Sunday, November 26, 2006

Things are Looking Up

The last couple of months, I've decided to intensify the search for "real" Mexican food here in the DC area. For the past several years, whenever someone gives me the name of a Mexican restaurant that has "authentic" food, I try it and end up disappointed. The tortilla factory? Good, but not that authentic. Taco Poblano? Oaxaca Yuppy food. I finally convinced Kelli that we needed to go up to Little Mexico for lunch, even if it is in PG County and we were improv-ing our obits to our roommate as we left for the Ghe-tto. The drive out there wasn't too far or too bad. We decided to go to the Taqueria tres reyes, a Mexican fast food sit-down restaurant on Kenilworth Avenue in Riverdale. I ordered a taco del pastor and a taco de res. The taco de res (beef) was less asado and more roast beef, but still good. The taco del pastor was pretty perfect. To wash down the tacos, I ordered a horchata (best horchata I've had on the east coast.) Kelli had a taco de pastor and a tamarindo drink. The tamarindo was smooth going down, very good choice. After we left the restaurant, we decided to find the bakery down the street. We ordered 4 loaves of french bread (personalized size), and 3 various pastries...all for 5.25. The bread is fabulous..perfectly tender, chewy and the crust is just so. Finally, we found decent Mexican food in the area...in the ghetto.

8 comments:

HOO said...

I am a yuppie and I take offense at your post. I need to eat too.

Anonymous said...

I had heard that there is just no authentic Mexican food on the east coast. I've also heard that east coast people balk at our Chinese and Japanese restaurants in return.

Steve said...

There is a good Mexican place, run by Mexicans nonetheless, in Del Ray. It's on the main drag there, I forget the name of it but a friend took me there a couple weeks ago.

Besides, Mexican is just meat, cheese, and some spices. It all tastes the same to me. :)

Anonymous said...

All the best ethnic food is in the ghettos! I used to get fabulous Dominican and Mexican in the Bronx. Ahhh how I miss that. . .

Joy said...

Yuppie Girl, How was Miss Liza?

Laurie, There's authentic Mexican food on the East Coast, but you have to hunt for it around here. We've got a large community of El Salvadorean's that make "Mexican" food. Luckily, in the past 5-10 years Mexican immigrants have moved here, and we're getting a few more Mexican restaurants out here.
You'd think in an area where 17 percent of the population is foreign born immigrants, we'd have more mexican food, but we don't...However, we've got great cheap hole in the wall restaurants of many of practically every other kind of ethnicity to speak of so I shouldn't complain too much.

Steve, I think I ate there two weekends ago. That is the Yuppie place I'm referring too.

Jaime, I'm with you there..well, actually there's fabulous ethnic food in the rundown suburban shopping centers here too. The Eden Center? A purely vietnamese shopping center. The Pho places, the list goes on and on.

Unknown said...

This is kinda like an Elvis song "In the Ghetto"...well, he sings about the ghetto and it doesn't have anything to do with authentic Mexican food..but they're both good.

Joy said...

Yeah, um...that Elvis coincidence is um, purely coincidental. Purely.







Or not. ;)

Unknown said...

sometimes you feel a little Elvis. It's weird, I was never really "into" Elvis till I did that story. He was a cool dude. If I were a betting man I'd say he'd probably even sit down and eat authentic Mexican and really enjoy that.