a tortilla press machine next time.

Freeport St? I was just over there yesterday. Ate at that Capt. Tom's then drove up Freeport. I'd been up that way before and saw lots of taco trucks but there were fewer this time and only 2 in operation (and I wasn't hungry). There was one at Woodforest and the Beltway and another one about a mile further east that had a shelter built over the truck! Must've been there for a long time. Then I went down across the bridge to Pasadena to Spencer - all of that is very new development, very antiseptic; I saw no taco trucks. Came back up to 225 on Red Bluff and saw I think 2, only one working. I've seen them in other parts of Pasadena before I'm pretty sure. Noted a couple of taquerias and burger joints that have good reviews on b4, if I'm ever over that way and hungry. Interesting observation about Walsh. I've never noticed but you may be right. That feature is pretty dead anyway.

JimH has mentioned a new tamale source. In the course of my explorations of enchiladas I've come across mentions of some tamales I've never heard of before (Mexican varieties) and have been looking for them, too. I knew Guatemala supposedly has hundreds of different styles of tamales but didn't realize there were different takes on the subject in Mexico other than the big Mexico City style. Specifically, the tamales nejos and corundas of Michoacan - anybody know where any of these might be served? I found a taqueria with tamales nejos listed in the window but they didn't actually have any, the sign was maybe left over from a previous owner?

Yep, a couple of doors down from the BBQ place. The pork tamales, well I sacrificed myself and ate a half dozen. They were flatish averaging 2 to 2.5 fingers across. Of the 6 I ate only one was more masa than meat. I've had all kinds of tamales, dry, super greasy, mostly masa, fat rather than meat and mystery meat. These were quality tamales, the pork was shredded with no fat included, in almost all there were good chuncks of pork. The masa was moist but not greasy. The two sauces included with the tacos, a dark red sauce and a green sauce. The red sauce tasted like it was made with anchos for flavor and chipotle for some smokey heat. I really liked that sauce, the bottom of the condiment cup had black seeds in it, I wonder if they were from a chipotle pepper? I only use the canned version. The green was tart and mild but you could taste the tomatillo and a little garlic? The place is clean and the ladies very nice but speak little english. They serve breakfast tacos, enchiladas etc. I'm looking forward to trying the rest of the menu. ← I just checked it out. In the window they list enchiladas potosinas and rojos, other things, but I got there too early. At 11:15 all they had ready was still breakfast taco stuff. I did get a couple of pork tamales to go and had them for a snack but they were very dry, I'm guessing leftovers from yesterday rather than fresh made? Not bad - I'll look forward to trying them some other time as well as the enchiladas. Chips and tostadas looked good but I didn't see any tortillas! The business card lists two other locations - on Gulfton in the Gulfton Ghetto and on S. Gessner, probably looks like it'll be between Bellaire and Harwin.

I would have judged it to be a longaniza but the menu said chorizo. Not your ordinary supermarket variety of Mexican chorizo whether they made it themselves or not I don't know. It was a 'section' of a sausage, split open, but not a paste, like the chorizos you get at the grocery stores. I really haven't gotten in to chorizos at carnicerias but have bought a couple of longanizas.

The Hidalgo variety with carnitas is the one I'd probably try. From the Wiki article on enchiladas: Enchiladas suizas: suiza, meaning Swiss, is an adjective that indicates the dish is topped with a white, milk or cream-based sauce, such as béchamel. This appellation is derived from Swiss immigrants to Mexico who established dairies to produce cream and cheese. They can be really good. I think either Stouffers or Budget Gourmet or one of those frozen entree companies makes a version Entomatadas means tomatoes are included in the chile sauce instead of just chiles and spices. Here's a really good article on enchiladas on MexConnect (she has several good recipes, too). The best I've had so far have been the Enchiladas Michoacanas from 100% Michoacan on the blog and the Enchiladas Potosinas from El Campesino on Bellaire at Fondren that I haven't reported on the blog yet. This was really good - refritos and queso fresco inside the folded tortillas, topped with more queso and chili sauce with potatoes, carrots, pickled jalapenos and a good chorizo on the side, plus salad and avocado (under the rather uninspired presentation of a pan grilled chicken breast). One of the options for this dish there is 'una pata de puerco en vinagre' which I think translates as 'pickled pigs food enchiladas.' I'm going to go back and try that.

Have you tried this place, Ostioneria Mar Azul? I haven't been but have heard it is Mex-mex, not tex-mex. It's on Bellfort by 59. ← I went there once when it was Ostioneria Michoacan - emphasis on seafood and I had a couple of pretty good meals there. I wonder if they all changed names (there are 6 or 7 of those around on b4). The menu I have from then had 'Authentic Mexican Dishes': Enchiladas Verdes Enchiladas al Chipotle (translated as 'in hot devil sauce!) and Tex Mex Enchiladas.

I think I know what you're talking about and I think it's a smoothie place now maybe. There's a Ruchi's in that strip center across the street and that Ekko station is a Greek restaurant. There's something else new down there with the La Tapatia, too, but I can't remember what. I was over in Pasadena a bit today, surprised to see not one mobile vendor - maybe just the streets I was on?

Right there at the corner of Wilcrest and Bellfort? I didn't realize there was a tortilleria going in there - and tamales too? Tortillerias have been springing up all over the place in recent years. I'll have to check that one out, thanks.

I think they have a section devoted to, what do they call it, South of the Border varieties? I'm really not looking for Tex-Mex enchiladas, although sometimes it's hard to discern a difference.

I imagine in the Galleria area they'd have to contend with that business/neighborhood group that controls signage and everything (can't remember what its called) in addition to city health codes, etc. Also, supposedly these things depend on foot traffic a lot, although I'm not sure that's really true here in Houston. Other than Tacambaro, I think most get most of their business from people pulling in in their cars rather than walking up.