Sunday, July 15, 2012

Comparison of Mexican Restaurants

  I do sincerely apologize for taking so long. I've been busy with some matters so I haven't had time to write this post. Anyway, the restaurants we went to were in a Hispanic neighborhood in Queens, and one is well-known fast food chain throughout the U.S. and the other is an authentic restaurant: Taco Bell and Taqueria Coatzingo.
  Our group went with Jeff Orlick, who was basically the tour guide for this trip. We took the train to Queens and the first restaurant we went to was Taco Bell (although it isn't really a restaurant). Inside Taco Bell were only a few people, some were families, some were people who were probably working and were on lunch break. The style in the inside was appealing: it had the bright colors of a fast food restaurant, while there were low tables and high tables. Some art work decorated the walls, which definitely made it seem more family-friendly. We ordered burritos, nachos, tacos, gorditas, and many other foods, but unfortunately I only remember the tastes of these four foods. The nachos had regular nacho cheese, fresh tomatoes, cream cheese, creamy bean paste, and the nachos themselves were made of corn and were salty. There was a meat sauce on it, but what can I say? It was meaty. The burrito, or more specifically, the chicken burrito chalupa, had a burger bun taste (both probably use the same flour), some crunchy lettuce, and chicken. The chicken taco had a basically the same thing, except there was white sauce that made it more tastier. The gorditas were fantastic, with a soft, mild taste and tomatoes to make it seem fresh. Being that it was fast food, the food was of course, fast. And for most fast food, the food was actually pretty aromatic, but still somewhat bland. The only thing I didn't actually like were the different types of sauces. They just tasted like odd flavored drinks put into little packets. If I were to go there again, I would definitely order the volcano menu (I've heard of a very funny joke about it and I want to try it to see if it's true).
  The next restaurant we went to was Taqueria Coatzingo. It's in the same neighborhood, but I'm guessing people who want to eat more authentic foods would choose Taqueria Coatzingo. Inside, it is much different, and looks a lot more like a restaurant. The menu is even bigger, and we ordered much more (It could also be because I remember the tastes of the foods more). The appetizers were chips and salsa, and the salsa, I have to say, tasted like real salsa. Spicy, sweet, with a dash with what tasted like scallion. The quesadilla was wonderful, with cheese and some fried meat, and the dough/bread part of it was crumbly. The chalupas were spicy, with fried meat too, but it also had some vegetables. The burritos had fried pork (there seems to be a lot of fried stuff... still good though). There were gorditas with quesillo cheese on the inside with lettuce and pork, but the cheese was the most prominent ingredient within the the gordita. There was also chicharon pork skin in many of the dishes, which served as the crunchy part. There were nachos too, but they tasted more flavorful than in Taco Bell. What Taco Bell also didn't have was soup and their own special drinks. There was goat soup served that was splendid. The meat was soft, fresh, and nice, while the soup was flavorful not only from the meat but cilantro and tomatoes as well. The three special drinks we had were Porchata, Jamaica, and the melon juice. The Porchata is a rice based drink with a subtle sweet taste, a bit like bubble gum, but with a milky flavor. The Jamaica drink is made from the Hisbuscus flower, but was fruity like pomegranate juice. The melon juice had melon flavors, and was useful for exterminating the spicy aftertaste of the different dishes.
  Overall, Taqueria Coatzingo was a better restaurant because it wasn't as bland as Taco Bell. Not only that, but it offered more choices as well. If Taco Bell were to learn from Taqueria Coatzingo, the lesson would be to embrace the Mexican culture more.

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