Mexican is one cuisine that hasn't gotten very far in Japan, for some reason. A new burrito place just opened not far from Azabu-Juban station, and I've been wanting to try it, but from the outside it looks a bit more upscale than the usual Tex-Mex joint in the U.S. That's a common occurrence in Japan, acutally - whereas we Americans are used to Chinese being 99% greasy takeout, 1% P.F. Chang, the reverse holds true in Japan, where a Chinese restaurant is usually a special-occasion kind of place.
Anyway, when I was in Nashville a couple of weeks ago, I was craving Mexican food so much that we had it for lunch not once but twice. Both restaurants were staffed entirely by Mexicans, and both served the same things, but I still got the feeling that this isn't quite what they're eating on the streets of Mexico City. On the other hand, it was exactly what I've been eating at Mexican restaurants all my life, and was spicy and satisfying.
The top picture is a chile pepper stuffed with cheese and served in a special sauce, I want to say adobo but I'm not exactly an expert here. This is what Yuri always gets, and the only difference between the two restaurants was that the one in the picture was quite thickly breaded and fried, whereas the other one was just a naked pepper filled with gooshy white cheese. Both were delicious (I tasted), the pepper spicy, the cheese creamy, and the sauce piquant, but Yuri liked the breaded version best. The second picture is the rest of his meal - a bean taco and some lettuce and guacamole. I got tacquitos Mexicanos - two folded up and fried bean tacos served with Mexican rice, refried beans, sour cream, and guacamole.
Sometimes the chips and salsa are the best part of the meal. Both restaurants we visited had great chips, warm and tasting just-fried. The salsa pictured tasted like it was out of a jar, but the other place had salsa that tasted like it was house-made, with chunky tomatoes and onions and still-green herbs mixed in. It was so good that we finished it up, along with a lot of the chips, before our order arrived. I wonder how you say
oishii in Spanish?
Mexican is one cuisine that hasn't gotten very far in Japan, for some reason. A new burrito place just opened not far from Azabu-Juban station, and I've been wanting to try it, but from the outside it looks a bit more upscale than the usual Tex-Mex joint in the U.S. That's a common occurrence in Japan, acutally - whereas we Americans are used to Chinese being 99% greasy takeout, 1% P.F. Chang, the reverse holds true in Japan, where a Chinese restaurant is usually a special-occasion kind of place.
Anyway, when I was in Nashville a couple of weeks ago, I was craving Mexican food so much that we had it for lunch not once but twice. Both restaurants were staffed entirely by Mexicans, and both served the same things, but I still got the feeling that this isn't quite what they're eating on the streets of Mexico City. On the other hand, it was exactly what I've been eating at Mexican restaurants all my life, and was spicy and satisfying.
The top picture is a chile pepper stuffed with cheese and served in a special sauce, I want to say adobo but I'm not exactly an expert here. This is what Yuri always gets, and the only difference between the two restaurants was that the one in the picture was quite thickly breaded and fried, whereas the other one was just a naked pepper filled with gooshy white cheese. Both were delicious (I tasted), the pepper spicy, the cheese creamy, and the sauce piquant, but Yuri liked the breaded version best. The second picture is the rest of his meal - a bean taco and some lettuce and guacamole. I got tacquitos Mexicanos - two folded up and fried bean tacos served with Mexican rice, refried beans, sour cream, and guacamole.
Sometimes the chips and salsa are the best part of the meal. Both restaurants we visited had great chips, warm and tasting just-fried. The salsa pictured tasted like it was out of a jar, but the other place had salsa that tasted like it was house-made, with chunky tomatoes and onions and still-green herbs mixed in. It was so good that we finished it up, along with a lot of the chips, before our order arrived. I wonder how you say oishii in Spanish?
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