Taqueria Tres Amigos
San Mateo, CA
As the designated chauffeur for my dad and my spry 82 year-old aunt, we made a pit stop for a late lunch/early dinner in San Mateo. My dad's too funny...he won't freely admit he likes something but he drops hints. Today, the hints were for burritos or Mexican food and we were near Burrito Alley in San Mateo. We decided to try a taqueria we had not tried before, but one that was relatively clean and with options for a non-spicy food eater. As this was my aunt's first time for Mexican food, we chose Taqueria Tres Amigos since I heard good things about their chicken.
The three of us entered the restaurant and noted the very large dining room filled with Latino families watching a soccer game on 2 TVs. Good sign, methinks. I grabbed a copy of the nicely printed colorful menu for easier reading while my dad and aunt found seats. Dad selected the grilled chicken breast special plate ($5.50), aunt selected the "La Parillada #1" special plate ($8.25), and I ordered 3 tacos (al pastor, carne asada, and pollo asado, $1.95 each) plus a medium agua fresca ($1.65). The agua fresca fountains are located to the left of the register with a choice of pineapple, cantaloupe, strawberry, horchata, and tamarind. I opted for the cantaloupe and think I made the right choice. Light and cantaloupey and not too sweet. (I sampled the strawberry and pineapple later and yeesh...sugar overload.)
We helped ourselves to the thick, crispy chips and the assortment of 5-6 salsas plus pickled jalapenos and carrots, radishes, and limes. My easy fave was one of the red salsas (not shown) - nice amount of heat! The pico de gallo packed a punch as well.
Our entrees arrived a few minutes later.
The chicken plate:
Wow, this was some excellent chicken boob! Pounded to ~0.5 inch thickness and marinated then grilled, the meat was succulent. Far from being the sad, dried out chicken boobs from other places. Super tasty...I would definitely order this again. Dad had enough tortillas for at least 8 or 9 tacos.
The "La Parillada #2":
After some quick Googling, I found out that parrillada is a mixed plate of sorts. This plate had 3 slices of steak, Spanish rice, refried beans, a slice of tomato, shredded iceberg lettuce, sausage or hash, 2 slices of bacon, a mini quesadilla, and 2 quarter-wedges of avocado. Good grief...this plate was ginormous!!! When this plate arrived, we thought, we should have ordered 2 special plates for the 3 of us. The bacon looked like the supermarket variety and the steak was a bit dried out and tough. My aunt really loved the refried beans since they were creamy and flavorful. She remarked, "Those beans were really really good! Smooth as mashed potatoes!" She was a bit puzzled with the quesadilla; she had thought the quesadilla looked like an egg over easy. =) I have to admit, the slight grilling of the small flour tortilla did contribute to the eggy look. She was so puzzled as to what what the floppy dough was until I explained that cheese was melted into the folded flour "pancake" (in Mandarin, bing). She did like the soft texture of the quesadilla and used some of it to scoop up the Spanish rice.
Tres tacos:
Clockwise from top: carne asada, pollo asado, al pastor. The carne asada was very juicy with a very meaty flavor. The meat came in a small dice, but large enough to have something to chew on. The thin corn tortillas were grilled and a bit on the oily side. The pollo asado, possibly the same chicken as the chicken breast plate, shone in by itself. In a taco, the chopped pieces of grilled chicken was lost in the onions, cilantro, and salsa. The al pastor was a teensy bit on the greasy side and had an okay marinade.
Breakdown:
Carne asada: 8/10 - Excellent rendition of carne asada. Juicy and flavorful, but will need additional testing to bump up the score. =)
Pollo asado: 7/10 - Disappointed by the grilled chicken. Excellent version on the plate lunch did not equate to an excellent taco.
Al pastor: 7.5/10 - Okay version with an okay marinade. Tasty, but far from the best.
Tortilla: 7.5/10 - Grilled, oily, and on the dry side. I prefer a slightly thicker, fluffier corn tortilla for tacos.
As the designated chauffeur for my dad and my spry 82 year-old aunt, we made a pit stop for a late lunch/early dinner in San Mateo. My dad's too funny...he won't freely admit he likes something but he drops hints. Today, the hints were for burritos or Mexican food and we were near Burrito Alley in San Mateo. We decided to try a taqueria we had not tried before, but one that was relatively clean and with options for a non-spicy food eater. As this was my aunt's first time for Mexican food, we chose Taqueria Tres Amigos since I heard good things about their chicken.
The three of us entered the restaurant and noted the very large dining room filled with Latino families watching a soccer game on 2 TVs. Good sign, methinks. I grabbed a copy of the nicely printed colorful menu for easier reading while my dad and aunt found seats. Dad selected the grilled chicken breast special plate ($5.50), aunt selected the "La Parillada #1" special plate ($8.25), and I ordered 3 tacos (al pastor, carne asada, and pollo asado, $1.95 each) plus a medium agua fresca ($1.65). The agua fresca fountains are located to the left of the register with a choice of pineapple, cantaloupe, strawberry, horchata, and tamarind. I opted for the cantaloupe and think I made the right choice. Light and cantaloupey and not too sweet. (I sampled the strawberry and pineapple later and yeesh...sugar overload.)
We helped ourselves to the thick, crispy chips and the assortment of 5-6 salsas plus pickled jalapenos and carrots, radishes, and limes. My easy fave was one of the red salsas (not shown) - nice amount of heat! The pico de gallo packed a punch as well.
Our entrees arrived a few minutes later.
The chicken plate:
Wow, this was some excellent chicken boob! Pounded to ~0.5 inch thickness and marinated then grilled, the meat was succulent. Far from being the sad, dried out chicken boobs from other places. Super tasty...I would definitely order this again. Dad had enough tortillas for at least 8 or 9 tacos.
The "La Parillada #2":
After some quick Googling, I found out that parrillada is a mixed plate of sorts. This plate had 3 slices of steak, Spanish rice, refried beans, a slice of tomato, shredded iceberg lettuce, sausage or hash, 2 slices of bacon, a mini quesadilla, and 2 quarter-wedges of avocado. Good grief...this plate was ginormous!!! When this plate arrived, we thought, we should have ordered 2 special plates for the 3 of us. The bacon looked like the supermarket variety and the steak was a bit dried out and tough. My aunt really loved the refried beans since they were creamy and flavorful. She remarked, "Those beans were really really good! Smooth as mashed potatoes!" She was a bit puzzled with the quesadilla; she had thought the quesadilla looked like an egg over easy. =) I have to admit, the slight grilling of the small flour tortilla did contribute to the eggy look. She was so puzzled as to what what the floppy dough was until I explained that cheese was melted into the folded flour "pancake" (in Mandarin, bing). She did like the soft texture of the quesadilla and used some of it to scoop up the Spanish rice.
Tres tacos:
Clockwise from top: carne asada, pollo asado, al pastor. The carne asada was very juicy with a very meaty flavor. The meat came in a small dice, but large enough to have something to chew on. The thin corn tortillas were grilled and a bit on the oily side. The pollo asado, possibly the same chicken as the chicken breast plate, shone in by itself. In a taco, the chopped pieces of grilled chicken was lost in the onions, cilantro, and salsa. The al pastor was a teensy bit on the greasy side and had an okay marinade.
Breakdown:
Carne asada: 8/10 - Excellent rendition of carne asada. Juicy and flavorful, but will need additional testing to bump up the score. =)
Pollo asado: 7/10 - Disappointed by the grilled chicken. Excellent version on the plate lunch did not equate to an excellent taco.
Al pastor: 7.5/10 - Okay version with an okay marinade. Tasty, but far from the best.
Tortilla: 7.5/10 - Grilled, oily, and on the dry side. I prefer a slightly thicker, fluffier corn tortilla for tacos.
posted by Manda at
4/09/2006 06:54:00 PM
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