Famished, sleepy, and late, I
hurried into the kitchen, eyes searching for victuals even before I had opened
the refrigerator. Cereal, no, eggs, no,
stuffed squash, no, yogurt, no, ahhh magdoos, yes yes yes. A tear of the
pita bread, a pop of the opening lid, a scooping of the salty, preserved,
glistening aubergines, a primal sound of satisfaction escaping through closed,
chewing mouth. The briny, vinegary baby eggplant flesh broke easily to give the
filling center stage: walnuts, red chilies, and garlic collide and meld
together with fruity olive oil to paint a crunchy, heated, unctuous landscape
of flavors upon my tongue. I forgot the clock, forgot the work, forgot all else
so effortlessly and relished a few assertive morsels of something so simple,
and so exactly what I wanted.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Los Guachos Taqueria
Yes, I'm still alive.
No, I didn't forget about my search for the best taco in Columbus.
Now that my first year of college is over, I finally have time to eat out and write and embark on exciting adventures! It's SUMMER!
Los Guachos Taqueria:
It took me a while to try every taco on this interesting menu, but I did! Los Guachos was originally a taco truck, but it became so popular that they opened up a restaurant on Godown Rd. (and kept a taco truck as well). This is a considerably impressive repertoire; more impressive is that anytime I ask about tacos I hear about Los Guachos first and foremost. I've also read rave reviews and articles exalting their "famous" Al Pastor taco, so I had some fairly high expectations given all this hype.
I made a couple of visits to Los Guachos, which is a generally nondescript store nestled in a gritty suburban plaza just off of Bethel Rd. Upon entering, it doesn't seem like much. A pleasant, brisk woman took my order at the counter and told me to sit wherever I wanted. When I found a clean table and sat down, I noticed the surprisingly beautiful carved wooden chairs and tables.
They added a nice touch to the otherwise almost bare taqueria. But, I told myself, I'm sure people come here for the spectacular food and not the ambiance. And the service, even though I didn't expect too much, was sub-par. Nobody asked me how my food was until I was leaving, and my water glass sat forlornly unfilled.
As much of a restaurant snob that I am, I am quite forgiving. Had the tacos blown me away, I would have forgotten all else and been converted into one of the many Los Guachos cheerleaders.
Alas, the tacos did not blow me away. In general, they were rather bland, underseasoned, and unimpressive. I did enjoy some things, like the humongous bowls of sliced limes and habanero-red onion relish, and the green and red sauces in squeeze bottles presented to every table. I enjoyed adding these yummy toppings to my tacos, but I would have enjoyed my tacos a lot more had they been flavorful to begin with. Here are the details, per taco.
(P.S. these pictures were taken after I had eaten a few bites of each taco. Please forgive me, I had to taste while they were still hot!)
Taco Al Pastor: (Corn tortilla, marinated pork, grilled pineapple, chopped onions, cilantro.) I tried this heavily advertised breadwinner twice, on different occasions, and tried so, so hard to love it. But I can't really say I even liked it. The marinated pork is shaved off of the rotating spit to order, which got me pretty fired up, but both times the flavor was lacking, the texture tough and disappointing. Might I just have visited on two bad days? Was the cook deliberately trying to make me dislike the Al Pastor? I'll never know, because I'll probably never order it again. The pineapple was a nice touch, but the "Original Taco Al Pastor" wasn't enjoyable until I doused it with lime juice, habanero-onion relish, and hot sauce, much like the other tacos on the menu.
Presentation: 5
Balance of Flavors:3
Creativity:6
Overall Quality:2
TOTAL: 16/40
Steak Taco: (corn tortillas, cubed steak, chopped onions, cilantro) Quite bland. Needed all of the condiments that could fit on the sad little floppy corn tortilla. I did notice on these tacos, however, that the chiffonade on the cilantro was quite lovely. Well done on those knife skills, Los Guachos line cook.
Presentation: 4
Balance of Flavors:1
Creativity:1
Overall Quality:2
TOTAL: 8/40
Tripe Taco: (corn tortillas, tripe, chopped onions, cilantro) I was pretty adventurous in trying this one. Tripe is the stomach tissue of an animal, usually the cow. When cooked and seasoned correctly, it can be quite good. This was not the case here. Maybe it's because I don't particularly like tripe, but I found this to be overly chewy, gritty, flavorless, majorly lacking salt. Even after topping it liberally with sauces and lime juice, it was atrocious. This is absolutely not the best taco in Columbus, in fact it might just be the worst, and I refuse to grace it with my rating chart.
TOTAL: 0/40
Beef Tongue Taco: (corn tortillas, beef tongue, chopped onions, cilantro) Crispy beef tongue in tiny cubes were crispy on the outside, and fairly tender on the inside. Somewhat spongy texture. Gamey, earthy flavor, only delicious after squeezing a few limes over it and heaping on the habanero relish.
Presentation: 5
Balance of Flavors:4
Creativity:4
Overall Quality:4
TOTAL: 17/40
Brisket Taco: (Corn tortillas, brisket, chopped onions, cilantro) Brisket is a tough cut of meat from the lower chest of the cow/calf. These muscles work really hard, which makes them tough and flavorful, when cooked correctly. (Pro tip: tough cuts of meat should be cooked using slow, moist heat methods, like braising or simmering.) In this taco, I'm not sure how they cooked the brisket, but it consisted of crunchy crumbles reminiscent of bacon bits. This taco was probably one of the better ones I had here, mostly because the meat actually had some flavor. But, like the others, it still needed more seasoning.
Presentation: 5
Balance of Flavors:5
Creativity:6
Overall Quality:5
TOTAL: 21/40
Chicken Taco: (Corn tortillas,white meat chicken, chopped onions, cilantro) Bland, plain jane, needed more of everything.
TOTAL: 0/40
Fish Taco: (flour tortilla, fried fish fillet, shredded iceberg lettuce, pico de gallo, chipotle sauce) This was a pretty good taco. The chipotle sauce really added something, and the fish (not sure what kind?) was juicy, perfectly cooked, hot, and crispy. It needed a little more salt. Lime juice made it great.
Presentation: 5
Balance of Flavors:8
Creativity:6
Overall Quality:7
TOTAL: 26/40
Chorizo Taco: (corn tortillas, chorizo sausage, chopped onions, cilantro) This taco miraculously didn't need salt!!! Maybe it was less a miracle and more that chorizo is already jam packed with seasoning and flavor. This taco had the most flavor out of all of them. It was a bit greasy, but the freshness of the cilantro lifted it and was greatly appreciated.
Presentation: 5
Balance of Flavors:8
Creativity:6
Overall Quality:8
TOTAL: 27/40
My overall impression of Los Guachos is that it is an alright place to go for authentic Mexican food. I haven't tried their other menu items, which do look really good, so I can't give a complete review. Regarding the tacos, I was left wanting more: more seasoning, more flavor, more punch, more char on the tortillas, more of the great authentic deliciousness that is so aggressively advertised. I did enjoy the low prices ($1.50 per taco), the carved wood, the garlicky green sauce in a squeeze bottle that mellowed everything out, and the limes. But I'm fairly positive that I have not yet found the best taco in Columbus. The search continues!
No, I didn't forget about my search for the best taco in Columbus.
Now that my first year of college is over, I finally have time to eat out and write and embark on exciting adventures! It's SUMMER!
Los Guachos Taqueria:
It took me a while to try every taco on this interesting menu, but I did! Los Guachos was originally a taco truck, but it became so popular that they opened up a restaurant on Godown Rd. (and kept a taco truck as well). This is a considerably impressive repertoire; more impressive is that anytime I ask about tacos I hear about Los Guachos first and foremost. I've also read rave reviews and articles exalting their "famous" Al Pastor taco, so I had some fairly high expectations given all this hype.
I made a couple of visits to Los Guachos, which is a generally nondescript store nestled in a gritty suburban plaza just off of Bethel Rd. Upon entering, it doesn't seem like much. A pleasant, brisk woman took my order at the counter and told me to sit wherever I wanted. When I found a clean table and sat down, I noticed the surprisingly beautiful carved wooden chairs and tables.
They added a nice touch to the otherwise almost bare taqueria. But, I told myself, I'm sure people come here for the spectacular food and not the ambiance. And the service, even though I didn't expect too much, was sub-par. Nobody asked me how my food was until I was leaving, and my water glass sat forlornly unfilled.
As much of a restaurant snob that I am, I am quite forgiving. Had the tacos blown me away, I would have forgotten all else and been converted into one of the many Los Guachos cheerleaders.
Alas, the tacos did not blow me away. In general, they were rather bland, underseasoned, and unimpressive. I did enjoy some things, like the humongous bowls of sliced limes and habanero-red onion relish, and the green and red sauces in squeeze bottles presented to every table. I enjoyed adding these yummy toppings to my tacos, but I would have enjoyed my tacos a lot more had they been flavorful to begin with. Here are the details, per taco.
(P.S. these pictures were taken after I had eaten a few bites of each taco. Please forgive me, I had to taste while they were still hot!)
Taco Al Pastor: (Corn tortilla, marinated pork, grilled pineapple, chopped onions, cilantro.) I tried this heavily advertised breadwinner twice, on different occasions, and tried so, so hard to love it. But I can't really say I even liked it. The marinated pork is shaved off of the rotating spit to order, which got me pretty fired up, but both times the flavor was lacking, the texture tough and disappointing. Might I just have visited on two bad days? Was the cook deliberately trying to make me dislike the Al Pastor? I'll never know, because I'll probably never order it again. The pineapple was a nice touch, but the "Original Taco Al Pastor" wasn't enjoyable until I doused it with lime juice, habanero-onion relish, and hot sauce, much like the other tacos on the menu.
Presentation: 5
Balance of Flavors:3
Creativity:6
Overall Quality:2
TOTAL: 16/40
Steak Taco: (corn tortillas, cubed steak, chopped onions, cilantro) Quite bland. Needed all of the condiments that could fit on the sad little floppy corn tortilla. I did notice on these tacos, however, that the chiffonade on the cilantro was quite lovely. Well done on those knife skills, Los Guachos line cook.
Presentation: 4
Balance of Flavors:1
Creativity:1
Overall Quality:2
TOTAL: 8/40
Tripe Taco: (corn tortillas, tripe, chopped onions, cilantro) I was pretty adventurous in trying this one. Tripe is the stomach tissue of an animal, usually the cow. When cooked and seasoned correctly, it can be quite good. This was not the case here. Maybe it's because I don't particularly like tripe, but I found this to be overly chewy, gritty, flavorless, majorly lacking salt. Even after topping it liberally with sauces and lime juice, it was atrocious. This is absolutely not the best taco in Columbus, in fact it might just be the worst, and I refuse to grace it with my rating chart.
TOTAL: 0/40
Beef Tongue Taco: (corn tortillas, beef tongue, chopped onions, cilantro) Crispy beef tongue in tiny cubes were crispy on the outside, and fairly tender on the inside. Somewhat spongy texture. Gamey, earthy flavor, only delicious after squeezing a few limes over it and heaping on the habanero relish.
Presentation: 5
Balance of Flavors:4
Creativity:4
Overall Quality:4
TOTAL: 17/40
Brisket Taco: (Corn tortillas, brisket, chopped onions, cilantro) Brisket is a tough cut of meat from the lower chest of the cow/calf. These muscles work really hard, which makes them tough and flavorful, when cooked correctly. (Pro tip: tough cuts of meat should be cooked using slow, moist heat methods, like braising or simmering.) In this taco, I'm not sure how they cooked the brisket, but it consisted of crunchy crumbles reminiscent of bacon bits. This taco was probably one of the better ones I had here, mostly because the meat actually had some flavor. But, like the others, it still needed more seasoning.
Presentation: 5
Balance of Flavors:5
Creativity:6
Overall Quality:5
TOTAL: 21/40
Chicken Taco: (Corn tortillas,white meat chicken, chopped onions, cilantro) Bland, plain jane, needed more of everything.
TOTAL: 0/40
Fish Taco: (flour tortilla, fried fish fillet, shredded iceberg lettuce, pico de gallo, chipotle sauce) This was a pretty good taco. The chipotle sauce really added something, and the fish (not sure what kind?) was juicy, perfectly cooked, hot, and crispy. It needed a little more salt. Lime juice made it great.
Presentation: 5
Balance of Flavors:8
Creativity:6
Overall Quality:7
TOTAL: 26/40
Chorizo Taco: (corn tortillas, chorizo sausage, chopped onions, cilantro) This taco miraculously didn't need salt!!! Maybe it was less a miracle and more that chorizo is already jam packed with seasoning and flavor. This taco had the most flavor out of all of them. It was a bit greasy, but the freshness of the cilantro lifted it and was greatly appreciated.
Presentation: 5
Balance of Flavors:8
Creativity:6
Overall Quality:8
TOTAL: 27/40
My overall impression of Los Guachos is that it is an alright place to go for authentic Mexican food. I haven't tried their other menu items, which do look really good, so I can't give a complete review. Regarding the tacos, I was left wanting more: more seasoning, more flavor, more punch, more char on the tortillas, more of the great authentic deliciousness that is so aggressively advertised. I did enjoy the low prices ($1.50 per taco), the carved wood, the garlicky green sauce in a squeeze bottle that mellowed everything out, and the limes. But I'm fairly positive that I have not yet found the best taco in Columbus. The search continues!
 |
| Lauren enjoys the limes, too. |
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