Found Not Lost

We finally got to try Chipotle Burrito over the weekend and got some mixed reviews. Overall, everyone (me, the husband and 3 kids) thought the burrito was good, BUT…

1. There was not enough meat (husband)
2. Not enough selection (daughter #2)
3. You have to pay for chips and salsa which offsets the lower cost of the burrito (daughter #1)
4. Too spicy (daughter #3)
5. Not spicy enough (mom)

We all agreed Chipotle Burrito is better than Taco Bell. Their ingredients were fresh and the rice was good. They just put too much rice and not enough meats in their burrito. They had fresh and quite good guacamole. The salsas were also good, just not spicy enough for me, but that’s just me. It is good enough to tide you over, but not anything to rave about or itch to go back to. The consensus is, it’s good in a pinch when you just want something good to eat, but definitely not a planned night out destination. We also all agreed, this ain’t no Mexican food. If you’re looking for authentic fare, better look elsewhere.

When we have a hankering for some quick tacos, we sometimes go to Taqueria Lopez. Oddly enough, we’ve never eaten there, we always take the food home. It’s almost become our Mexican fast food place. Good bye, Taco Bell!

I was craving some menudo one night and didn’t really know any place in Durham that makes a good one, so I decided I’d give Lopez’ a try. I went home with this steaming bowl…

Their menudo was ok (I still like the other menudo I wrote about before though). This one was simmered long enough so everything was soft and tender. It was a little too greasy for me though. I had to skim grease from the top of the soup. They gave a big enough serving that I was able to refrigerate the other half then right before heating up, I just lifted the layer of fat that coagulated on top. Sounds appetizing, yeah? Well if tripe isn’t your thing, how about some tacos?

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After attending my daughter’s class play, my husband and I went to our favorite, Torero’s Mexican, restaurant for lunch. Of course, I forgot to take photos of the food again. Sorry. I don’t think it would do their food justice if I take a photo of the left over I brought home now. So just take my word for it.

Toreros is a family owned chain of restaurants. They have three branches right here in Durham. They are that good. It was raining when we got out of the school today so my husband wanted their Molcajete soup. Actually, he wants their molcajete soup even when it’s not cold or rainy. It’s that good. Their molcajete soup has strips of beef and chicken in it with lots of onions and mushrooms in a tomato based soup that is just indescribable. It is like a chili but it isn’t. I haven’t figured out what’s in it yet, and the servers claim it’s an old family recipe. I’m guessing it has to have some ancho chiles in it. It has that slightly smoky and earthy taste with just the right spiciness to it. They serve it topped with grilled jalapeno pepper and scallion. It is served with rice and beans and on the side, a dollop of pico de gallo and sliced avocado. You sop it all up with flour or corn tortillas. Yummy!

It is such a big serving that we really should learn our lesson and just share a serving. Instead, I ordered my own humungous burrito which was delicious too, but we ended up taking home half of both our dishes. The girls aren’t complaining though. They always scarf our left overs down when they get home from school starving.

Well, I really shouldn’t say they don’t complain. They actually complain a lot when we go out to eat without them. lol!

Photo borrowed from the Firebirds website.

I love eating out. We all do, the whole family. We also love to discuss the things we like or dislike about the restaurants. But, I am an awful restaurant reviewer. Why? Because I am usually so excited to eat that I forgot to take photos of the food!We’ve eaten at Firebirds Wood Fired Grill a number of times, but not one food photo. And I even had my camera in my purse most times!

I love it because we can all find something to eat. The Clone has pasta to eat, they have seafood and steaks for Asi and my husband, Jade has burgers and onion rings, and I have my prime rib! Firebirds is the only place I’ve found in Durham so far that makes good prime rib, not steak. It’s so irritating when you order prime rib and get a ribeye steak instead. Don’t get me wrong, a rib eye steak is great but not when you have your taste buds set for something beefy and pink with a good salty crust to it. Yumm!!

There is only one place that we’ve found so far that serves pretty good dim sum in Durham. We’re pretty lucky it is just down the street from us. From what I’ve heard, there aren’t very many other dim sum restaurants in the area. There is another one we’ve heard of but it hadn’t had good reviews. What self respecting dim sum joint not serve chicken feet? We heard this other place doesn’t serve anything but the generic dumplings. I can believe it their dinner menu, though it has gotten good reviews, was the generic stuff in brown sauce or white sauce. Now if you ever see a menu that describes a dish doused in brown sauce, you know you’re in trouble. But, enough of what I don’t like.

On Christmas day, after opening presents, we decided to go to our usual dim sum place down the street, Hong Kong restaurant. It’s my favorite and if you ask the girls where they want to go, this will be their first place they would pick. Dim Sum at Hong Kong Restaurant is usually served between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on weekends. On weekdays, you can order certain items from their dim sum menu and they will oblige you, but you don’t get the variety that is available only on weekends. Plus, you miss out on the ladies pushing the carts around laden with goodies. All you have to do is point to the one that catches your eye and you are given a serving.

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