El Real?

Alright,

It has been a while since I last posted anything.  I have obviously been way too busy eating that I couldn’t manage to take any time to write.  Last Saturday I went to El Real Tex Mex in Montrose.  I have wanted to try this place for a while but I couldn’t seem to find an excuse or a dining partner to venture in town with me.  Well, I finally had a reason.  Not only was I going there to chow down but I also got to hang with one of my besties for her birthday!

This restaurant is headed by Brian Caswell who also operates Stella Sola (no thanks), Little Bigs (best milkshakes) and Reef (no thanks to seafood).  Since I have had a less than appealing experience at Stella Sola I don’t know why I wanted to try this place as bad as I did.  Maybe it’s growing up in Texas and my insatiable appetite for anything Mexican!

I have to say that I thought it would be way more crowded than it was for a Saturday night around 9 pm.  It felt like it could have been a Tuesday night for all I know.  But it is a pretty big place so I figured maybe I couldn’t see everyone? 

My party of 4 was definitely all about the margaritas!  The prickly pear looked delicious but I opted for a Paloma.  If you have never had one of these it is made with tequila (duh!), grapefruit soda and lime juice.  This is probably one of my favorite drinks but I always forget that I like it so when they waiter told me it was on the menu I didn’t hesitate to say ‘yes, please!’ 

Now, on to the nitty gritty…

The meal obviously began with some chips & hot sauce.  The chips by themselves were nothing special.  It seemed like I could get them at the grocery store.  Some were overly salty and others tasted old.  The hot sauce had a nice kick to it but it’s not something to write home about.  This was probably a good thing because I am trying to start eating better & the not-so-yummy chips & hot sauce prevented me from my usual scarf-all-the-chips-then-eat-none-of-my-meal-because-I-ate-all-the-chips routine.

For my entrée I went with the San Antonio puffy tacos, one chicken and the other pork.  Now, my experience with puffy tacos has been a good one.  They are usually nice & crispy and the filling is more than satisfactory.  Well, these did not live up to the past!  The taco shells were not crispy at all!  I had to use a knife to try to crack them.  In an effort to remain as lazy as I can be and because of the taste of the shells, I ended up only eating only the meat out of the tacos.  The chicken was good but the pork lacked flavor.  In order to ease my disappointment, I turned to the rice hoping it would be the saving grace to the dish.  WRONG!!  It tasted like…..nothing!  Major disappointment.

I should have taken the suggestion of one of my dining companions and gone with the beef fajitas but I just had to be different.  Next time I should listen better.  The fajitas looked & smelled delicious!

The saving grace to the meal was the queso.  Without it, I would have been lost.  We got the picadillo beef in it, which didn’t hurt it on the flavor side.  The cheese was nice and silky & there was a healthy ratio of cheese to veggies (tomatoes, onion, and jalapeno). 

Next time, I think I will go here for drinks and appetizers...oh & definitely the fajitas.  I don’t want to write this place off because I think it could be good but someone needs to stop this ride in flavor town!

A Well Deserved Night Out

I love writing about food because it’s basically my obsession.  And by obsession, I mean that I think about it all the time.  And by all the time, I mean it’s even in my dream.  I think you get the point by now.  Anyways…

This weekend, I had the pleasure of hanging out with two of my really good friends.  Admittedly, we were long overdue for a get together which is why I’m so glad we were able to coordinate our schedules.  We met at Saint Genevieve which is in the newer shopping/living area on the corner of Kirby & Westheimer.  I definitely looked at the menu beforehand and it was intriguing but I wouldn’t say that it sounded amazing or very different.  The drink menu, on the other hand, did have some interesting standouts that I was anxious to try.

This is a place that looks pretty swanky from the outside and I have to admit that the inside lived up to it.  You are greeted by a huge door that seems daunting at first but is actually very easy and light.  When you step inside, the bar is 360 degrees and there is seating all around it.  Some of the tables are high-tops and others are one-sided booths.  Thank goodness my friend got there early because she was able to snag a prime booth right behind the bar.  My party arrived at 9 and the place didn’t start to get packed until 9:30 or 10.  But it’s not a big space and the guests don’t seem to know where to go so they basically stand right in front of the booths.  This can get annoying if the person standing in front of your booth is a questionable pair of middle-aged men who won’t stop turning around to look at the hoard of food on our table.  I digress….

I ordered the Grape Expectations.  Now, I have to admit that I am not a huge martini fan or a big drinker.  Knowing that, the drink was very tasty!  It wasn’t overly sweet and it had a basil leaf floating in it which lent it a more savory/herby flavor.  I should also admit that I am a lightweight when it comes to drinking.  It doesn’t take much for me to feel a little buzzed.  That’s why I was very surprised that I felt 100% sober when we left the bar which was probably around 11.  I cannot speak for the flavor of my girlfriend’s drinks but they drank them so I would guess they liked them.  But everyone did seem to mention the lack of actual alcohol in our drinks.  Whatever.  I was really there for the FOOD!!!

We ordered a plethora of tasting plates.  First, let’s start with the House Cut Fries, which are accompanied by a smoked cheddar fondue.  Now, I am more of a skinny fry gal and these chips were on the thicker side.  It was the cheese that saved this dish for me.  Without it, it would have felt that I was eating potato skins.  (Please keep in mind that I did not stop eating these fries, despite the width, even without the cheese)

When I arrived, my friend had already ordered the fried green tomatoes.  In the center was a stack of something that looked like coleslaw but was actually crab meat.  No spank you!  After our less than satisfying fried green tomato debacle at Uchi, I was unsure about these morsels.  Alas, they were so different!  It tasted like they had been brined in something because they had an almost sour taste.  I loved them but it would have been nice to have had more of a dipping sauce for them.

Onto the most ambiguous dish of the night.  The Lavender and Goat Cheese Enchiladas.  Ok. I LOVE goat cheese which equaled my excitement for this dish.  Upon first bite, I was in love.  As my girlfriend’s mentioned, it was like eating perfume because the lavender was very prevalent in the dish.  I actually liked them but if there had been more goat cheese, it would have been an almost perfect dish.  I, like so many other people out there, am not the biggest fan of eating my perfume which is the downfall to this dish.

Now it’s time for the stars of the evening!  The Mumbai Fried Chicken was absolutely delicious.  I don’t know if I could even explain the flavors.  It’s basically chicken fingers coated in a sweet and savory sauce.  They aren’t sticky at all, but I did use a knife & fork instead of my hand that night so that probably helped.  Then came the Reuben Empanadas.  I was unsure about these savory pastries.  But once I popped that first bite into my mouth, I was in love.  These were, hands down, the best things we ate all night.  It might be worth ordering 2 of these!  Having never had an actual Reuben, I can’t say if they lived up to their sandwich counterpart but they were ahmazing as an empanada!

I would have to sum up Saint Genevieve as an enigma.  I can’t really figure it out.  Is it fancy? Or faux fancy?  We only ended up paying about $30 a person for 3 people which isn’t bad at all!  The clientele felt upscale but is that because the lighting was so dim?  There was a DJ there, but did he actually play anything good?  I couldn’t tell you cause I was busy stuffing my face all night!  Maybe Saint Genevieve was so awesome because I was with some awesome ladies?  I think that’s the right answer!

Can I also add that this weekend was basically amazing?!

Look for a special blog post soon about my apartment renovation/decorating with paint from The Green Painter in Houston!