[My ongoing series for 2016 continues ... with the TWENTY-NINTH of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA (coming to you on sequential Thursdays. All. Year. Long.)!]
Establishment: Taquería Doña Raquél
Location: Pompano Beach
Meal: Dinner
Drink: (a few) Tecate
pale lager beer
Appetizer: Choriqueso
melted cheese dip with Mexican chorizo
Main: (Tres) Gorditas
cornmeal pocket, with sour cream and cheese and meat -- one chicken, one grilled steak and one pork rinds
Side(s): Chips and Salsas (one hot, one hotter)
Dessert: n/a
Server: Milca
Website: not applicable
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Taqueria-Do%C3%B1a-Raquel-121075597933818/
Here's the hard truth. I'm not a fan of Mexican food. I said it before that it's mostly all in my head ... and something about textures and food running together and too many dishes with beans. That being said, I know that life is such that I'm going to be eating this type of cuisine every now and then, and I can't always order fajitas (my go to) or tacos (my second go to) or just eat a whole meal of guac and chips (I haven't done it yet ... but I have thought about it). I think it's important to keep that in mind when reading how tonight's score came about:
AMBIANCE: 8/10 (the whole plaza seems connected [with a restaurant, a convenience store, a meat store, etc.] and it's fun to feel like you are in Mexico when you step on the parking lot, especially with the authentic music playing ... there's a lot to be said for an open kitchen format where you see everything being made just beyond your table [although the boy making it looked to be about 12] ... a point lost for for being a bit too bright and another one docked for TV screens that were pimped out as ads that barely moved [the same real estate guy on the screen stared at me the whole meal])
FOOD: 7/10 (the details I shared in the intro notwithstanding, I particular enjoyed that the salsas were clearly homemade and very spicy with homemade chips, that the appetizer lived up to its warning that it was extra sticky and I have no doubt that my main meal was authentic with crispy gordita shells ... but a point lost for not being able to tell which one was which by sight, another lost for being packed full of the extras moreso than the meat and a final point taken off because although it was a nice touch to serve the strawberry candies with the bill, the candies tasted as if they were as old as Mexico itself)
SERVICE: 8/10 (this is difficult ... because our waitress *wanted* to take our order and we put her off for more beers and chips and conversation and then when we were finally ready, a party table had slipped in and was taking up all of her time ... but I still have to dock a point for there not being any solution for that issue other than us raising our hands over and over again until we could get her attention, and a second point for feeling a little rushed as they were doing closing prep and we were still chowing down)
BACON: 6/10 (chorizo is like bacon [kind of?] and so are pork rinds [ish?])
BONUS: 9/10 (+3 for the best huevo rancheros and beans that someone at our table who really really enjoys Mexicans said he had had recently, +3 for the authenticity of it all that left me with tingly lips on the ride home and +3 for the bathtub Jesus in the parking lot [see photo below])
TroyScore: 38 out of 50 -- aka 76, a solid C
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