Mexican

San Jose Mexican

by Stephanie on October 12, 2012

in Dinner, Lunch, Mexican

Hola! Who else took Spanish in highschool? I took it in both highschool and college (eight years total)! and sometimes I feel like I have very little to show for it. I’ve forgotten so much español over the years. Maybe one day I’ll make a concerted effort to really immerse myself in the language. I’d love to become fluent in Spanish one day.

Until then? I’ll just enjoy the food!

My latest food-related adventure took me to Crestwood, a small suburb of St. Louis. I was craving fish tacos like crazy, and I heard that San Jose Mexican Restaurant had a really tasty version! Only one way to find out for sure. Winking smile

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I walked in during a busy lunch hour, and I was immediately greeted, seated, and handed a menu. Before I could even open my menu and take a sip of my ice cold water, these were placed in front of me:

 

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Come to mama! Boy, do I love chips and salsa. These chips were absolutely delicious! They were on the thicker side, which I enjoyed. They were lightly salted and were warm! I could have eaten these babies all by themselves, but I had to dig in to that delicious salsa. The salsa was tasty, but it was extremely mild. I like things a bit spicier.

 

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Hot sauce to the rescue! San Jose had a few varieties to choose from; I chose the Chile Habanero pictured on the right. Yum! Mixing a bit of this into the salsa gave it just the kick I desired.

On to the food! Like I said, I was craving fish tacos, so that made my choice rather easy.

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Done and done!

Not even 10 minutes later, my tacos were placed in front of me. Super fast service. I like it!

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Before I tore into the fish tacos, I sampled the sides. The rice that accompanied my dish was, unfortunately, not the best that I’ve ever had. It was missing a lot of flavor; it was incredibly bland. Not even hot sauce could save it.

Fortunately, the fish tacos more than made up for the sub-par rice. These were piping hot and super flavorful! The fish was flaky, moist, and had a bit of a kick to it, thanks to the spices that it was cooked in. I couldn’t get enough of these tacos; adding a bit of hot sauce made them taste even better!

Service at San Jose Mexican Restaurant was perfect. I couldn’t ask for a friendlier waiter. My water was kept full, and I lost count of how many times he came to check on me!

Prices here were very reasonable. Cheap Mexican food makes this food blogger very happy. Smile

I would highly recommend San Jose Mexican if you’re in the area. And you’ve gotta go for the fish tacos! Trust me on this one.

Adios, and I’ll see you next week!

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El Coco Loco

by Stephanie on September 7, 2012

in Mexican

If you follow me on Twitter, you already know about the one thing I love just as much as food – running. I’ve been running for a little over three years now (longer than I’ve been blogging!), and during that time, I’ve completed seven half marathons (13.1 miles) and one full marathon (26.2 miles!). It’s safe to say I’m a little obsessed. Smile

I’m in the middle of training for my second full marathon, so more often than not, I’m out huffing and puffing through the streets of St. Louis. I don’t listen to music when I run; I prefer to talk to myself daydream instead.

While I was out on a recent run, I was thinking about food (are you really surprised?) and all of the restaurants I’ve tried, as well as the places I’m planning on visiting in the near future (the list is long!).

As I was thinking about the last dozen or so restaurants I’ve visited, I realized something.

I eat in the city a LOT.

I guess it makes sense; I live pretty close to the city, and as a young and active 20-something, a lot of the things I enjoy are in the city. One of those things being food, of course.  I try to hop all over St. Louis, but sometimes it’s easy to fall into a rut and visit restaurants that are concentrated in just one area. I’m going to work really hard to change that.

So let’s show St. Louis County a little love today, shall we?

I traveled back to my old stomping grounds for this particular review. North County, to be exact. Smile

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I visited El Coco Loco!

I adore Mexican food, so I was excited to try this little hole in the wall spot.

I arrived for an early lunch, and I had pretty much the entire place to myself.

 

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It was spacious and clean, and I liked that.

My friendly waitress brought out some delicious chips and salsa to start:

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The chips were crispy and warm, and the salsa was decent. It was milder than what I prefer, but other than that, it was tasty.

The menu was large and varied; it had many of the things you would expect at a Mexican restaurant – nachos, tacos, enchiladas – the whole nine.

I decided to go with the Huevos a la Mexicana. This translates roughly to “Mexican Eggs” (if I remember my Spanish correctly!), and consisted of scrambled eggs mixed with bacon and pico de gallo. It was served with beans, rice, and tortillas.

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Looks tasty, right? Well, it was. It definitely was. The eggs were hot and fluffy, and I loved the addition of bacon. Bacon makes everything better, you know. Winking smile

The rice and beans were also pretty tasty. The tortillas definitely came in handy; I made my own little egg burritos! Yum.

Service at El Coco Loco was friendly and fast, and prices were super cheap. My entire meal came to less than $15. I was a happy camper.

Since it’s all the way out in North County, El Coco Loco is a little too far for me to make this a regular spot, but I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to re-visiting if I was in the area again. Two thumbs up!

See you next week! Smile

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Milagro Modern Mexican

by Stephanie on May 27, 2010

in Cake, Dessert, Dinner, Lunch, Mexican

So ever since Milagro Modern Mexican (in Webster Groves, MO) opened a few weeks ago, I’ve been DYING to go. After all, it’s not too far from where I live! I could WALK there, for crying out loud! I was finally able to drag my boyfriend there tonight. Well, he came along pretty willingly. No dragging was necessary. :)

For those who haven’t been to Webster Groves, it’s a very cute little area. It’s very nice, but sort of a wasteland when it comes to really good restaurants. Until now, of course! Milagro didn’t disappoint at all. Let me tell you why…

First of all, the atmosphere was super nice! It was spacious and inviting. There was a definitely a Mexican theme, but it wasn’t in your face or overly kitschy. It was subtle.

We started out with the obligatory chips and dip. These were wonderful. The chips were nice, warm, thick, and crunchy, and the salsa was delicious! It had a bit of a kick to it. Yum!

Oh, and of course since I was at a Mexican restaurant, I had to have a margarita! This one was super yummy and refreshing!

For our appetizer, we went with the Tostadas de Pato. The menu described it as ‘pulled duck in blood orange habanero sauce piled high on crisp corn tortillas with black bean puree, lime cabbage, and a side of tomatillo avocado salsa’. Mmm mmm MMM! It was VERY good. It had a kick to it, but it was followed by a smoky sweetness that I loved. The duck was tender and juicy. It was perfection.

For the entree, I had the Enchiladas Verdes de Puerco: Pork Enchiladas. The menu described it as ‘slow roasted pork rolled in corn tortillas with jack cheese and baked in a spicy tomatillo sauce, topped with pickled onion and queso fresco’. It was good, but the tomatillo sauce was a little bit overpowering. Once I scraped most of it off, it was decent and very flavorful.

The entree came with the rice and beans; I had the charro beans (pinto beans simmered with chorizo, bacon, tomato, and chiles) and mexican rice (traditional mexican rice cooked in tomato broth). Both sides were tasty.

I should have been stuffed after all of that food (and believe me, I was!), but I can’t resist a good dessert! We ordered a chocolate crepe stuffed with rum-soaked plantains and topped with whipped cream and caramel sauce. It was BEAUTIFUL. Just amazing. It was like nothing I’ve ever had before!

Of course I had to have an after dinner martini. A chocolate espresso martini, to be exact! I’m usually not a HUGE fan of chocolate martinis, but this one hit the spot.

The service at Milagro was great. Very attentive servers, but not overbearing. The owner even came over and chatted with us for a bit! Nice touch.

Let’s see some scores…

Food: 5 stars (out of five)

Ambiance: 5 stars

Service: 5 stars

Value: 5 stars

I can’t wait to come back to Milagro! It’s so close to home that it just wouldn’t make sense NOT to come back. And the food was amazing. One of my favorite Mexican places in St. Louis for sure!

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