Burritophile.com

Went over to the Little Chihuahua today, and was pleased to note that

1) The place was packed on a Monday night
2) There were little notices on the walls that asked for our patience while they remodeled - they're putting in more seats.

It's nice to see a place with good food keep it going. Super carne asada tonight; a wonderful meal.

El Castillito is about a seven-minute walk from my house. Not that far, but just far enough to occasionally result in temperature problems when getting a slab to-go. No longer:



Insulated bags rule.

OK, that pace is really high, more than even i should really be trying. But my new home exists in a burrito desert, and i was on a business trip to the Bay Area, so i had to load up as best i could.

Shortly after arriving on monday, i tried a new place, Ceviche. Over the next couple days, i hit some of my faves, Los Pericos, Charlie's, Pancho Villa and De Amigos.

Wednesday eve i met up with Dan and Aaron at El Faro, a new experience for all of us. Finally, while on the way to a company event in Half Moon Bay, i had to stop by Tres Amigos.

Overall, a good trip and some darn fine slabs. But it's a lot to scarf down in a short period of time. I may need to come out more often than every 6 months to pace myself better.

You know those movies or books or records that everyone says were groundbreaking? Your high school English teacher would go completely nuts over, say The Catcher in the Rye, or you'd read a breathy review of Rebel Without a Cause, or listen to the first Doors record, and you would think something like geez, what's the big deal? You've seen better films, read more relevant books, and...well, pretty much anything every recorded is better than Jim Morrison's pedantic dreck. But I digress. The point is that some art is best enjoyed when it is contemporary and only then, because after breaking new ground, you open up new places and things for other folks to surpass the original innovator.

That was kind of how I felt my visit to El Faro last night went. It's the oldest burrito joint in town, the place that has the best argument to have invented the NorCal style slab, and, were I to write a review, it would echo what Chris has so ably written, albeit with just-OK pastor instead of made-on-the-fly chile verde. Not so bad, but certainly nothing special. It was like seeing a reunion tour with a new lead guitarist, fourth drummer, and an aging lead singer who still wears leather and has sings the high parts an octave down. Still enjoyable in its own way, but other, hungrier places have long-since passed it by.

We know, we know - at some point we really have to get the international review functionality up and running...until then, we've got this missive from my pal Angela in China:

I swore I wouldn't taint the hallowed pages of Burritophile with subpar burritos, even if they are the only burritos within a 5000 mile radius on the wrong side of the Pacific Ocean. I never thought to write about Desperado's in Surabaya, or Cafe Iguana in Singapore, or the Saddle Cantina in Beijing. I don't care how desperate you are for Mexican food -- the only barely passable Tex-Mex I've found in Asia does NOT satisfy a deep al-pastor-with-five-alarm-salsa-at-three-a.m.-in-the-Mission craving.

But, after hearing a college friend (who came of age with eating Chano's on Figuroa at 3 a.m.) who now lives in Shanghai rave about Agave Cantina, I was willing to be open-minded and give it a try.

I tested out the chicken mole, while my dining companion went with an al pastor. I think the fact that I was amazed the menu differentiated beyond "beef, chicken, or pork" is testament to how starved we are for any kind of sophistication with respect to our slabs.

The meat was juicy and tender, the rice was flavorful, the beans moist and didn't overwhelm. I skipped the guac and sour cream, but layered on the "medium" and "hot" salsas, which did not disappoint. Integration was a little bit of a problem, and my burrito didn't come snugly wrapped in foil, but at least the tortilla was soft, fluffy, and grilled warm. Burrito itch, scratched.

On the pricey side, at RMB 60 (about USD 9) each, but well worth it for the rare treat of a decent burrito in the Far East.

We went to the original (and still the best) La Bamba on Sunday to eat a couple of super al pastors:



As good as ever, although they've changed the style of their al pastor. It used to be in big chunks, with the occasional bit of onion. Today they chopped it fine, almost like ground beef. Still - great flavor, piping hot, well-mixed, grilled up right nice. Seventeen years I've been going there, and they've still got it.