Sep 2
I heard this was the place to go for tacos, but they were closed every time
we passed by. Luckily, they were open our last day in town. I got carnitas
as usual, and they were good. I was nervous and in a rush so I couldn't
savor them as I might've liked to. They're the only place I encountered in
SC that used beans in their tacos. Is that all right to do?
Tacos Moreno * 1053 Water St., Santa Cruz, CA
Foreign Chinatowns are so baffling. Where do savvy eaters go? How do you
avoid tourist draws? Who knows, and with only a couple hours to spend in San
Francisco before catching our flight, there wasn't time to be discerning. We
just wanted roast duck won ton soup or something, so we stopped in Hing Lung
since they had ducks hanging up, I could see "fried dough" through the
window and their menu seemed interesting. They did have the soup, and a
pretty good rendition at that. But I was fascinated with the immense
pick-three-items-for-$4 each, after 5 pm menu. There were all sorts of
innards, jelly fish and frog concoctions. But you had to pick at least three
to get the discount, and unfortunately we just weren't that hungry (we were
saving room for an In-N-Out burger).
Hey, it just occurred to me to look this place up for context. It seems
to be an all right
place.
Hing Lung * 674 Broadway St., San Francisco, CA
After recently reading the "New York Times" article on this cult-fave chain,
I had to check it out for myself. I didn't know they had them in the Bay
Area, but out of the corner of my eye I saw the bright sign beckoning off
the freeway on the way to San Francisco. In-N-Out would have to wait until
our return drive (a mere three hours later) en route to the airport.
On our way back, the problem was neither of us could remember where we'd
seen the sign and by the time I spotted it, it was too late and we'd missed
our exit. Taking the next exit, we did lots of winding, fighting (we were
cutting it way close to flight time) and weaving through what turned out to
be Daly City. I was sorry we didn't have more time, as I've been crazy for
Filipino food lately and I know this neighborhood has the largest population
outside the Philippines. (It was, and probably still is home to my aunt
Amelia that I haven't seen in like 25 years because she's got some issue
with my dad or something). Given a full day in Daly City I would've gone
nuts, totally non-East Coast chains like Jollibee (I've never eaten there, but
the Aloha Burger on their site inspired me to create my own burger with
pineapple and bacon. To my bafflement, it has since been removed from their
site.) and Goldilocks have set
up shop in town. Asian strip malls also called to me as we maniacally drove
past. Grand Opening banners graced a place cunningly called Porridge King.
Congee in a mall? So not New York.
We managed to park, run through the insane drive-through line and
quickly ordered a double double (for James) and a cheeseburger for myself
(damn, if I hadn't just eaten a huge bowl of duck wonton noodles minutes
earlier). I'd heard about this not being the fastest of fast food, and after
a few minutes that seemed like hours we got really nervous. Wouldn't it suck
to miss your flight for a burger?
It all worked out. We hightailed it out of there and made it the airport
just in time to face a fully booked flight with seats not together. Well, at
least we had our lukewarm burgers to keep us company. Actually, we were able
to swap seats with a kind man, but I was prepared to take solace in my
burger.
In-N-Out* 260 Washington St.,
Daly City, CA
It was a wedding rehearsal dinner. What more need I say? We were offered a
choice of three crepes, including the amusing Alexander the Crepe (the Crepe
Gatsby, was unfortunately not on our list, though it's on the regular menu).
Oh boy, who could resist. All the 25+ people at the dinner received full
crepes while James and I only got half portions. If I wasn't so tipsy, I
would've been really pissed. Obviously two other people did half orders and
didn't bother to claim them. Were these health-conscious Californians trying
to tell us gluttonous New Yorkers something?
The Crepe Place * 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz,CA
I know this was a late night taco run, all my tacos from this brief visit
blur together a bit. I know I ordered carnitas because I always order
carnitas. I imagine that they were good. You know, things don't stay open
late in Santa Cruz, you can't smoke anywhere and lots of people wear
sandals. That has nothing to do with tacos, but I had to get it out.
Taqueria Santa Cruz II * 1002 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz, CA
This seemed like a more commercialized Taqueria, right on the shopping
strip, all colorful and airy. I was wary, but after seeing the ad for menudo
Saturday and Sunday (it was Saturday), my hesitation melted. You just can't
find that stuff here. Well, not with all the add ins like lime wedges,
cilantro, oregano and chopped onion. Perfect breakfast food.
Taqueria Vallarta * 1101 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz, CA
1/2
The latest addition to NYC's growing trash trend. I was kind of curious
about the place, and it was across the street from the theater where we saw
"The Good Girl" (the same theater where we had our first date ["Blair
Witch"] and hadn't been back to in almost three years). I would say Trailer
Park isn't trashy so much as kitschy. The place is overflowing with
'70s-'80s memorabilia like Dukes of Hazzard pics, which realistically you
wouldn't find in the average mobile home. I can see it being more of a
thriving bar scene. The burger wasn't bad, but nothing special. I did like
sweet potato fries, though–and you're not going to find those in a trailer
park.
Trailer Park * 23rd St., New York, NY
Eschewing the usual Pat's and Geno's for more adventurous territory, we
headed out Torresdale Avenue in search of the unfortunately named Chink's.
After getting lost in all sorts of pockets of shady NW Philly, we finally
made it to Chink's just in time for them to put a sign in the window saying
that they'd run out of food(!?).
Plan B: Second best name, Chubby's, clear on the other side of town. Oh
well. Theses joints must form in clusters, as another cheesesteak purveyor,
D'Alessandro's is right across the street a la Geno's and Pat's. I chose
Chubby's since it wasn't as packed and appeared to be the comfier of the
two: wood paneling, booths, table service, cold bottles of Yuengling and
ashtrays galore. My kind of place.
I did the cheesesteak with mushrooms. James was adventurous, trying the
cheesesteak with pepperoni, which somehow differs from a pizza steak, which
was also on the menu. That's a head scratcher. What's the difference between
a cheesesteak with pepperoni and a pizza steak? Tomato sauce? The meat is
chopped rather than sliced, which isn't bad, just a minor deviation. Next
time it's Chink's or bust. (8/10/02)
Chubby's * 5826 Henry Ave., Philadelphia, PA
I used to occasionally order a really amazing chicken salad from them at
lunch. And now that I think about it, it'd take an awfully long time to show
up. Maybe they're good, but it was hard to tell, what with waiting an hour
for my entree. The pisco sour I started with was very nice, the mixed
seafood ceviche with the little corn nuts wasn't bad…and then the waiting
began. I can't even remember what I ordered. A snapper with fried yucca, I
think. Who cared at that point. With so many restaurants in the
neighborhood, and Peruvian being such a hot item recently, I doubt I'll be
back soon.
CocoRoco * 392 Fifth Ave., Brooklyn, NY
There's been restaurant trauma lately around the question, "How late are you
open?" I always want to know since that's a huge issue of mine. But no one
at 5 de Mayo spoke English. On the phone "How late are you open?" received a
hesitant "Monday" as a response. (Oddly, the same question at a Chinese
restaurant the following night was answered, "Two years.") Despite the
language barrier, the tacos were fine, as well as the queso fundido, which
I'd never tried. It's Mexican fondue, basically, and don't order with just
two people unless you have a serious dairy appetite.
5 de Mayo* 703 Fifth Ave., Brooklyn, NY
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