Cecilia's Cafe - Albuquerque, NM

Cecilias is a cool little diner in downtown Albuqureque, New mexico.  It's got a cool atmosphere. It is in a very old typical new mexico style building with lots of exposed brick and rough wood beams. I think that the only heat was from a wood stove in the middle of the serving area which wasn't lit on this January day, I might add.  I had to put my coat back on to stay warm.  I suppose this qualified as a dive.

The lunch menu showed that Guy ate a double patty bacon burger when he was here.  That was a little too much for me so, I just went for one of their burritos for lunch.

Service very friendly and fast.  The table they put me at first was a little dirty but, she fixed that quickly.  I had asked for a slice of lemon for my water.  It sure looked and tasted like orange slices.

Parking limited. Downtown area. Bring change for parking meter.


The burrito was really good.  It was chicken with just the right amount of chorizo spice in a bath of the New Mexico green chile sauce.    This is what you are looking for with a triple-D restaurant.

I would rate Cecilia's a 9.1.  Great points for food, good points for atmosphere, slightly negative points for cleanliness.  I would still go back.

Cecilia's Cafe
230 6th Street Southwest
Albuquerque, NM 87102
(505) 243-7070
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cecilias-Cafe/184663328221698

Tecolote Cafe - Santa Fe, NM

Tecolote Cafe had a really interesting menu. It is primarily a breakfast and lunch place.  It is without a doubt a New Mexico joint with heavy influence from the typical New Mexican cuisine and it is definitely a Santa Fe joint because of the artistic flair that the locals really appreciate.

The menu itself was really interesting and you just want to try out all of the exotic sounding things. I was there for breakfast and went for the ginger pancakes.  My exotic selection was the jalapeno bacon and some coffee to wash it down. 

When the food arrived I was surprised by the smell.  The ginger pancakes were predictable because they smelled more or less like a gingerbread cookie but, the jalapeno bacon was really something.  I should have asked how they really do it but, it smelled like the thick-cut bacon was smoked with maybe cedar and jalapeno.  The bacon was spicy so, they must have grilled the bacon with jalapeno peppers though they didn’t serve any peppers with it.

The pancakes were definitely good.  It was a clever idea that I never would have thought of it but, it was really tasty.   I ordered two pancakes but, one would have been plenty.  It came with some thinly sliced pear slices on top and a wedge of lemon on the side.   I didn't quite understand the lemon but, whatever.  I'm sure that I'm missing a point here somehow. 

I have not had a bad cup of coffee in Santa Fe and this time was no exception.  I don't think that you could get away with serving the junk a regular diner could elsewhere... and they kept it coming like a good diner should.

Tecolote was a diner but, definitely not a dive.  The decor is like someone's home. It looks like mom decorated with bright cheery white walls with lemon yellow trim and frilly window treatments. There was a whole wall covered with eight framed needlepoint unicorns.  Another one had rainbow needlepoint, I think.

Like so many triple-d places, it is really for the locals and is very family friendly.  Most of the people that came in seemed to know most of the people that worked there.

Service was good.  No real complaints but, I wasn’t blown away with great service either.

Overall, I would give it a 9.0.  They get points for a really creative menu and a really pretty good meal execution.  The atmosphere didn’t have quite the flair that you would expect from a triple-D restaurant.

I was interesting that there was almost no mention of their appearance on the Food Network except for the little logo on the menu posted outside.  

Tecoloto Cafe

1203 Cerrillos Road

Santa Fe, NM 

(505) 988-1362
tecolotocafe.com

The Tamale Place - Indianapolis

I wasn't expecting much from a Tamale restaurant in Indiana which probably made the experience all the better.  The tamales were probably the best I've ever had.

When you walk in they have their menu on a dry-board.  It looks like the prices next to the menu items but they are not.  Those are the number of each item that they have left.  I ordered the chicken tamales in green sauce.  I thought that it was going to be $11 but right after I ordered she erased the 11 and wrote down 10.  I tried ordering  two things before she decoded the board for me and told me to pick something with a number next to it.

The tamales were fairly large, in the corn husks as you would expect tied off nicely with corn husks.  The flavor and texture were really nice and surprisingly authentic compared to what I get in Texas, if that is any kind of accurate measure.  You get your choice of beans or rice and hot or mild sauce with the combo.  I went with the black beans and mild (wimp) sauce.  The beans and sauce came in little take-out tubs.  The tamale comes with nachos in a styrofoam container.  You won't leave hungry.

The service was okay.  You don't spend a lot of time dealing with the people who work there.  You order then get the heck out of the way so that they can serve the next person.

The atmosphere was also okay.  It was not a diner, not a dive and not a drive-in.  It was an unremarkable restaurant in a nondescript strip mall with white walls and tables.

I would rate The Tamale Place 8.8 just for the quality of the food.

The Tamale Place
5226 Rockville Rd
Indianapolis, IN 46224
(317) 248-9771
http://www.thetamaleplace.com/

Lone Star Taqueria - Salt Lake City

The atmosphere at Lone Star Taqueria was pretty cool. They had Mexican music playing in the background. The first thing that you see when you drive up is an old station wagon with dozens of snowboard and skateboard stickers on it to remind you that you are very close to some of the best skiing in the world in the winter and of their edgy attitude. Of course all of this takes place with the incredible Rocky Mountains in the background.

I had the fish tacos. Usually, you don't know exactly what kind of fish are in fish tacos but they had a sign up telling you. They were really good; light and fresh with a citrus undertone. I went pretty light on the avocado dressing but, it was equally good.

Some of the people working there didn't speak very much English. It was almost like a place that caters to local South Americans except all of the patrons there looked and sounded gringo to me.

I'd give lone Star Taqueria a DDD score of 9.2. Well worth a visit.



Lone Star Taqueria
2265 EAST FORT UNION BLVD.
SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84121
801-944-2300

lonestartaqueria.com

The Red Iguana - Salt Lake City

The Red Iguana was everything that I am looking for in a triple-D restaurant.  The food was original and amazing and the atmosphere was really enjoyable.

The service was exceptionally friendly even though I showed up during their peak dinner rush. I came in and got seated up front.  I initially thought that the restaurant was really small because I only saw about eight tables.  I later found the other 80% of the place.  There was even one table for two wedged into a former closet big enough for 1 1/2.

The mole plates caught my attention.  I had never heard of it before.  A quick wikipedia search says that mole is "Mexican Spanish, from Nahuatl mulli or molli is the generic name for a number of sauces used in Mexican cuisine, as well as for dishes based on these sauces."  They had seven different types of mole plates.

They let me try a dish with a sample of all of the mole sauces. They were all quite excellent.  The yellow Mole Amarillo sauce was kind of hot, the mole colaradillo was kind of nutty-chocolatey, the mole poblano was more like regular mexican sauce, the mole verde tasted like avocado, the mole negro had a banana chocolate taste, the red pipian was pumpkin and the lomo de puerco en mole de amendras tasted good but like 
The pumpkin sauce was the most original to me so, I tried it

The pumpkin red pipian mole was really excellent. It is tough to describe the taste because it didn't really taste like anything else I've ever had.  The pumpkin flavor was really evident but, not like pumpkin pie or a pumpkin muffin either.  You'll just have to try it.

The place seemed to be a hit with the locals because it was pretty much packed and there were people flowing through for their take-out orders.

I'm giving the Red Iguana a 9.8 on the triple-D scale.  I liked it that much.

The Red Iguana
736 W N Temple
Salt Lake City, UT 84116
(801) 322-1489
www.rediguana.com

La Calle - Mexico City

Guy Fiere has never been to La Calle but, he should visit there.  This review marks a new chapter in Bill's Triple-D restaurant review.  This was the first non-diners, drive-inns and dives restaurant review and the first international review.  DD&D is still my inspiration in terms of exploring no-star restaurants with great food and drink in sometimes unusual places, but I'm not going to limit my reviews to just restaurants that have been on tv anymore.  In fact, I'm not going to limit the blog just to restaurants anymore.  Stay tuned.

La Calle is in the Santa Fe section of Mexico City. Most of what I saw of Mexico City would qualify as a super dive but, Santa Fe was not.  It is the shiny upscale area; a phoenix of a development built on what was a landfill several years earlier.  There are high-end department stores and expensive high-rise apartment buildings. 

The atmosphere was pretty cool. It was trying to be an old Mexican restaurant.  As a Gringo, to me it seemed like a Mexican restaurant trying to be a Mexican restaurant.   There were only Mexicans here besides my mixed-nationality group, so I don't think that they were trying to impress anyone by hamming-up their Mexican-ness like you sometimes find in the states.


The first thing that they served us was  soup in a little shot glass.  I had never seen soup presented that way.  It was dark brown in color and someone joked that it was a water glass.  It was actually shrimp soup.  It was really tasty but, rather salty which probably helps with beer sales.   The Pacifico Cerveza went down exceptionally smoothly as a chaser.

I ordered the avocado fish. I couldn't tell exactly what kind of dish it was from the Spanish description on the menu but, it was a white fish.  It could have maybe been sea bass.  The fish itself was okay but, the avocado sauce was the star of this show.

The fish was served hidden under a blanket of vegetables.  The fish and veggies were really only there as a vehicle to pick the sauce up with, in my opinion.  I'm kind of a recent convert to avocado.  I used to be turned off by the green color that caused me to never try it.

I'm glad that I got over it in time to sample La Calle's avocado sauce.  It was good enough for me to break with Triple-D tradition.   It was creamy and savory if a little heavy on the salt as well.  La Calle had their own bakery (panadería) which kept us supplied with lots of fresh bread.  That was a good thing because I just wanted to sop up every drop of the green goodness.

One of my compadres at my table ordered something that basically consisted of a caldron of meat, vegetables and potatoes. I didn't try it but, it looked pretty darned good.

I'd give La Calle a 9.6.  It might not have been unique for a Mexican but, it was for me.  The food was really good and the atmosphere unique for me.



La Calle
Av. Vasco de Quiroga #3800
Centro Comercial Santa fe
Colonia Santa fe
Mexico District federal
05109

tel. 5257 0885
http://www.restaurantelacalle.com.mx

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Gloria's Cafe - L.A.

The correct answer to the question "do you want plantains with that?" is a resounding YES!  The plaintains at Glorias are wonderful.

I have never had plantains like these before.  They are cooked to make some kind of sweet glaze over the tasty little bannana-ettes.  The outside has a very thin almost candy coating while the inside is a sweet, gooey, slightly fibrous goodness.

If you order the appetizer plate of plantains then they come with re-fried beans and sour cream.   The sweet plantains mixed with the creamy sour cream and sticky re-ried beans comes together in a heavenly concert of flavors and textures.

What Bolero is to music, Gloria's plaintains is to mexican food.  Just as the bolero music starts off slowly with a simple one-piece rhythm which builds up and up as other musical instruments are added, the culinary experience is similar.

First, you go straight for the fruit and kind of only recognize the very sweet and unique flavor of the plantains themselves.  Probably because in the US it is kind of an exotic food still.  The American palette isn't used to it.  After you are over the sweetness then you recognize the fact that they didn't serve the fruit alone and decide to explore the options.  So, you dip a fork-full of plantain into the sourcream to give it a go.

The creamy-sweet mixture reminds you of milk and cookies.  A fleeting thought about the triple-digit number of calories you're inhaling in this indulgence runs though your head.  "I'll try it with the beans.  Beans have protein and that's good."  The rationalization worked.  You try the 3-ingrediant mixture.  "Ay Carumba, that's good!"

Gloria's gets a solid 8.5 on the triple-d scale of awesomeness.  The plantains were obviously the star of the show in my opinion.  The rest of the meal was pretty darned good, too.  I had the Bistec Encebollado which was steak strips with onions.  Very tasty indeed.  Not, enough to make me want to tear up my return ticket back to Texas but, pretty darned good.  Definitely worth checking out.
 

Gloria's Cafe
10227 Venice Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 838-0963
www.gloriascafela.com