TACO TUESDAYS: Street Tacos at (gasp) Taco Bell?

My wife always orders the $.99 tostada, which I find ridiculously hard to eat.

THE PLACE:  Taco Bell

THE VIBE:  Families and teens

THE COST:  Cheap

LOCAL WALLY REPORT CARD:  See Below

I'll admit it.  I like Taco Bell.  It's not real Mexican food, but whenever someone says "let's go to Taco Bell", I'm happy.  Recently they added some street tacos that have been getting some good reviews.  Seriously.  So I do what I do.  I had to try them.

At $1.29 the "cantina tacos" were a good size, not the tiny bite size street tacos I was expecting.  Let's see what's inside.

Not exactly bursting with meat or extras other than onions (or some sort of veggie), but the flavor of the chicken taco was actually not bad.  The green is mainly lettuce chopped tiny with a teeny bit of cilantro, though you can't taste it.  A bit of their hot sauce on top, it was pretty good.  And look, two tortillas and not all covered with oil like the ones at Cafe Coyote. 

The beef was not so successful.  Flavorless and chewy, it sort of reminded me of a beefy dog treat.  Not that I eat beefy dog treats, but it sure reminded me of them.  Where is Andy when you need him?

I finished with a $.99 crunchy taco and while they barely filled it up, it was delicious.  The best of the bunch, really.  You know the flavors.  A crispy preformed tortilla, salty mystery meat, iceberg lettuce, and depending on the mood of your preparer either a ton of cheddar cheese or a few lonely strands. 

I know that Taco Bell is not real Mexican food, but I've eaten a ton of crummy Mexican food in Old Town and around town as I search for the best Mex in San Diego.  At least the crunchy taco tastes good!  I could eat a dozen of them.  Maybe next time I will.

LOCAL WALLY REPORT CARD:
Chicken street taco:  B-  (might order again, probably not, though would eat it if you bought me one)
Beef street taco:  D- (terrible, didn't even finish it which never happens at Taco Bell)
Crunchy basic taco:  A (what can I say, I love these!)
Verdict:  Street tacos strike out.

More Wally at Local Wally's Guide to San Diego!

WHASSUP WALLY? Dim Sum and Michael Jackson are Hot!

What?  I didn't post a WHAT'S UP WEDNESDAY?  No FOODIE FRIDAYS?  OK, I admit it, I got lazy this week and I'm sorry to all 25 of you who follow my blog.  I mean, I love you guys.  So here's a bonus blog post to start your weekend before I mow the lawn.  What's Andy looking at?

Why, that looks like shui mai, Chinese dim sum made by a PROFESSIONAL!  Actually, I made these and this was my first attempt.  I am the Won Ton Master, by the way, taught my my Mom who makes great won ton soup.  In my freezer I found some shrimp, ground pork, and who doesn't have dried shiitake mushrooms and a can of water chestnuts in their pantry?  Look again, they're next to the box of Hot Tamales.

Anyway, I ended up with some extra won ton filling so I added some corn starch to stiffen it up and hey, are those dumpling wrappers in the freezer?  Yes, I know, I buy weird stuff when I'm at 99 Ranch Market and sometimes it pays off.  So stuff, squeeze, reshape, and put in a steamer.

So they're not perfect but they tasted great with some soy sauce and hot sambal.  Here's a tip - when they come out of the steamer they are approximately 500 degrees inside.  Add sambal and it kicks it up another 300 degrees.  I popped it right into my mouth and it was hotter than a glowing Kingsford briquette!  The roof of my mouth feels like Michael Jackson probably did after he caught on fire doing that Pepsi commercial.  What, you've never seen Michael Jackson's hair on fire?  Well, you have to see this before you mow your lawn.   

What other blog shows you this stuff?

Wally will be back on Tuesday with a new Taco Tuesday review!  Until then, go to Local Wally's Guide to San Diego for more local tips.

TACO TUESDAY: Searching for Real Mexican Food in All the Wrong Places

THE PLACE:  Cafe Coyote

2461 San Diego Ave, San Diego, CA‎  (619) 291-4695‎

THE VIBE:  Nothing but tourists and me, and I looked like a tourist taking pics of the food!

THE COST:  Average, around $10 for a combo plate, $7 for a margarita

LOCAL WALLY REPORT CARD:  Read below to see!

Cafe Coyote wins a lot of "best Mexican food awards" and I even gave them a pretty nice review on my main Local Wally site.  Tourists will love this place and I still stand by it being one of the better places in Old Town.... for visitors.  But how about locals, the ones who eat Mexican food multiple times a week and know the difference between the real thing and watered down gringo food?  Let's see.

The setting is tourist friendly, fun and lively.  However, the waitstaff clearly knows they're working in a tourist restaurant where they don't have to be too concerned with repeat business.  The person seating us tried to give us the sucker seats in the lonely bar when there were still prime seats on the patio.  And when I hesitated a moment on my margarita selection, the waitress quickly started recommending the ones made with Patron. 

But you can't argue with the ambiance.  Look out, here comes the guys with guitars who want to sing loudly into your ears and then stand there until you give them a tip.  Shoo, go to that next table with the tourists!  Oh no, the flower lady wants me to buy a flower for my "lady"!  And now the waitress is trying to upsell me by asking if I want some guacamole with my chips!  Auuggghhh!

After a bit things settled down.  It's pretty cool that they have the tortilla lady making and selling hot tortillas along the sidewalk.  Damn, I sound like that Noah guy from that Wonderland show on PBS.  Oh, I think he liked this place, by the way.  Noah or Wally, who you going to trust?  Well, you know the answer to that!

Tortilla making machine in Portland.

I digress a bit but this photo is from a supermarket in Portland, Oregon. They have a big machine making tortillas.  A ball of dough goes in, it gets squashed, it goes down a conveyor belt and comes out cooked.  I prefer the way we do it in San Diego, but this machine is pretty cool.  I want one.

The chips arrive and they were good, not the best but not bad.  They came with the standard salsa, which I found too mild and too much like it came out of a giant can.  It wasn't as bad as Ortegas from last week, but nothing to write home about.

Standard Salsa:  Taste was good, but pretty mild. 

Spicy Salsa:  Go ahead.  I dare you.

So I asked for the spicier salsa and this is what I got.  It was so hot that I went into an instant sweat and steam was pouring from my eyeballs like a live fish tossed into a deep fryer.  It also wasn't exactly flavorful, actually bitter, but mix it with the milder sauce and together not bad.

I ordered a Cadillac Margarita ($9.00) and it too was good, not great.  If it were a standard $7 margarita I'd be raving, but as a premium it was just good.  The table next to me ordered the grande size.  I don't like having to lower my head to the glass to drink but if you like big margaritas, these are big.

Now the food.  I ordered the Carnitas Taco Platter thinking I would be getting a platter of carnitas with all the fixings but they instead gave me two tacos.  I don't think I'm crazy - isn't a taco platter different from a plate with tacos?  Anyway, the rice had good flavor but was only warm, but the beans were good.  The carnitas, however, has the same problem as Ortegas.  No crispy edges, it was obviously slow cooked in a crockpot or similar style.  They also only wrapped one oily tortilla around it, guaranteeing a taco blowout before the end.  Good flavor, just disappointing they didn't crisp the meat.

Same problem with the Carne Asada tacos.  Carne Asada should be brown and caramelized from being cooked on a hot grill.  This carne asada looked like it was stewed, no crispy grilled edges, no char taste whatsoever.  Maybe it was cooked in too big of a batch, maybe it really was just stewed in a big pot, it was no better than the beef that the Marriott Hotels tries to pawn off as "fajitas" at nearly every business buffet lunch.  And that's unfortunate as the flavors were good, just not developed.

LOCAL WALLY REPORT CARD:
The food was a C+, the drinks a B, the wait staff a B-, the ambiance an A-. Final grade, B-.

Man, this is seriously making me rethink my quest to find the ultimate Mexican food in San Diego.  This is going to be harder than I thought!

I eat, I blog, everyone wins!  Get another portion of my witty humbleness at Local Wally at Local Wally's Guide to San Diego!

FOODIE FRIDAYS: Paris Bistro in Encinitas?

THE PLACE:  3rd Corner Wine Shop and Bistro

897 S. Coast Highway 101 (Lumberyard Shopping Center)
Encinitas, CA 92024
(760) 942-2104

THE VIBE:  Fun and lively

THE COST:  Very reasonable

LOCAL WALLY REPORT CARD:  A

Ever since I got back from my first trip to Paris I've been looking for a restaurant that reminded me of a French Bistro.  Casual, great food, fair prices, good wine, and a good ham and cheese sandwich.  I fell in love with these simple sandwiches in Paris, sold from street vendors and just about every take out food store. 

The Third Corner is part wine store, part restaurant.  Dining is casual - sit at the bar, sit at one of their sofas, or sit at a table, inside or on the patio.  They have a lot of wines and the cool thing is if you find a bottle you like you can have them open it for a $5 corkage fee.  That's way better than the standard double retail price most restaurant charge.  

The menu looks like a Paris Bistro, lots of cheeses and small plates for nibbling, larger entrees and salads for meals.  And there it was, the ham and cheese sandwich.  With fries!  I am in heaven.

The real Paris bistro sandwich from my recent trip.

The Third Corner Ham and Cheese

Now to be fair, this isn't exactly like the sandwiches in Paris.  The real French sandwich is on a chewy baguette with a sort of Swiss Cheese (I know, there's a French name for it but I can't remember), and butter.  The Third Corner version has melted brie cheese and caramelized onions.  At $10 it's one of the best cheap lunches in town, especially since it's big enough to split.  Good?

What do you think?  As for the fries, absolutely incredible with a bit of cheese sprinkled on them.  The Third Corner has plenty of other great items, like their very delicious Duck Confit served over white beans, or the bowl of mussels with frites.  The cool thing is that it's pretty hard to spend over $15 per person here, making this one of the great restaurant finds in San Diego.  

Wally loves San Diego.  If you love Wally, go to Local Wally's Guide to San Diego and tell your friends!

WHAT'S UP WEDNESDAY: It Was a Very Wally Weekend

I get emails all the time saying "you da man" and "man, I wish I was Wally".  Well, I don't blame you.  Living in San Diego is pretty nice.  Last Sunday afternoon I found myself at the Solana Beach Farmer's Market with my camera, so come follow me for a bit.

I got there pretty hungry so the heck with looking at veggies, I wanted something to eat.  This looked pretty good.

Is that bacon on the grilled sausage?  Mighty tempting....

But I went with the Kalua Pork Hawaiian plate lunch.  Damn it was good!  Nice and moist, the pork was salty in a good way, mix it with the rice and some scorching hot Sciracha sauce and no regrets, none whatsoever.  There goes my low carb diet - oh well.

After the horrible taco experience at Ortega's in OB, my wife went for the shrimp and fish tacos and loved them, though she favored the shrimp.  Who wouldn't?  Let's go wander the market and see what's up.

Sunflowers always make me happy.  

Really beautiful produce, locally grown.  

So many free samples, but I'm stuffed!

Afterwards we walked down the street to Cedro's Design District, a cool shopping area that even I can tolerate - and I hate shopping!

See, lots of cool stuff, I was having a great time just snapping pics with my new camera.  But then, like the sound of a locomotive blast in the night that shatters a dream, I saw this....

Goddamn, that thing is scary!  Sawed off baby head with a crown?  You want that by your bedside at night?  Look, the eyes are following you.  They are.  Look again.  Let's get out of here!

Back home I had this Porterhouse steak, a whopper of a steak.  My doctor said NO MORE RED MEAT so I decided to split this with my wife.  I won't eat red meat tomorrow, I promise.  

We got this bag of mushrooms at the Farmer's Market for $5.  Let's see if they were worth it.

Here's my fast recipe for Golden Brown Crispy Smashed Potatos - microwave potatoes till soft (but not fall apart soft), cut in half, oil the pan and the flat side of the potato, smash it on cookie sheet, oil the top, cook at 400 degrees until crispy on the bottoms.  Good?  You'll just have to wait and see.

Food is done.  Let's plate up.

Try not to drool on your keyboard.  

This was one of those incredible meals where everything came together.  The mushrooms were worth it for sure, a nice medley of different textures and flavors, no going back to crummy supermarket button mushrooms.  And those potatoes....crispy, decadent really.  And don't forget the steak - a Porterhouse has a fillet on one side (tender texture) and the NY strip on the other (chewier but more flavorful) and both were beautifully cooked, if I do say so myself.  Cooked over charcoal, of course, with a bit of minced garlic, olive oil, kosher salt and ground pepper on top before it hit the fire. That's an aioli sauce on the tots, homemade.

Everyone was happy, including Andy.  Maybe especially Andy. 

And there you go, that's what I do on weekends.  See you next Tuesday for my next taco review!

More Wally, more Wally!  Go to Local Wally's Guide to San Diego!!  Tell your friends.  I always can use more visitors!

TACO TUESDAYS: I Should Have Waited for the Burger

THE PLACE:  Ortega's Cocina in OB

4888 Newport Avenue, San Diego, CA‎ - (619) 222-4205

THE VIBE:  Locals and loyal customers inside, crazy and possibly escaped mental patients outside

THE COST:  Average, $10 per person

LOCAL WALLY REPORT CARD:  C

I'm sorry, Joe.  Ortega's in OB is his favorite place and years ago he took me there and it was pretty good. I went to OB specifically for Hodad's but the line was wrapped around the block and I was super hungry so decided to go back to an old favorite.  Can you blame me?  I mean, look at those street tacos!

The setting inside is cool, like a cleaned up joint you might go to in Tijuana - in all the best ways.  I really liked the atmosphere. Let the tests begin!

Test 1:  Oh no, the margarita looked like it was going to be a good one but I think.... I'm pretty sure.... it was a wine margarita.  What?  Yes, it was weak and watered down and tasted all wrong, like there was no tequila in it and no kick whatsoever.  I'm sure the waitress told us (well, maybe not) but the lack of a full bar should have tipped me off.  This was a rookie mistake so I'll take half the blame, but trust me, you do not want this "margarita"!  And if someone tells me I'm wrong and that this was an actual tequila margarita, then that makes this one of the worst margaritas I've ever had.  El Torito bad.

Test 2:  You can tell a lot about the meal to come by the chips and salsa.  The chips were good enough but the salsa "fresca" tasted like it came out of a jar.  Sort of like Pace.  Sweet, no zing, no zang, no heat at all.  I was starting to get a little nervous.

Test 4:  I ordered a carnitas taco ($3.50), a shrimp taco ($3.50), and a side of rice and beans ($3.00).  Good looking beans with Mexican cheese, a tad salty but good flavor.  The rice, however, was way salty.  And come on, the quantity was ridiculous, basically an ice cream scoop.

Carnitas is one of my favorites, rich and succulent, moist on the inside, crispy on the outside.  Unfortunately, this carnitas was none of these things.  In a word, dry.  Really dry.  Jerky dry.  Let's move on to the shrimp taco.

This is the shrimp taco, but where's the shrimp?  Do you see any shrimp?  Did I order a vegetarian taco by accident?  Overall better than the carnitas, but basically not enough shrimp and too much filler like that iceberg lettuce.  I had to open it up to make sure there were actually shrimp in there and there were a few, but way too few.

My wife got the carnitas burrito.  On the plus side, it was filled with meat and lots of it.  On the negative side, well, it was the same dry carnitas that was in the taco so you actually wished they would have mixed in some beans to add some moisture.  So like the taco, pretty hard to get down when the meat is this dried out.

Around the bar someone was talking to the chef and said that this was the best Mexican food in all of North America.  Go on Yelp and people rave about how authentic this place is.  So I'm willing to say that maybe, just maybe, we hit the perfect storm and caught them at a time when the carnitas was overcooked and they were running low on shrimp and the person making the margaritas just made it through their AA program. Maybe I just ordered the wrong things and the other items on the menu really rocked.  Maybe...probably not, but maybe.

I'll tell you what, next time I'm waiting in line at Hodad's.

Wally eats San Diego so you don't have to!  Read more Wally at Local Wally's Guide to San Diego!