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| - For my birthday dinner, I wanted something I hadn't had in a long time - added bonus that it was a new experience for my husband. After dropping our daughter off at Grandma's House for the night, my hubby and I scooted over to Blue Adobe.
The place isn't much to look at - this section of Mesa has been hit hard by economic hard times and residents that don't give a rip about their surroundings. It's a quaint little building and lo and behold, a barbecue joint is next door - not sure when that happened.
We walked in and were immediately greeted. The woman even guessed who I was, based on a phone call I made there and hour and a half earlier. It was a crowded Friday night and almost every table was filled except one in the middle - ours!
Our waitress was immediately at our table asking for our drink order. My husband asked for her recommendation and she had several. for me - it was hard to decide between one of the pasta dishes; the chimi or the Carne Adovada. In the end, the adovada won!!
It didn't take us long to notice the deftness of the staff. Almost IMMEDIATELY after a party left a table, a young man swooped in and prepared the table for the next diners - maybe 30 seconds flat! He was also quick to fill our glasses of water and remove unwanted dishes off our table.
The salsa was a nice break from traditional Mexican salsa. It had a deeper, richer flavor to it - smokey and complex. The chips were perfectly seasoned - not to salty, not too bland. Nice thickness on them as well (I can't stand thick chips!!)
When our entrees arrived, we were ready to face the fire! My husband's Taos Combo had a pork tamale, a tenderloin relleno and a shrimp enchilada. It was a great way to be introduced to New Mexican cuisine. I had a bite of the enchilada and the relleno - the tenderloin in the relleno had a deep smokey flavor.
My Carne Adovada was incredible! Such complexity! The heat snuck up on you and surrounded you - not a bad heat like eating a habanero, but a rich heat that built up over time. The meat was tender and flaky and smothered in that deep red/brown sauce. The rice had that same distinct New Mexican richness to it that traditional "Mexican" or "Tex Mex" doesn't offer. My only complaint was the lack of a vegetable. I would have preferred something like a succotash or even just some diced tomatoes instead of beans. We ended up asking for some sour cream to tame the heat a little and what ended up happening (for me anyway) was that the sour cream accentuated the deep complexity of the spices - I tasted more of the preparation behind the adovada.
My husband ordered a "birthday treat" for us - the pumpkin brulee, which is only available during November (yay for having a November birthday!). We wondered if we were going to be able to eat it - what with feeling like we just ran into a wall with all that good adovada and tamales in our bellies, but we were both surprised how much we powered through that brulee. It was perfectly done - PERFECT!! The pumpkin flavor was obvious without being overbearing. It was surprisingly light.
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