Chow report from ABQ and Santa Fe 3/10

[gourmaniac]

Returned last week from a joy filled vacation in beautiful New Mexico mostly in ABQ and Santa Fe. Thanks to posters on this site, especially Deb and Finlero for great suggestions. General comments. Food is plentiful and inexpensive and people are very nice everywhere we went. We ate well but as northeasterners eventually tired on chiles, beans, cheese and rice. There was a certain sameness to it but perhaps we were not able to detect the subtleties in preparation. Onto the chow.

First meal was a home run at Church Street Café with the chile rellenos and sopapillas the highlights, and the adobado pork stew was just OK. Portions are large (with leftovers) and the price reasonable. Barelas Coffee house (ABQ) for breakfast was tasty with the breakfast burrito and huevos rancheros both good versions. In Santa Fe we were mostly sight seeing and tried to go to Los Portillos but it was closed on Wed. Instead we found Mariscos Costa Azul (Also on Cerilllos) that had the best corn chips ever but was otherwise just OK. There is a Mariscos Chihuahua in Tuscon that is my paragon for this type of restaurant. Thursday we ate breakfast at the Village Inn (Central NW), which has remarkably light and fluffy pancakes but is otherwise not notable. Two forgettable meals in Cuba (returning from Chaco canyon) at Presilianos and Del Prado followed by dinner at Mariscos Alto (Central SW). Again OK but not fabulous. Saturday morning, Frontier for breakfast; the place is a hoot. Good breakfast burrito but by this time tired on same ol’. Saturday dinner, we ate at the Ranch Supermarket food court (Central NW), which was really interesting. Lots of families eating there and it was very inexpensive. The birria was excellent, tamales had very good corn flavor, and papaya juice was excellent and only downers were the chiccharones were a bit rubbery and the pork ribs awful. Salsas and green chile bar was also very good. So… is it that we can’t tell good NM restaurant food from food court or does the slow cooked homey aspect of this cuisine lend itself well to a food court (i.e. steam table) setting? Happy to get feedback.

[DebitNM]

I think a mistake that vistors to NM make is to assume that NEW Mexican is like Mexican. They are different cuisines with some similarities.

It is unfortunate that you didn't try some of the other great places to eat in both ABQ and Santa Fe. Perhaps, being northeasterners, you wanted to focus on "local" but by doing so, you missed some good eats. Too much of a good thing is possible.

You went to a lot of places I am not familiar with and therefore can't comment. I have not eaten at Ranch Market food court. In my experience with any "food court" the emphasis is similar to all you can eat buffets where the quality suffers in lieu of quantity. More, but not necessarily better.

We tend to eat our NM at small, hole in the wall places - not the kind that visitors would either find or maybe not even like. And yes, the subtlety of NM is missed on many. It isn't all about heat, it is more about the long simmered tastes and nuances of the food. It doesn't hurt to love cheese, beans and rice, either!

Hopefully, the good outweighed the not so good and overall, that you had a good time here!

[gourmaniac]

Good certainly outweighed the not so good. and we had a lovely time here. Also, I would recommend the Ranch supermarket. It was very good. The long simmered thing makes sense. Next time we'll vary our cuisines a little more.

[finlero]

Hey gourmaniac!

Sorry we missed you when you were here; ping me if you're ever back, would love to show you around my new 'hood.

I know what you mean about sameness of the food. As both a "recovering Bostonian" and an up-and-coming New Mexican, there are elements I tire of, and there are other elements I don't. Personally, as much as I love a carne adovada burrito with rice and beans (especially at breakfast from Dos Hermanos in ABQ), both my palate and my mental cardiologist hold that craving to about once a week.

On the other hand, as an ingredient, I'm probably averaging at least one meal a day with NM's quintessential green chile in it. That might be a breakfast sandwich from Los Amigos in Santa Fe (folded tortilla filled with eggs, potato, bacon, freshly made salsa, and green chile), or a couple of chicken fajita tacos from Taco Cabana in ABQ (made with a different tortilla recipe than you find in branches outside NM, and they have an awesome vat of hot green chile at the salsa bar), or Shohko Cafe in SF's shrimp tempura on green chile, or a green chile pizza from Giovanni's in ABQ, or chow.com's own green chile pesto recipe (http://www.chow.com/recipes/10166 ).

One way or another, glad you found some good chow, and hope you get back here again soon!

[gourmaniac]

Thanks Finlero: Nice to hear from you. Had I been solo, I would have contacted you for some serious chowing but apparently not everyone is as obsessed as we are. I used a few of your ideas (as well as DebitNM) in planning and we enjoyed what we had. The green chile is special therel,but perhaps we OD'ed on it. If we had in Boston any of the ABQ places that we tried, I would be drooling at the door. But I guess that is what travel is for. I'll save Dos hermanos, Shohko Cafe and Taco Cabana for my next trip. By the way, I would recommend the experience at Ranch Supermarket. It's the best food court that i;ve ever seen and the stewed dishes are great. It's also nice to see the remarkable produce especially the chile peppers.

[dellapace]

I'm a new poster from Albuquerque - relatively new here in New Mexico as well - and agree about the Ranch Market, both the food court and the produce section.

I still haven't gotten used to the tortillas here. I'm from Los Angeles, where the flour tortillas are usually thinner, the sonora type, as opposed to the thicker fluffier texas type found here (or so I've read). Even the corn tortillas taste 'eh'. One of these days I'm going to try making my own.

[gourmaniac]

Love to hear more about the Ranch Market food court. The things we tried (tamales, birria and papaya juice) were excellent with only the pork ribs and chiccharones being disappointing. What else is good there?

[dellapace]

I only tried the tamales as a take out order. Good, but not fantastic. Still, I was impressed with the layout and the whole range of treats in the food court. I am used to somewhat differently made tamales, bigger tamales with softer masa wrapping more filling - maybe that is another Los Angeles thing. I've been reading recipes for tamale making and find the masa can vary depending on how much time the lard is aerated/whipped, and probably the lard source.

I also liked the selection of cheeses there.

(Now I have to go back...)

[gourmaniac]

I also noticed that the masa was a little firmer than i'm used to but the corn flavor was great. If you go back, the birria was the best Ive had and very generous with well braised beef.

[finlero]

Hey dellapace -- welcome!

A note on the tortillas here. As someone who grew up eating Sonoran-style tortillas in AZ, I totally know what you mean. In my experience, though, both styles have their place; they're both absolutely wonderful when they're done well and served fresh, and pretty nasty when done poorly or stale.

As I alluded earlier, two places in ABQ I think make really good tortillas are Frontier (although super-important to eat fresh) and Taco Cabana (small ones for the soft tacos only -- they source the large ones from elsewhere). If anyone knows other places that make their own, would love to hear about it.

[dellapace]

I'm fairly ignorant of everything available here for various reasons, but interested. I have a few favorite places so far and should post on the appropriate threads. These have been first impressions. I admit to not having been to the Frontier and have heard it is great.

I did go to a great little japanese short order place.. at least that day (searches for name).

I should probably explain more about me. I started going to odd little restaurants in LA in the mid seventies (for example Ishi's on Temple, with perhaps six tables) and chased around the city with others for years after. I'm full of opinions, whatever my failings, which include a poor sense of smell, but what I insist is a pretty good sense of taste.

I'm here in Abq not anywhere near as mobile or with purse as I was, thus not getting to the Frontier.

Still, I'd enjoy engaging in abq food talk.

I'll look up Taco Cabana..

[finlero]

Well, you've come to the right city and the right website. Regardless of how much cash you personally have, or how often you're able (or how often you choose) to dine out, I'd argue that both Chowhound and ABQ shine the brightest at the low end. The whole point here is finding the pinnacle of deliciousness -- especially "high value" deliciousness -- in any town. So when you are able to head out for some chow, you'll hopefully be armed with plenty of good info to make an informed decision.

Would love to hear about the short order Japanese place you liked -- I feel like there's plenty of terrific non-Mexican in town, but searching for it can be a process.

Welcome again -- hope to hear more from you!

[dellapace]

I'll add this - I am interested in tamale history. A friend of mine's grandmother sold tamales on the streets in downtown LA in the early 1900's - say, 1907.

My friend still makes tamales at christmas, some years. We were going to have a girl fest tamal making day, but it never worked out. On the other hand, the friend also orders some from such and such a west LA restaurant.