Taco Mex: Taco Y Mariscos
Taco Mex: Taco Y Mariscos
Rating: 2
Cost: $5.50
Location: Multiple (Albuquerque and Denver)
Customized: No
For those of us that live in New Mexico, it is often quite hard to actually find Mexican Restaurants. We have an infinite number of New Mexican restaurants, but the differences between both cuisine’s is extreme. Where New Mexican food is obsessed with green/red chile sauces, Mexican food has a strong obsession with meat. Some of the best meat you will ever eat will be in a Mexican restaurant. If made well, it will be spiced to perfection, and the varieties of meat are often staggering. Located in the North Valley on 4th street is a small hole in the wall restaurant called Taco Mex Y Mariscos. Don’t let its looks fool you, its a good example of northern Mexican cuisine. This restaurant has a decent sized menu with a fantastic selection of meats: Asada, lengua, birria, pastor, buche, cabeza, etc. Best of all, the taco’s are only 99 cents each (these are Mexican style tacos, fyi). You can imagine my excitement when I saw nachos on the Menu. Keep in mind, however, that despite Nachos being a Mexican invention, authentic Mexican eateries put them on the menu for recognition purposes only, but they are rarely great.
Taco Mex offers two forms of nachos. They have a basic nacho called Nachos Regular, and a deluxe Nacho called Super Nachos which comes with your choice of meat from there extensive selection. Being a die hard fan of Asada, I felt it was necessary that I choose it for my first outing. These nachos are a bed of chips covered in liquid cheese and Meat. One corner has a pile of pickled jalapenos, and the other corner has a helping of re-fried beans. The whole dish has a drizzle of Crema on top.
Like all the other items on the menu, the Nachos were rather cheap. This made it much easier for me when I got a look at dish. The meat looked fantastic, but the rest of the dish was disappointing. Hidden under the meat pile I could see a few chips, but no real cheese was in site, and the segregation of the beans and jalapenos showed that no true layering had occurred. Furthermore, the chips used are the cheap tortilla rounds that are slightly stale. Further investigation showed that the chips down below were a mix of whole chips and small powdery crumbs and flakes, as though the remnants of the bag were dumped in its entirety. I never understood why mexican restaurants use liquid cheese, because the original nacho was made with shredded cheddar. Needless to say it was disappointing to find liquid cheese, but also how little was actually present. Thankfully the jalapenos were pickled and tasty, as was the re-fried beans. After all that ranting, it is important that I mention what this dish did well, which was the meat. The Asada was fantastic, some of the better Nacho meat’s I have had in recent memory. I found myself eating the meat with a fork, instead of using the chips and cheese as transportation. All I kept thinking was this meat had the potential to make an amazing quality Nacho. Admittedly, the meat was almost worth the price alone. However, I must recommend that people pass on this nacho, its not worth your time. However, Taco Mex has other dishes that are amazing, and worth every penny. I recommend getting a set of 5 taco’s, each with different meat so that you can sample the variety.
