Guest blogger Stephen Evans is an IT operations manager of a multi-national corporation, a frequent flier, a food lover and a home cook. He's embarking on a 3-round blog adventure he's calling "Salsa Exploration."
By Stephen Evans
So you want to leave the heat IN the food, and put the coolant (in this case salsa), on the food? No problem! Taqueria Mexican Taco has you covered, as long as it is after 4pm.
Just a stone’s throw away from the original George’s, one can find Waco’s HOTTEST Taco. The Diablo taco let’s the habanero do the talking,with just enough onion, spice and meat to be humanly digest-able, and bringing you back for more with weekly diablo craves.
I am a willing victim of the diablo, and I cannot lie, the salsa that comes with it actually cools it down, and does not spice it up. I have never even thought to have chips at Mexican Taco, as the tacos and food are just so insanely good my mouth is salivating during the wait, and chips would just be a painful reminder that my diablo taco crave is not yet filled.
The salsa is provided in two forms, both of similar texture and in the mild to mild-medium category. I enjoy them both but have no distinct comment because simply the ultimate comment about this joint is that the food is so good the salsa is just a passing thought when you are done with your meal, and for weeks after!
While I have mentioned the diablo tacos more than enough now, they have other items that I've ventured into trying. Most notably was the el sarape, which turned out to be a feast of mixed meats and peppers with what seemed to be a couple hulking handfuls of cheese on top and then a stack of white corn tortillas on the side. This meal, was more like a family platter and easily one of the best meals I have had in the last 5 years.
Taqueria Mexican Taco is not to be missed, and not because of the salsa, but the food! If you don’t speak Spanish and just want to get some good food to go, have some cash ready, step in and order No. 5 or even point at it on the wall, and walk out with a large foil wrapped foam tray of Mexican food heaven.
Extra Dips
Casa de Castillo: I will keep the notes on this salsa and restaurant brief as I don’t have anything kind to say from my first visit. The salsa was incredibly thin, bland and salty. The food was overcooked, way under seasoned and totally uninspired. The service was hectic, busy, but solid, and the waitress was dealing with a gang of hooligans behind me that left no tip.
Trujillo’s: This place opened my eyes a bit as a diner of Mexican foods. There can be dishes made without cilantro and still be rather tasty. While I am a cilantro monster and consume it in most all of my personal cooking from styles from Mexican, Indian, Chinese dishes there is a large portion of the population that simply does not like the taste as it has an adverse reaction to them and tastes like eating soap. To those, I can wholly recommend dining at Trujillo’s. From their opening complimentary salsa and chips to their main dishes they were either totally cilantro free or just the smallest hint of cilantro within them, yet remained otherwise full flavored.
The salsa was a bit more on the thin side and quite mild. The chips were thin and easy to dip the runny salsa due to their size and just enough thickness. The sauce was not really able to be used alongside other items so well due to its runny nature, but the food was already moist or entirely smothered in various sauces across most of the menu, so this was not really required.
There was a debate among the group I dined with about why so many items are the same just with another sauce and why should they give them another name and make the menu more complex. Ordering as you can probably tell, took some time as each menu item was inspected closely, and the service was rather slow anyway, so it was a good passage of time.
All at the table commented that the food was lacking cilantro, but still good. So this was the takeaway from the meal. The meats were all incredibly well seasoned, not overly salty, and the flavors really mingled with the foods properly.
