New York Edition: Pinche Taqueria Merits Both a Rave and a Word of Warning

Let me quickly knock out a review of Pinche Taqueria because the lag time between food consumption during our New York trip and actual discussion of said mastication is getting absolutely ridiculous. It has been like 18 days since I sampled the grub at this Mott St. eatery – one of two New York locations – and what follows is what I remember about our excursion.

Being that our blog is entitled The Pizza Project, it was our intention to sample as much New York City pizza as possible during our trip. To this end, we entered Lombardi’s Pizza with our sights on a circular, flour-and-dough-based delicacy with oozing cheese and delicious red tomato sauce. We spied an offering that someone was eating at an adjacent table and we immediately commenced salivation, Pavlov’s Dog-style. However, this is where everything began to go awry.

Your Way, Right Away? At Hot Tamales, It's Their Way or...Get the Hell Out!

As we have said several times before, we, the people behind the proverbial curtain of The Pizza Project, cannot survive on sauce, cheese, and crust alone. Every once in a while, we have to try something else. And, for myself, I have probably tried one place more than any other when it comes to eating lunch in Center City Philadelphia, where I have toiled for over 10 years. That place is Hot Tamales, a maker of burritos, tacos, quesadillas, and other fare. In all the time I have been going there, I never really stopped to take a critical view of why it is that I frequent the place in such loyal fashion. That is, until now.

For my lunch, I ordered two items: an "original" beef burrito and a black bean and fiesta rice burrito. First up was the beef burrito, which is a very simple item consisting of beef, tomato, lettuce, sour cream, and shredded cheese. While I, of course, enjoy the item (I have ordered both many a time), the beef did seem to be a little bit salty and the sour cream (a condiment that I have only recently begun to develop a palette for) sometimes seemed like the No. 1 ingredient. The hot sauce that I applied to add flavor was of great assistance, but I must say I wouldn't really describe it as being particularly "hot." Spicy? Sure. But it is not something that is going to add any sort of great kick or get you sweating a bit in the eyebrow area. The most intriguing thing I found about the dish on this occasion is that it wasn't even particularly hot temperature-wise. It was almost as if the tortilla had been taken out of a refrigerator directly before it was wrapped around the internal goods.

Dear...You: The Neighborhood Qdoba Restaurant

Dear Qdoba,
I know you have been wondering why I stopped coming to see you! After all, you are right across the street from my abode. It was so convenient. There was a time that I would make a weekly appearance to sample your pleasures! The people who work for you were beginning to know my name and my preferred dishes! Why would such a comfortable relationship have to come to an end?

The fact is I needed to lose some weight! I was pushing two-hunny! My musculature was beginning to disappear like dictatorships in the Middle East. My man-boobs were beginning to rival Phillies broadcaster Tom McCarthy’s for sheer voluptuousness. My waist was beginning to display more jiggle than an episode of Boardwalk Empire that features Paz de la Huerta prominently. The final straw was a visit to the doctor for a physical. She inserted a syringe into my arm. She drew some blood. She went to look at the results. And then she straight up came back into the room and asked who was getting my film collection once I’ve moved on. Evidently she too liked films by Stanley Kubrick and Alfred Hitchcock, and was eager for a bequeathing.

The Rare Night Out: Tamarindos Mexican Restaurant

With a sixteen-month old at home, the wife and I don't really get to go out much. However, the other night was one of our friend's birthday parties so my sister-in-law was gracious enough to do some babysitting (thanks, Elio!). So out we went to Tamarindos Mexican Restaurant in Ambler for a night of drunken fun and frivolity.

Before I touch on the food, let me discuss the atmosphere. It was a good place for our party, in that they had the music pumped up pretty loud. We tend to get somewhat loud, especially at a BYOB. So I would imagine the customers were probably wondering why the music had to be cranked, but it probably saved them from having to hear a lot of voluminous (and sometimes crude - the cruder the better in fact) laughing and joking. If I were to have my druthers, however, I probably would have wanted them to turn it down a little bit. It was impossible to hear a person more than one seat away from you (I had to strain for a discussion with the person right across the table from me) and the waitress was helpless to shout out the specials (she had to do them twice, once at each end of the table).