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| - Yesterday was my first opportunity to try El Jalapeno. I ordered take out at the restaurant. Since I am a vegetarian, I need to whine, just a tad. The menu does not have a separate section for vegetarian dishes as many of the other Mexican restaurants do here in Madison. See...just a tad.
I ordered the Chile Relleno with rice and beans. For vegheads wondering if there is any type of meat product in the rice and beans, the woman who took my order assured me that they do not put any animal broth/stock in the rice and they do not cook the beans in pork/lard. I was happy to hear that.
Okay, my critique of the food. The rice wasn't bad and the beans were pretty good. You can tell the food was cooked that day, which is something I really pay attention to. Nothing tasted old or out of a can. Now as for the Chile Relleno itself. Good, but tough. I'm not sure if they roast the poblano peppers first or not. If they don't, they really should. My knife and right arm were getting a work-out. Also, there were several seeds in the pepper that should have been removed beforehand. I nearly broke a tooth at one point. Yeah, okay, okay, I'm over-exaggerating.
Is El Jalapeno better than other Mexican restaurants? Worse? Hmmmm...good question. It really does depend on your personal preference and taste I guess. My personal preference is still El Pastor and Taqueria Guadalajara. However, you should still try El Jalapeno if you are in the neighborhood or wanting to try something new instead of always going to Laredos. (I have nothing against Laredos, honestly)
Why only 3 stars? This is due to a tough poblano pepper that had only a small amount of cheese in it. Was a bit small too. Otherwise I would have given it 4 stars. I will come back, for sure.
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