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| - This place opened just as I was about to leave for college and back then I wasn't so impressed. So when I decided to give it another try nearly ten years later I thought I'd give them the benefit of the doubt. They had, after all, won best Mexican restaurant at least twice by the plaques on the wall. I should have known better.
I went for a combo platter with a cheese enchilada, a beef burrito and a chile relleno. My fiancé went for the lunch special with a taco, chile relleno and guacamole salad.
Now to clarify for anyone reading this, a chile relleno literally means a filled pepper. Traditionally that is a poblano pepper roasted with the skin taken off, then with good oaxacan cheese put inside and finally to be battered in egg and fried. When done right, it's one of the most amazing dishes ever. Done wrong and you get what they served here. A scoop of ground beef drowned in processed cheese sauce with a sliver of poblano hidden in the middle. Whatever this was, a chile relleno it was not. The sad part is that this restaurant is not the only one I've seen serve it this way.
On to the burrito. A large tortilla filled with ground beef. That's it? No tomatoes, onions, rice, or even the classic Mexican space filler, bean?
And can I make a request regarding my final dish, the enchilada? No processed cheese, please. And is there a shortage of enchilada sauce? Because the sauce slathered on top almost reminded me of spaghetti sauce, tomatoes but no chiles.
I'm sorry that it looks like I'm being so rough on them, but this does kind of cooking does not deserve Mexican restaurant of the year.
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