May 15, 2013

Enter Generic Taco Blog Title Here (Taco Hut Review – Baldwin)

By heynardo

Generic Taco Restaurant

Taco Hut is the very definition of a generic Tex-Mex taco joint in the northeastern United States. Even the name sounds like a place characters in a Kevin Smith movie would congregate. I’ve been around the block enough times to know that the taco-slingers at these sort of establishments aren’t going to wow you by any means, but I decided to give it a go anyways. After all Taco King and Taco Hut would be indistinguishable from the outside looking in, and that place is so nice we reviewed it twice (Part 1 / Part 2).

Unfortunately Taco Hut swings a little south of the thin line between generic comfort-tacos and ‘mehhh’. In fact they were so generic and forgettable I don’t even have anything bad to say about them. They were just kind of there…and I ate them…and now they’re a vague memory in the endless sea of tacos I’ve experienced in my life.

As a result I can’t comfortably recommend you go to Taco Hut, nor do I advise against it. If you’re in Baldwin and Taco Bell is closed due to construction this place is probably in your top three remaining taco options within a one mile radius (I say this only because its the only other taco option I know of within a mile of Taco Queen’s house and I assume there is at least one or two bodegas that can beat this place for tacos).

If I had to equate these tacos to something, it would probably be Cameron Frye from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Personally, when it comes to tacos I’m looking for more of a Sloane experience…

Chicken Taco from Taco Hut

Chicken Taco from Taco Hut

Grilled Chicken Tacos - Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla sagittis venenatis libero eget faucibus. Suspendisse ut mauris et libero posuere lacinia vel eget odio. Nam fringilla, neque nec faucibus aliquam, nisi tellus viverra odio, vel sollicitudin augue nulla a ante. Nam neque neque, posuere nec adipiscing sed, rutrum eu purus. Fusce diam erat, tristique ut varius a, malesuada sed orci. Curabitur auctor placerat quam cursus porttitor. Fusce sit amet augue vitae ipsum facilisis gravida. Quisque in lacus eros, in ultrices elit. Vestibulum nibh ipsum, lobortis quis feugiat at, suscipit in felis. Nullam id nisl a erat condimentum sodales sit amet a quam. Aliquam erat volutpat. Nunc at ipsum ut purus pharetra luctus. Cras cursus dapibus neque, quis egestas augue auctor sit amet. Vestibulum dignissim urna placerat massa pulvinar sit amet imperdiet nisi dapibus. Donec mollis, felis in pharetra egestas, felis lorem suscipit nisi, in iaculis dui ante at libero. I give this taco 1.5 out of 5 tortillas.

Ground Beef Chili Taco from Taco Hut

Ground Beef Chili Taco from Taco Hut

Ground Beef Chili Tacos - Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla sagittis venenatis libero eget faucibus. Suspendisse ut mauris et libero posuere lacinia vel eget odio. Nam fringilla, neque nec faucibus aliquam, nisi tellus viverra odio, vel sollicitudin augue nulla a ante. Nam neque neque, posuere nec adipiscing sed, rutrum eu purus. Fusce diam erat, tristique ut varius a, malesuada sed orci. Curabitur auctor placerat quam cursus porttitor. Fusce sit amet augue vitae ipsum facilisis gravida. Quisque in lacus eros, in ultrices elit. Vestibulum nibh ipsum, lobortis quis feugiat at, suscipit in felis. Nullam id nisl a erat condimentum sodales sit amet a quam. Aliquam erat volutpat. Nunc at ipsum ut purus pharetra luctus. Cras cursus dapibus neque, quis egestas augue auctor sit amet. Vestibulum dignissim urna placerat massa pulvinar sit amet imperdiet nisi dapibus. Donec mollis, felis in pharetra egestas, felis lorem suscipit nisi, in iaculis dui ante at libero. I give this taco 1.5 out of 5 tortillas.

Black BeanTaco from Taco Hut

Black BeanTaco from Taco Hut

Black Bean Taco - Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla sagittis venenatis libero eget faucibus. Suspendisse ut mauris et libero posuere lacinia vel eget odio. Nam fringilla, neque nec faucibus aliquam, nisi tellus viverra odio, vel sollicitudin augue nulla a ante. Nam neque neque, posuere nec adipiscing sed, rutrum eu purus. Fusce diam erat, tristique ut varius a, malesuada sed orci. Curabitur auctor placerat quam cursus porttitor. Fusce sit amet augue vitae ipsum facilisis gravida. Quisque in lacus eros, in ultrices elit. Vestibulum nibh ipsum, lobortis quis feugiat at, suscipit in felis. Nullam id nisl a erat condimentum sodales sit amet a quam. Aliquam erat volutpat. Nunc at ipsum ut purus pharetra luctus. Cras cursus dapibus neque, quis egestas augue auctor sit amet. Vestibulum dignissim urna placerat massa pulvinar sit amet imperdiet nisi dapibus. Donec mollis, felis in pharetra egestas, felis lorem suscipit nisi, in iaculis dui ante at libero. I give this taco 1.5 out of 5 tortillas.

In short, Taco Hut should be renamed Taco Purgatory…

Website: No website, just blahhh
Twitter: Would be the most boring use of 140 characters ever..
Facebook: Would be the biggest waste of time spent on Facebook since the ‘poke’

Taco Hut (Baldwin, Long Island)
654 Sunrise Highway
Baldwin, NY 11510

Lorem ipsum dolor,

- Taco Slut

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Uncategorized

May 10, 2013

Just Because It Sounds Good…. (Rosa Mexicano – Lincoln Center – Review)

By doctaco

Rosa Mexicano has been one of my favorite restaurants in the Columbus Circle area. It’s a classy spot, perfect for a business lunch, a nice meal before a show at Lincoln Center, a night out with your best guy or gal, whatever. I’ve been coming to this place for a few years now and always expect a quality meal (especially considering their prices). This past time however….

This past week I ventured out to the Rosa Mexicano by Lincoln Center for lunch with some colleagues. We had all been there together a number of times before, so we were all surprised with their new menu of lunch options. Gone were the old steak or chicken tacos (which I had always enjoyed). There are now three new selections: Baja Fish, Seasonal Vegetable, and Pork Belly & Scallops. Yes, you read that last one right. Now I am huge fan of both of these on their own, so joining forces in a taco just seemed, well, GENIUS.

Look at these massive piles of taco:

Looks can be deceiving...

Looks can be deceiving…

So these tacos were just overflowing with scallops and pork belly. They were topped off with what the menu called a “spicy orange-habanero salsa”. On paper, my tastebuds were in for a treat. Oh, but what a disappointment it all was. The scallops lacked any real flavor. I couldn’t tell if they were cooked with anything besides, I don’t know, a hot pan. The pork belly was nothing special either. I’d rather have some of the real deal at Fette Sau! And for the ”spicy orange-habanero salsa”? Well, it was definitely orange. Spicy? No, no, no. Not at all. I give this taco offering 2 out of 5 tortillas, just for the combination even existing.

I suppose the scallops and the pork belly were just not meant to be taco friends. They just need to live their separate entree lives, on separate plates, for separate tastes. Like they say: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

(Sidenote: One of my work friends got the Seasonal Vegetable taco, as recommended by our waiter. She was pretty pleased with her lunch, so there may be hope yet.)

Website: Rosa Mexicano – Lincoln Center
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RosaMexicano_NY
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosamexicano

Rosa Mexicano – Lincoln Center 
61 Columbus Avenue at 62nd Street
Manhattan, NY 10023

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Uncategorized

April 26, 2013

Buffalo Wings and Tacos Together.This is My Thesis (Buffalo Chicken Taco Recipe)

By heynardo
Buffalo Chicken Tacos

Buffalo Chicken Tacos

If there is one thing that rivals the sheer ecstasy experienced while biting into a perfectly planned out taco, its digging into a plate of top-tier buffalo wings. This past weekend the Taco Queen and I finally experimented with a fusion of the two, and its safe to say our lives were instantly bettered by doing so.

Are we the first to go this route? Not by a long shot. You can pretty much find buffalo chicken anything these days. But the problem with most buffalo chicken tacos is that they are largely just buffalo chicken with some variation on the  accompaniments associated with eating buffalo wings (lettuce, shredded carrot, bleu cheese, celery). This doesn’t necessary lead to an un-tasty taco, but it doesn’t make for a unique experience either.

What we found made these particular buffalo chicken tacos so special was the dichotomy between authentic taco ingredients and those associated with a traditional buffalo wing outing. We weren’t 100% sure how it would turn out, but the melding of the two flavor profiles couldn’t have gone smoother. What resulted was a taco that was at once comfort food and inherently unique.

The fact of the matter is everyone has a buffalo wing recipe they prefer (if you don’t, leave your email in the comments and we’ll give you one of ours). Further, a wing recipe tends to be something people wants to keep to themselves. So rather than tell you how to make our buffalo wings, we suggest you use your favorite variation. Just make sure to use boneless chicken. We also suggest you cook the chicken ‘low and slow’ as they say in the world of BBQ, and shred it.

As pointed out earlier, it was the blending of authentic taco and traditional buffalo wing flavors that we thought really made these tacos stand out. So, without further ado here is what was between our tortillas this week:

  • Boneless Buffalo Chicken (We didn’t this time, but as mentioned earlier its probably best to shred it)
  • Marie Callenders Bleu Cheese (although we decided bleu cheese crumbles might be a better fit, think about how much cotija cheese crumbles add to a taco experience).
  • Radish
  • Red Onion
  • Avocado
  • Celery (diced VERY small)
  • Fresh Cilantro

There you have it. Give these a go and we promise you won’t regret it. Let’s just hope Doritos doesn’t turn this combination into some sort of XTreme flavor and ruin it for everybody.

If you need a little help in the buffalo chicken recipe department or have any other questions hit us up!

<3

The Slut

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Uncategorized

April 18, 2013

Stick With What You Know. (Brooklyn Label Review – Greenpoint)

By doctaco

It may be hard to believe, but I do go to restaurants that aren’t exclusively taco-centric. I enjoy all manner of cuisines, but it is a little difficult for me to resist an offering of tacos on the menu. This is the position I found myself in when I had dinner at Brooklyn Label in Greenpoint the other night.

Now, Brooklyn Label happens to be one of my favorite restaurants in the area. It’s one of those “New American” style restaurants that offer a whole bunch of different items, not connected to one regional cuisine. They have a killer Bloody Mary, excellent Veggie Burger, and they make a hell of an Eggs Bene. But that’s not what concerns us. Last Sunday, I went for their Fish Tacos.

Chicken Fingers or Fish Sticks?

Chicken Fingers or Fish Sticks?

I had always liked whatever it is I’ve gotten at this place, but these tacos were just not at that level. The fish (basa) was way too over-fried and the texture of the fish could only be described as “stringy”. Initially, I was confused as to whether they were chicken fingers or actual pieces of fried fish. The taco came topped off with a kale slaw that did not do much to enhance the flavor. It was also just barely drizzled with a pimento aioli, which I struggled to identify. All I knew was that I had a very bland, dry fish taco.

Maybe it’s because the taco-centric restaurants are built around specializing in that cuisine and more care is taken into creating each taco. This taco just didn’t feel, or taste, right. Now, this is not going to keep me away from Brooklyn Label, far from it. I’ll just stick with what I know next time and get some mac-n-cheese! I give these tacos 1 out of 5 tortillas.

Website: http://www.brooklynlabel.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Brooklyn_Label
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrooklynLabel

Brooklyn Label (Greenpoint) 
180 Franklin Street
Brooklyn, NY 11222

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Uncategorized

April 11, 2013

The Taco Place Next To The Taco Place (Paquito’s Review – East Village)

By heynardo

New York City has many redeemable qualities. Chief among them is the ability to find a taco joint within a two block radius of pretty much any spot within the city boundaries.

A friend and I were running errands in the East Village, when I decided an impromptu taco stop was in order. At the time we were on 9th St. between 1st and 2nd Avenue, and on a whim decided to walk down to 1st. By the time we reached the corner we had already spotted a taqueria. It was like one of those State Farm commercials where the person sings the “State Farm jingle” and their agent appears to gives them what they are in need of…only with tacos.

Unfortunately, it was a sit down taqueria that appeared to be  a little too ‘pinkies up’  for what we were looking for. Alas we were back on the search…until we turned our head to the left and realized there was another taqueria (a little more dive-y) right next store. Immediately the melody to “New York, New York” creeped into my head as we took the 4-step trek from Taco spot 1 to Paquito’s.

Appearance wise, Paquito’s is about as ‘to the tee’ as you could get in terms of a hole-in-the-wall taqueria. It was also encouraging that the word ‘authentic’ was plastered all over the menu.

If only the tacos were as authentic as advertised.

That’s not to say the tacos were bad. In fact, the chicken taco was pretty tasty. But the rumors of authenticity were greatly exaggerated, as the tacos were not only overstuffed, but done so with fillings that I would typically associate with Americanized tacos (If that’s even a thing being that Mexico is actually part of the Americas as well). Guacamole, TONS of lettuce, onions (red not the taco-traditional white onion) and tomato were all included. I consider a ‘traditional’ taco to have radish, white onion and cilantro. Some variation is acceptable depending on your protein, but what was included here was a little too far from the template for me to credit it with authenticity.

It’s worth noting that the tacos were a little pricey for what you would expect from this type of establishment ($2.99 each). Also if you like spice, this won’t be your cup of team. The ‘spicy salsa’ had pretty close to zero taste, and the tacos as a whole were mild.

Twin Chicken Tacos

Twin Chicken Tacos

Chicken Tacos - Definitely the best of the bunch. The chicken was grilled well, and modestly seasoned. Once I knocked the excess lettuce/tomato/red onion from the taco, I enjoyed these. Believe it or not my friend has never eaten a taco, nor does he think he could (grilled chicken on white bread is ‘adventurous’ to him). I thought by purchasing a nice, safe chicken taco for him I’d be able to lure him into entering my world, but I was denied. Lucky for me that meant I got two of these chicken tacos. I thank him for his timid food preferences. I give this 3.5 out of 5 tortillas

Cactus Taco - The cactus taco was decent. The fact that the word ‘nopales’ appeared nowhere on the menu should have been an indictor that I wasn’t going to be happy with it though. Cactus is so good, and so unique that to smother it with other elements is a shame. I probably would get this taco again but I would specifically ask them to hold everything but a little bit of onions and maybe bring my own hot sauce. I give this taco 2.5 out of 5  tortillas.

2013-04-10 18.38.29

Vegetarian (Black Bean) & Cactus Tacos
LOOK AT ALL THAT FRIGGIN LETTUCE!!

Vegetarian (Black Bean) Taco – This would have been much better suited as a burrito. The black beans and rice were great, but in an overstuffed taco it felt like I just should have went with a size upgrade and ordered a veggie burrito. Speaking of overstuffed, they must have put a full head of iceberg lettuce in this taco. That was a major turnoff. I give this taco 2.5 out of 5 tortillas as well.

Bottom line: I can’t soundly recommend this place. Particularly with the plethora of taco options around. However if you live/work in this area, it wouldn’t be bad option for a quick taco fix.

Website: They are boycotting the internet until Al Gore gets proper credit for its creation
Twitter: see above
Facebook: see above

Paquitos (East Village) 
143 1st Ave (between St Marks Pl & 9th St)
New York, NY 10003

 

- TS

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Uncategorized

April 2, 2013

Tacos Tuesday? Yes. Tacos Saturday? Nope. (The Cabana Review – Long Beach)

By heynardo

The Cabana (Long Beach)

Let me preface this post by saying that The Cabana in Long Beach is my favorite Taco Tuesday spots in Long Beach or NYC or anywhere else I’ve ever had such an experience. Yes, the tacos are straight forward. But for $1, yes $1, you get a soft or hard taco with chicken, beef, pork or fish. None of them will wow you, but when paired with Cabana’s great atmosphere, some good friends and the strongest, tastiest margaritas in Long Beach you can count me in.

On Tuesdays, particularly during the summer, The Cabana gets ridiculously crowded. However you can weather the long wait next door at Speakeasy (my personal favorite spot in the West End), and the margs/tacos are worth the wait.

Now that I’ve told you how amazing their Taco Tuesday is, I have to unfortunately flip the script. I came here with the Taco Queen and our friends Tone-tilla and Ta-Col last saturday and was really disappointed. Where the Tuesday tacos are beautiful in their simplicity, these tacos were trying too hard to be exotic, something they really missed the mark on. Yes the atmosphere was still fun and the drinks were still awesome, but the most unique part of this experience was that I did not finish my entire taco order (and neither did anyone else at our table). I ordered the Jamaican jerk chicken tacos, Taco Queen had the enchiladas, Tone-tilla had the Steak fajitas and Ta-Col went with the pork tacos. The feelings each of us had for our dishes seemed to be pretty much the same…straight up taco sadness.

The downfall of each taco order was relatively uniform so I will just give you the run-down on my jamaican jerk chicken tacos…

Jamaican Jerk Chicken Tacos

Jamaican Jerk Chicken Tacos

Jamaican Jerk Chicken Tacos – My biggest complaint with these tacos was that rather than using shredded slow cooked chicken they used sliced chicken. The slices were too thick, and not very moist. Additionally the tacos were overstuffed to the point where it was very awkward to try to eat them with your hands. I don’t remember what exactly they were overstuffed with (although there was a huge slice of avocado), but it really isn’t worth going into anyways because nothing stood out as adding to the experience. There was heaping sides of rice and beans, which I’m usually a sucker for, but these were average at best. Overall we were really disappointed with our orders and ended up ordering more food at Speakeasy afterwards. I would give these tacos 2 out of 5 tortillas.

Bottom line go to The Cabana for Taco Tuesday. Go for drinks or for a solid local bar experience. But don’t go expecting their exotic taco menu to wow you because it won’t.

<3

- TS

Website: www.cabanalbny.com
Twitter: No Tweets, Just Meat (and Margs)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Cabana/136667799714423?fref=ts

The Cabana (Long Beach) 
1034 West Beech St.
Long Beach, NY 11561

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Uncategorized

March 28, 2013

So Why is it Called Hell’s Kitchen? (Tehuitzingo Mexican Deli & Grocery – Hell’s Kitchen)

By doctaco

photo

According to the Internet’s best handy reference Wikipedia, no one is quite sure where the name Hell’s Kitchen originated, but it looks like it was named after a rough tenement building in the west 50′s. As you could imagine, the neighborhood is nothing like that these days. Sandwiched between the theaters of Broadway and the cruise liners on the Hudson, Hell’s Kitchen offers up a variety of restaurants, with some great Thai selections, the mighty Five Napkin Burger, and of course, tacos.

I found myself in Hell’s Kitchen not too long ago to catch a concert with my buddy at the nearby venue, Terminal 5. A couple of hours before the show, we figured we would grab some dinner beforehand. We both had read good things about Tehuitzingo Mexican Deli & Grocery, about 10 blocks from Terminal 5. What we had read must have been 3 or 4 cooks ago, cause these tacos were….well, hellish.

Photo1 (3)

Best part about this is the Tecate, obvs.

Tehuitzingo is fairly unassuming. It’s a pretty small space, with some standard bodega/grocery items up front. You can get your food from a short order set up in the back. They’ve got a fairly large taco selection, so it was hard to narrow down. I went with what’s become a new standard for me, Lengua, the tried and true Al Pastor, and the wild card Barbacoa. So how were these tortilla monsters?

Lengua (Beef Tongue) – I love a good lengua taco. It’s fattier than other beef tacos, but that fat can capture so much flavor. The only flavor this tongue caught was vaguely sour. Not enjoyable at all. 1 out of 5 tortillas.

Al Pastor (Roast Pork) – After the lengua left such a sour taste in my mouth, the sweetness of the pineapples in this taco was a welcome surprise. But it wasn’t enough to save it. Nothing special going on here. 2 out of 5 tortillas.

Barbacoa (Goat) – And here it was, that wild card. I definitely drew a joker. This taco was almost inedible. The goat meat was awfully dry and immediately required some hot sauce. Then, not even halfway through, I bit into what must have been bone or cartilage. That was about all I could take. -2 out of 5 tortillas. (Yeah, that’s a negative rating).

Hell’s Kitchen dwellers, beware. These are not the tortillas you seek.

- Doc

Website: http://www.tehuitzingo.net/
Twitter: No Tweets, Just Meat
Facebook: Nope!

Tehuitzingo Mexican Deli & Grocery (Hell’s Kitchen) 
695 10th Avenue
New York, NY 10036

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Uncategorized

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 121 other followers