Here’s one thing I learned growing up in Southern California: the quality of food in a Mexican joint is directly relational to amount of Hispanic patrons. Now I’m not saying that this is the only prerequisite to awesome Mexican food; it’s just that it’s a very good sign. A tucked-away gem like Taco Bravo is one of those places that continues to prove my theory right.
Right off of Northwest Highway in a nondescript location across from the seedy Royal Inn is where you’ll find Taco Bravo. Run by a lovely group of ladies who wear the cutest aprons, it’s one of the tastiest places to get fast-food Mexican in Dallas. I’m almost hesitant to talk about it because it feels like a sort of treasure, but they really do deserve the recognition.
During lunch time, there’s almost always a crowd. Order some chips and salsa to start; that’s a must. They don’t come out to the table right away. Rather, you usually have to wait a couple minutes. This is because they fry their fresh-cut corn chips as you order them. They’re crispy and crunchy, a little chewy, and unbelievably delicious. The accompanying bowl of salsa is served piping hot.
Their crunchy tacos are made from the same fried tortillas, which makes them a must. My favorite tacos are the fajita steak and the spicy ground beef. The latter comes out dripping in a mild red sauce with diced potato mixed in. LOVE! The fajita steak is chopped up in bite-sized pieces with sautéed onion and is just as juicy — no dried out fajita meat here.
When it comes to meat, Taco Bravo offers up quite a lot of choices. They have real barbacoa, shredded beef, pork, chicken, ground beef, chorizo, lengua, shrimp, and many more. I counted at least 12 and I’ll have to go back so I can delve into the choices more expertly.
They serve breakfast all day, which is a big bonus in my book. I ordered the chorizo breakfast burrito that came with a side of refried beans and was impressed that the chorizo wasn’t dripping with red grease, as with most burritos of its kind. I kept waiting for my plate to turn into a pool of crimson excess, but it never happened. Good sign.
Taco Bravo is great little find that does the simple things right. They serve up some great Mexican fast-food at extremely reasonable prices. We’re there weekly and although we often end up ordering the same things, we’re going to branch out and try the numerous other items on the menu. When we do, we’ll report back here. ‘Till then, enjoy amigos.
Taco Plate (w/rice & beans & drink): $4.99
Breakfast Burrito (w/bean & choice of meat): $2.99
2019 W Northwest Hwy | Dallas, TX 75220
(469) 420-9600
It’s RA, part two! After a really excellent dinner, we finished the night at RA with a light dessert. It’s always sad to finish a refreshing meal with a really thick, heavy dessert… like rice pudding… or chocolate lava cake. For something like sushi, a dessert “sushi” is a truly fitting option. RA’s Banana Maki Roll is a crispy-wrapped banana roll with chocolate in the middle topped with fresh fruit, whip cream, and chocolate sauce. It was really as pretty as it looks & gives the fishy version a good fight for winning “Most Tasty.”
Now the rice pudding doesn’t sound like such a bad idea as a midnight snack…
7501 Lone Star Dr. | Plano, TX 75024
469.467.7400
Other locations nationwide.
Listed under “The Finer Things in Life,” excellent sashimi is one of the best culinary indulgences. It’s luxurious and smooth, sensuous on the tongue, and refreshingly light. After the Japan trip, I was worried that sashimi in the States would never be the same, but this weekend’s dinner at RA Sushi proved that wrong. But perhaps I’m jumping ahead, so let’s start at the beginning and work up to that…
This weekend we visited RA Sushi in Plano for the first time. Located in the Shops at Legacy, the place has such ambiance, you’d be shocked to find out they’re located nationwide. Choosing some of their newly added cocktails, we started dinner with a customary round of drinks…
Shiso Naughty: A good mix of sweet & sour. Sweet pineapple vodka & bright citrus yuzu is a nice combination. They incorporated a favorite savory herb, Japanese shiso, for balance, as well as something called X-Rated Liqueur (which sounds kinda gimmicky, but I’m willing to overlook because it was tasty).
Tea It Up: This is the Far East version of one of my favorite Summer drinks: Iced tea spiked with Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka. The idea is translated into Japanese with a zen green tea liqueur and a citrus twist.
Strawberry Soju Sunrise: The ultimate girly drink featuring Soju, yuzu, and fresh strawberry. Overall, their cocktails had a distinctly unique flavor that set them apart from the usual. I think this was because of the yuzu element, but I’m not completely sure. Call it drinker’s intuition.
White Sake Sangria: An updated take on a classic: Sauvignon Blanc, sake, peach, orange, and pineapple juice, plus a splash of yuzu sour. Delicious.
In addition to cocktails, RA also has some new additions to their menu, which (by the way) features a lot of options for those who don’t share in my exaltations of sashimi. They definitely won’t be relegated to boring chicken teriyaki.
To start, it was RA chips & salsa. Tasty & clever, it was a tuna tartar dip with avocado, jalapeno, cucumber, and cilantro. Served with fried wonton “chips” that would be delicious dipped in almost anything, it was a welcomed alternative to the usual edamame starter.
We also tried their Spicy Rice Crispy Treats for two reasons. One, because they sounded delicious. Two, because of the name. Cute! For the roll, they flash-fried sesame rice into strips of crunchy goodness, added spicy tuna, fresh lettuce, and avocado, and then wrapped them in soy paper. They were plated with two sauces: one soy-based, and the other a wasabi cream. Toasted nuts & bright red tempura flakes finished the dish, which I loved. Great taste and texture. If you like hand rolls, this would definitely be your thing.
Grilled Short Ribs with wasabi mashed potatoes found more favor with Brian than they did with me. They had a nice flavor & the potatoes were fabulous, but I’m always more interested in sushi. However, it was the perfect example of what I mentioned earlier: excellent options for those guests who don’t want to go raw. One other thing, these were under $8. Crazy.
Finally, the real highlight of the meal (where we started in the beginning) were the sashimi plates. They’re being offered as “RA Tapas” for the uber-reasonable price of $7.50. (Something that all of RA’s menu items seemed to have in common).
We chose the yellow tail with a garlic citrus ponzu sauce & scallions (above), as well as the salmon with marinated sweet onion dressing (below). Both were killer. Kill-ah. If you go to RA, you better try some of them or the little dish will wonder about your judgement.
While we have NEVER really talked about service on the little dish (we focus only on food), we feel we would be remiss not to mention our server, David. He was attentive and funny and knowledgeable, which is like a triple-threat in almost every profession.
Check back tomorrow when we post pictures of the beautiful dessert that finished the meal. Hint: It could also be eaten with chopsticks!
7501 Lone Star Dr. | Plano, TX 75024
469.467.7400
Other locations nationwide.
I really love honey. In fact, it’s one of my favorite flavors. I like it even more when it comes out of a bear-shaped bottle, but I feel torn about the fact. You have to be discerning about quality & unfortunately the best kinds don’t usually come in that cute little guy. The most flavorful honeys are usually local, organic, darker in color, and probably in a plain glass jar.
One taste of white gold honey changes all those preconceptions. Made from red clover honey in Canada, it’s the most interesting honey I’ve ever tried and though it’s very mild, it’s one of the most delicious. It has a beautiful ivory color and the lovely, thick consistency of whipped frosting. Surprisingly, both of those qualities occur naturally. The raw honey comes from a white nectar and solidifies because of its low moisture content.
As I mentioned, it does have a very mild flavor, which is why I suppose Teavana chose to carry it. It won’t overpower the other flavors in their tea. However, it tastes just wonderful by itself upon a piece of toast. This honey is so special, it makes up for the fact that it doesn’t come in a bear.
Shopping Note: While I couldn’t find this particular honey on Teavana’s website, I found an organic white volcano honey. The sales associate at the location I visited was absolutely raving about it and said that when I finished this jar, that was the next one I needed to try next.
Teavana
NorthPark Center
8687 N. Central Expressway | Dallas, Texas 75225
Other locations nationwide.
I’m always amazed at how often Taco Bell manages to come out with new products. I’m pretty sure they are the champions of fast food product development. I hope their R&D department is well paid, because those folks churn out a new twist on “Mexican” food at least once a month. The imagination they must have! So, in an effort to stay abreast of the Taco Bell situation (and to keep the little dish classy), we’re offering you a new feature: ‘Keeping Up With the Bell’. Whatever they dream up, we’re going to eat.
On this initial installment, we’re tasting the Black Jack Taco… Yeah, it’s not going to last long. Here’s what it’s supposed to be:
“A crunchy black taco shell filled with seasoned beef, zesty pepper jack sauce, shredded lettuce, and a blend of three cheeses: cheddar, pepper jack, and mozzarella.”
Here’s what it’s actually like: Your normal Taco Bell taco shell with meat. The shell apparently isn’t made out of blue corn; my guess is that it’s dyed that color. So you take the normal taco, slather on a strange mayonnaise-y sauce that doesn’t taste “zesty” or “pepper jack-ish” at all, and sprinkle on a generous helping of tasteless cheese. It’s bad, even by Taco Bell’s standards. Underwhelmed & kinda grossed out, we considered that maybe we were being overly-harsh because we’re not ultra-familiar with Taco Bell’s normal fare. Perhaps this is what we should have expected?
To get an expert’s opinion we turned to our resident Taco Bell expert. She’s someone who not only eats at Taco Bell on a regular basis, but also really likes it. She’s the ideal audience for the Black Jack Taco. In her words (during the tasting): “Disgusting… OMG that is mayonnaise-y. What is this?”
So there you have it, the word from our expert. Taco Bell failed on this one. But it’s not a huge failure; they’ll have another chance in the next week or two when they move on to their next big idea…
