I Eat Nueve Out of Seven Days a Week

Wow ... literally months now since my last post, like, wow.  Anyone still there? Of Course You Are! HI EVERYONE! Don't think I have forgotten about my blog I just simply turned out to be less active during the Summer which is when I thought I would be most active ... Oh well, I am here now and have been saving up so much quality information and food to share with you all for the next many more months to come.

Aside from being with my parents and not having to work or study or do anything like that, one of the best things about being home for Summer, as many students will agree, is being able to eat out at restaurants with parents.  Not only do my parents pay (I THANK THEM FOR TAKING ME TO FOOD SO MUCH), but they are both very adventurous when it comes to food and when we go to a new place, we usually like to try a little bit of everything... remember my post "Rolls on Rolls on Rolls" - oh yea! And since I am who I am, I was perpetually hungry throughout Summer and was always ready to eat more food.

That was me not too long ago

Anyway, so one of the places I went to was a new Mexican Restaurant that opened up back in the bay in San Bruno on 851 Cherry Ave. that has managed to turn Latin Cuisine into an exciting adventure through their various menus depending on your choice of dining during breakfast, lunch, or dinner hours. 

Me Too Ed, Me Too

My mom and I went to lunch and absolutely fell in love with it's deliciousness and I insisted we come back to try their breakfast and dinner menus on other days.

So although we ate lunch first and then came back for breakfast and then dinner another day, I'll write about the meals in the order they TYPICALLY go in an American day.

BREAKFAST

Somehow, I managed to convince my whole family to go to brunch after nagging them and it was AMAZING - I think their breakfast menu may very well be my favorite of their menus. Let's start

Huevos Divorciados ("Divorced Eggs" lol)

Basically it is as if two separate over-easy eggs decided to get a divorce but still had to share their plate together as they figure out their lives.  Honestly, I hope they realize their divorce is a mistake because together the eggs in chile verde and the eggs in the tomatillo sauce when mixed together and topped with some twice-cooked beans your mouth is surprisingly not overwhelmed but rather welcomed to a good mixture of flavor, spice, and bang!

Carnitas Hash

This was my plate and was recommended by our waiter, I was not disappointed.   Eggs, carnitas, tomatillo sauce, and carnitas con rajas are served atop a shallow bowl of tasty black beans that combine with just the right flavors mixing.  Carnitas can oftentimes be unnecessarily mushy and wet but these carnitas are cooked and served to a perfect crisp and moisture with great flavor and spice in this dish.

Chilaquiles

A classic dish that is no stranger to Latin Cuisine especially on a Mexican Breakfast Menu.  Really enjoyed this plate since the chips were slightly crunchy and not mushy as some restaurants have the tendency to drown them in sauce and ends up turning it into nothing but salsa.  With the eggs and beans the combination of the three in this dish have every texture and flavor one needs to satisfy the palette.

Horchata Pancakes

OH. MY. LORD. Not trying to impose a religion on you all but this dish was an outer body experience that took me to heaven, slapped me silly, and sent me straight back to finish up what goodness I had started.  Fluffy, drizzled with caramel, and topped with freshly glazed bananas these pancakes not only melt in your mouth but send your taste buds on a roller coaster of sweet blissful greatness. THE BEST DISH OFFERED AT NUEVE

LUNCH

oh yes, there's more

Carne Asada Torta

Oaxaca, Roasted Bell Peppers, Caramelized Onions, Chipotle Aoli, Carne Asada.  The torta buns are grilled to toasty perfection being crispy on the outside and fluffy enough on the inside to hold together all this banging flavor.  The meat is cooked just right and the combination of bell peppers and onions is accentuated with the chipotle aioli as opposed to simply being roasted vegetable atop some slabs of meat, it is much more than that.

Hamburguesa Torta ("Hamburger Sandwich" basically)

This badass piece of art is the hamburger sandwich to shut down all hamburger sandwiches everywhere.  Chorizo, Queso Fresco, Mole Poblano, Red Onions, Cilantro, Pickled Jalapenos, Avocado Slaw, a Crispy Onion, and Chipotle Aioli fill crispy buns with flavor, spice, and crunch - enough to fill your mouth with juicy tender meat, roasted flavors, and sweet spicy goodness.

Nueve Fries

Go back to those two lunch dishes and you will find the best fries I have had in my entire life.  I know I sound dramatic when I describe food sometimes, but just sit there, read, and understand what made these fries better than the grease served up in other places.  These fries are layered with jalapeno jelly, topped with cilantro, and then graced by delicious cotija cheese.  The fries are sweet and savory, but a type of sweetness where we could not quite figure out how they could taste glazed to perfection and were delightfully pleased to hear about the jalapeno jelly. Crispy. Sweet. Savory.

DINNER

Last, but DEFINITELY Not Least

Horchata

Kickin' the dinner menu off nice and easy with something that has to be shared.  Now that you read about the Horchata Pancakes, you can now rest peacefully knowing they DO serve normal Horchata not in bread-form and they DO serve delicious Horchata - Mexican Approved

Queso Fundido

In my mind, Queso Fundido is the unsung hero of Mexican Appetizers; most people understand simple Chips & Salsa as being what people eat before a meal, but Queso Fundido (melted cheese) can be much more satisfying, and is definitely necessarily satisfying at Nueve as the chefs mix the Queso with mushrooms, chorizo, poblano peppers and served with fresh flour tortillas for you to spread the melted cheese over and devour allowing the savory melted cheese to ooze in your mouth.

Spicy Camarones al Ajillo

Test your taste buds with this dish and see just how much you enjoy spicy food.  To me, spicy food is nothing if it does not have flavor.  The Spicy Camarones al Ajillo are served with Guajillo chili and garlic pan roasted prawns with cilantro rice kicking your taste buds right where they can feel it but packing them as well with so much spice and absolute flavor that you will not forget just how good spicy goodness can taste without having to absolutely destroy your taste buds.  Spicy food can be savory and tasty, not murderous and vengeful.

My goal in the beginning of the Summer after having lunch at NUEVE was simply to try the breakfast and dinner menus at the location.  Maybe it was just because of the unknown of what this tasty place had to offer.  But I think that it is because I was so satisfied that lunch session with those sweet crispy fries that I needed more.  

We were surprised and impressed with the Horchata Pancakes the following weekend, and pleased with the dining we had a few days later for dinner making NUEVE a Latin Cuisine spot we frequent.  Now that I am back in San Diego, it is hard to write about this place as this is back home and even though we are SO CLOSE to Mexico, I have yet to find Horchata Pancakes.  Perhaps I'll bring them down here, but either way, I will definitely be returning soon

Taco Tuesday? Tacos Every Day!

Funny story.  When I went back home my friends and I were eating some Mexican Food and they made the comment how they wished they had some good legit Mexican Food near their campuses (they study in Washington & New York) and I agreed with them not really thinking it through to which they were not happy.  "YOU GO TO SCHOOL IN SAN DIEGO LITERALLY ONLY A FEW MILES FROM MEXICO WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?" ... woops

It was then that I had realized my friends and I HAD had some Mexican Food like Vallarta's Carne Asada Fries but had yet to find a traditional taqueria and taken advantage of being so near Mexico to have real good Mexican Food without having to bring a passport with us for a meal.

So yesterday some of my friends and I needed some comfort food and found this great Mexican place that was delicious and magical and all that we needed and will be going there a lot more often I just know (and hope). Not only was the food good, traditional, and cheap... it was FAST!

I mean as soon as we passed the place while looking for parking we knew we made the right choice driving to this restaurant.

Mmmmmm $1.95 tacos

Maria's Mexican Cocina is the name of this delicious Mexican restaurant in Downtown San Diego that my friends and I thoroughly enjoyed!

        

First off they kicked us off by giving us some chips and salsa AND even some Queso Fundido which is basically like a cup of melted cheese delicious for dipping and its like some NACHOS for appetizer with no extra charge.  I also ordered an Horchata to test out just how authentic the place is and it was delicious! Not too cinnamony and not artificial.  It was Good!

For our main dish I got a plate of fish tacos and my friend got a chicken tamale and they were both amazingly delicious.   The fish tacos were fresh and crunchy and super savory.  I actually do think I enjoyed my friends' tamale a lot more than mine but they were both really good.  The tamale was fresh and homemade and not super filling but just right .... she finished the whole thing and is a very small individual so the fact she finished it says a lot about how good it was.

So in summation, my friends and I will be enjoying a lot more authentic Mexican Food more often - and I am excited! NOTHING IS HOLDING US BACK TO EAT MEXICAN FOOD!

Attack of Burritozilla!

I sincerely apologize that this is another food post but then again I don't really apologize completely because I love food and everyone loves food and even if you are on a diet, you love food so sit back and enjoy this sight.

No, those are not posters rolled up in foil.  Those are none other than Burritozillas.

5 Pounds of Pure Burrito with meat, rice, beans, cheese, salsa, and pure destruction sitting in enough foil to cover an infant in for a good nights rest

You can find this monstrosity at Taqueria Iguana in Santa Clara or in two different locations in San Jose and my friends and I were crazy enough  to try it out.  Well.... at least me and another friend were

• One of my friends ordered a regular burrito knowing he would not even make a dent in the thing
• And the other friend gave us moral support whilst secretly knowing we would not finish it and waited to eat some of the leftover burrito (The real winner in this story)

When we first started we had no idea how to handle this culinary monstrosity so I cut mine in half and decided to just take it in portions hoping that would work.  My friend, as you can see from above, went hardcore hispanic caveman on this thing and just went for it... as you can see in the second picture he needed one of the other guys to hold the lower end of the burrito because this thing was so big.  My friend definitely did not eat as much as I did (not sure if I am proud of that) and as you can see from the pictures most of it ended up on his plate so no offense to him but he was not very fierce of a competitor but it was still fun!

Not sure how it looks on the computer but that picture above is how much I left and was unable to finish.  It was basically a little bit more than a regular burrito and honestly I think that 5lb burrito may have been a bit more than 5 pounds but I just thought I would share that with you all and give you the swell tip to prepare more physically and mentally because me eating a bento box for lunch that day was probably not the best idea :p

Food Fanatic in the Streets, and Coma Patient in the Sheets

San Francisco is great for so many different reasons, but for right now, I am going to discuss the awesomeness SF has to offer in terms of FOOD.  This past weekend my friends and I went to this huge street festival on Folsom St. that had a crazy ton of different food stands and street food trucks.  Let me just say that I have never wished so hard for an anatomy more resembling that of a cow than that day because all I wanted was a second stomach to fit in that great food.

(This event was SO BIG they handed out maps since it covered 6 blocks down Folsom St.)

I don't have too much more to say about it other than all of the food there was delicious and afterwards I could barely move from all that we ate so here are a lot of pictures of the different things we all ate on Saturday.

First off was the Latin food which all was delicious with the traditional corn of the cob with lime, salt, and chile and also some homemade fresh ceviche

 (Necessary corn on the cob preparation steps)

LOOK AT ALL THE PEOPLE EATING MY FOOD

My personal favorite of the day was this find right here.  It's called Onigilly and was rice and your choice of protein wrapped in seaweed... it was DELICIOUS! They had teriyaki chicken, spicy shrimp, and cooked eggplant so we all tried the different types and it was a unanimous vote that the spicy shrimp was too savory to not consider it as the best.

The PORCHETTA SANDWICH from A16 Food Cart was Amazing as well! Freshly carved pork with some kind of garlic spread in freshly baked ciabatta bread was delicious!

 Craziest find of the day I give to this drink right here.  The PRICKLY PEAR AGUA FRESCA, I mean look at how pink that drink is ... I could not get over the color of this one and could not resist from sharing it with you all.  Oh! and it was beyond refreshing really hitting the spot in between all of the eating.

And of course, you cannot eat all this food without having some kind of dessert right? So we did it right and ended our long meal with Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee hitting the spot perfectly.

COCONUT JUICE to keep us refreshed after we downed the Prickly Pear Drink

(WHOLE FOODS does not fully understand the concept of "subliminal" messaging)

I definitely recommend it to anyone who lives in the area to mark this down on their calendars for next year, and if you aren't in the bay, just research for some kind of street food festivals around you. They are so fun and give you the chance to try all sorts of new food! Just be sure to park nearby because by the end, you will still be wanting to eat delicious food.... but moving around is not so easy

(Me and my friends by the end)

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