Native Tongues Taqueria

Hubby and I were in the mood for something different on date night. So I decided on Native Tongues Taqueria, to investigate their take on Mexican street food. I’ve been to Mexico once and sampled the street food in Loreto. There are so many styles of Mexican food; I’m not saying that this is even a fair comparison.

The place was packed on a Sunday night. The atmosphere was loud and lively. As first timers, we needed some help with the menu. Our server was very helpful. We went with her recommendation, the tacos al carbon. This translates to “tacos grilled over charcoal”. We ordered the barbacoa de cordero. It was fall-off-the-bone slow roasted lamb neck. The homemade flour tortillas and the flavourful sides of salsa, roasted onion & pepper complimented the dishes perfectly. We could ask for more tortillas and we did.

To start, the taquitos were a nice amuse bouche. We finished with a couple of decadent desserts – the tres leches cake and the flan de chocolate. The tres leches cake was good, except that I was a little disappointed that the pineapple was raw. I mean it would have tasted fantastic charred over the grill and caramelized.

Tasty indeed.

Taquitos potato & sheeps milk cheese, salsa de ajo, crema, queso fresco
Taquitos
potato & sheeps milk cheese, salsa de ajo, crema, queso fresco
 BARBACOA de CORDERO slow roasted lamb neck, salsa verde & rojo, coal roasted cebollas, agua chile, white onion, cilantro
BARBACOA de CORDERO
slow roasted lamb neck, salsa verde & rojo, coal roasted cebollas, agua chile, white onion, cilantro
Sides for BARBACOA de CORDERO
Sides for BARBACOA de CORDERO
 TRES LECHES CAKE horchata soaked cake, whipped cream, pickled fruit
TRES LECHES CAKE
horchata soaked cake, whipped cream, pickled fruit
 FLAN de CHOCOLATE chocolate flan, salted caramel, coconut, almond
FLAN de CHOCOLATE
chocolate flan, salted caramel, coconut, almond

Native Tongues Taqueria Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Tu Tierra

Hubby and I were going to IKEA and we decided to grab dinner before we went shopping.  I’m always on the lookout for authentic Mexican food. We decided to try Tu Tierra.  There was a lineup, but we were seated in 15 minutes. Service was slow to start, seating etc. seemed disorganized. When we got seated, we were twice given menus and asked for drinks. (Which was ok.) They forgot the salsa for us and table next to us for the chips. I would summarize it as the service being inconsistent.

The food was good.  I had the poblano combo. The plate came out super hot, so you know it just came out of the kitchen. The chicken was tender and the mole sauce was tasty.  My only concern was that the bottom of the taco was soggy from sitting in the sauce. I enjoyed the spicy salsa and chips that were served as the appetizer. Hubby had the alambre con queso. He thought it tasted pretty good as well, but the next day woke up feeling unwell with nausea. We suspected it could have been due to his dinner the night before.  The food was perhaps a bit oversalted as I found myself drinking a lot of water in the hours following.

Alambre Con Queso with  seasoned steak, bacon, green bell peppers, sautéed onions,  smothered in melted mozzarella cheese
Alambre Con Queso with
seasoned steak, bacon, green bell peppers, sautéed onions, smothered in melted mozzarella cheese
Poblano Combo with chicken in mole sauce, chiles rellenos and chicken taco
Poblano Combo with chicken in mole sauce, chiles rellenos and chicken taco

Tu Tierra on Urbanspoon

El Ranchero

We stayed in a vacation home near the town of Burnet. Looking for lunch one day, we chose a random Mexican restaurant. El Ranchero is a family run diner, serving Tex Mex style food. I thought the food was decent, for a small town. I had the taco salad with chicken fajita. I also sampled the chicken tamale. It had a nice taste of corn husk. The deep fried ice cream (it’s really deep fried and not rolled in cornflakes) was good.

El Ranchero on Urbanspoon

Ninfa's Mexican

We were looking for some lunch at the Galleria. This was a pretty random selection, “Let’s have Mexican, oh look there’s a restaurant”. I’m not sure what’s up with the bad reviews because I enjoyed my meal.  I had a chicken chimichanga covered with a vegetable gravy, beans and rice.  The chimichanga was good. I found the beans were a bit on the bland side and I suspect the rice was from a package. Ok, well I can see how this would get a mediocre review. It is what it is, a sit down restaurant in a food court.

El Benny Chicken chimichanga
El Benny
Chicken chimichanga

Ninfa's Mexican on Urbanspoon