Taking a real lunch break and eating a delicious burrito is really growing on me. I get happier and happier with every bite. I just need to watch out for getting too full!
At the cash register I asked for recommendations and receive the traditional list of most of the meats on offer. I ordered carnitas but fortunately for me they have run out, which gives me the opportunity to poke my head in the kitchen window and ask for a recommendation. Understanding that I like pork based on my carnitas order, they agree that chile verde is the right choice for me. Then a guy, perhaps the manager, approaches me from the restaurant side and asks me to stop talking to the kitchen so they can focus on cooking. It all happened so fast though I can't be sure that's what he said.
I took some photos of the inside of the restaurant, the menu, the life-size cutout of the owner wearing a TMT hat holding an AK-47 right near the mural of a traditional looking courtship taking place on the edge of a plaza. It felt weird taking the photos though. First of all, in Watsonville I am an outsider, both as a gringo and as a government employee there for work. My presence is welcomed, as is my business and my appreciation of delicious food, but taking photos made me feel like even more of an interloper, like a tourist. For the most part there are only two kinds of food photos: photos taken as a tourist and photos taken as a local. Eating lunch in the middle of my workday puts me somewhere in between, I'm local adjacent. And I am not really interested in turning myself into a tourist in the midst of the community I serve. So, no photos here, I have a feeling that even publishing the ones I took would retroactively turn me into a tourist. Perhaps if I had a more digitally native relationship with my phone and social media I'd feel differently...
The burrito itself was solid. Well-mixed. The chile verde was cooked really well. My favorite thing was the salsa bar which included a lime marinated cabbage 'salad'. I took a lot of this and felt like I was eating a falafel in Israel (one of the only thing I liked about visiting Israel). I placed a quantity of cabbage or escaebeche on top of every bite, getting my veggies in with my beans and rice. The only problem was that the marinade's flavor was pretty unipolar and by the end my mouth just tasted sour. I love that kind of interactive, all-you-can-eat topping experience though, so I'd try it again, though next time it will be at TMT #1.
Next time I'd ask a regular what they like and order that.
Thursday, February 28, 2019
3 - Pajaro, CA: Pajaro Food Center
Coming back from Los Osos we stopped for a weekend burrito at the Pajaro Food Center. Supposedly David Kinch (sp?) recommends it. I think he maybe recommends the gorditas though.
The food counter is in the back of the store, which by the way sells pre-made tlayudas (just the base - not cooked ones). We ordered burritos and the woman declined to make a recommendation. I surveyed the meat options and selected pastor, which I immediately regretted because it wasn't cooking on a pastor. I've resolved to avoid that in the future. Everything was good, but the composition of the burrito was the worst I've every had. It fell apart while I was eating it, which I have not experienced since my days at the Ivy Room's burrito bar in college, when I was the one overstuffing my own burritos.
The refried beans stood out. There was no salsa on the table and no salsa bar.
Next time I'd buy the tlayuda shells and make tlayudas at home.
The food counter is in the back of the store, which by the way sells pre-made tlayudas (just the base - not cooked ones). We ordered burritos and the woman declined to make a recommendation. I surveyed the meat options and selected pastor, which I immediately regretted because it wasn't cooking on a pastor. I've resolved to avoid that in the future. Everything was good, but the composition of the burrito was the worst I've every had. It fell apart while I was eating it, which I have not experienced since my days at the Ivy Room's burrito bar in college, when I was the one overstuffing my own burritos.
The refried beans stood out. There was no salsa on the table and no salsa bar.
Next time I'd buy the tlayuda shells and make tlayudas at home.
Monday, February 25, 2019
2 - Watsonville, CA: Taqueria La Buena
Second stop on my journey, Taqueria La Buena is a cheerful, narrow space tucked in next to a bunch of big brands like Starbucks and Target. I asked for a recommendation and the woman working the register was disinclined, naming all the meats. Alambre caught my eye. Its a word I know I've seen before, but La Buena has English translations of all the meats and it was a revelation: beef and bacon. The path before me was clear. Super burrito con alambre, poco carne.
At La Buena, they have a 'poco carne' button on the cash register, so it showed up on my receipt.
Normally in Watsonville I go shopping at the supermarket formerly known as Mi Pueblo (now Cardenas), and I don't know if I've ever seen another white person there. At La Buena there were some white people eating a business lunch. I guess Starbucks is just a few steps away.
La Buena has a table salsa bottle, a roasted salsa verde, that is a stand out sauce. Table salsa bottles are my very favorite way to have access to salsa. Thicker than a hot sauce, but thin enough to come out the opening, I love applying a topping without utensils or dipping. And, free, in endless quantities. This one is a very good one. It has that slightly oily feel of a roasted salsa, and a wonderful sharp flavor.
The burrito itself was excellent. The refried beans 'loose' (which is how I think of refried beans with plenty of whole beans, not too smashed up). The rice was flavorful. Ingredient distribution was excellent. The alambre was incredible! The beef was cooked just so, even a little pink, and the bacon added quite a depth.
Next time I'd order the same thing, Super Alambre Burrito with poco carne.
At La Buena, they have a 'poco carne' button on the cash register, so it showed up on my receipt.
Normally in Watsonville I go shopping at the supermarket formerly known as Mi Pueblo (now Cardenas), and I don't know if I've ever seen another white person there. At La Buena there were some white people eating a business lunch. I guess Starbucks is just a few steps away.
La Buena has a table salsa bottle, a roasted salsa verde, that is a stand out sauce. Table salsa bottles are my very favorite way to have access to salsa. Thicker than a hot sauce, but thin enough to come out the opening, I love applying a topping without utensils or dipping. And, free, in endless quantities. This one is a very good one. It has that slightly oily feel of a roasted salsa, and a wonderful sharp flavor.
The burrito itself was excellent. The refried beans 'loose' (which is how I think of refried beans with plenty of whole beans, not too smashed up). The rice was flavorful. Ingredient distribution was excellent. The alambre was incredible! The beef was cooked just so, even a little pink, and the bacon added quite a depth.
Next time I'd order the same thing, Super Alambre Burrito with poco carne.
Monday, February 18, 2019
1 - Watsonville, CA: Fidel's Mexican Food
I have been to Fidel's many times to buy fresh tortillas. They make excellent fresh corn tortillas, larger than the normal regular size from tortilla manufactories (you know, the ones you can buy in quantities from 10 to 200). They also make excellent flour tortillas, about 8 to 10 inches in diameter. Great for a quesadilla.
Every time I go to Fidel's for a quick tortilla pick-up, I'm tempted to order a burrito. The menu is stately, evoking a place used to serving large quantities of people at weddings or quinceañeras. There is a story on the wall about the transformation of Hector's Bakery into Fidel's and the family's history farming strawberries in Watsonville. They sometimes have a tinga chicken special meat sign up, and I love chicken tinga.
Then came a Friday when I had no leftovers ready for my lunch. I'll go to Fidel's!
I spent all morning wondering how they use the freshly made, medium size (definitely not burrito size) tortillas to make a burrito. At lunch, I got my answer. They use two tortillas! I had never seen such a thing. Its almost like a restaurant from New Mexico moved to California and on the first day of school learned that all the burritos are gigantic in comparison with those back home, and then scrambled to come up with something. In case you were wondering, my opinion is that the quality of the handmade tortilla does not offset the downside: a third of the burrito has a structurally necessary second layer, due to the overlapping. Its a little too much tortilla.
While ordering I asked what the favorite meats are, something I think people often worry too much about when answering, as though I might decide to leave if they name a meat I dislike. My view is that Taquerias typically excel at between 1 and 4 meats, but serve a much wider range because asi se hace. I decided on the chile verde pork, which was recommended first, and I asked for a small amount, which I've been in the habit of recently, the better to notice the other ingredients. The burrito was very good, I liked the pork and the beans. After I finished, the friendly woman who had advised me offered me tastes of the pastor and the asada, both of which I liked a little less than the pork.
I think at Fidel's I would order a chili verde pork quesadilla, though I never have.
Every time I go to Fidel's for a quick tortilla pick-up, I'm tempted to order a burrito. The menu is stately, evoking a place used to serving large quantities of people at weddings or quinceañeras. There is a story on the wall about the transformation of Hector's Bakery into Fidel's and the family's history farming strawberries in Watsonville. They sometimes have a tinga chicken special meat sign up, and I love chicken tinga.
Then came a Friday when I had no leftovers ready for my lunch. I'll go to Fidel's!
I spent all morning wondering how they use the freshly made, medium size (definitely not burrito size) tortillas to make a burrito. At lunch, I got my answer. They use two tortillas! I had never seen such a thing. Its almost like a restaurant from New Mexico moved to California and on the first day of school learned that all the burritos are gigantic in comparison with those back home, and then scrambled to come up with something. In case you were wondering, my opinion is that the quality of the handmade tortilla does not offset the downside: a third of the burrito has a structurally necessary second layer, due to the overlapping. Its a little too much tortilla.
While ordering I asked what the favorite meats are, something I think people often worry too much about when answering, as though I might decide to leave if they name a meat I dislike. My view is that Taquerias typically excel at between 1 and 4 meats, but serve a much wider range because asi se hace. I decided on the chile verde pork, which was recommended first, and I asked for a small amount, which I've been in the habit of recently, the better to notice the other ingredients. The burrito was very good, I liked the pork and the beans. After I finished, the friendly woman who had advised me offered me tastes of the pastor and the asada, both of which I liked a little less than the pork.
I think at Fidel's I would order a chili verde pork quesadilla, though I never have.
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