Rumbi Island Grill - Short Straw Saturday

This was an unplanned stop. It was supposed to be a day of building a little Hulk at Lowes with the girls, Comicon at the library, and rearranging the house a bit. It ended up taking a bit of a turn, and instead I'm at work making sure the contractors moving giant steel plates don't die. Best laid plans. As such I set my alarm for roughly 25 minutes before I needed to be here this morning and didn't pack a lunch. Luckily work is right around the corner from two of the stops on Tour De Fish Taco. Tough choice, but Rumbi won out.

Funny story about this Rumbi, its contents used to belong to a now closed location in Longmont, Colorado. I went to that Rumbi numerous times when I worked at Micron. It followed me home. Decor and all I believe, the themed interior feels a bit too familiar.

Despite those visits (and the previous visits I made to this location) I don't believe I've ever had their fish tacos. Plenty of different varieties of bowls, but no tacos, so I didn't know what to expect.

Presentation - Interior is par for the course, simple island decor, nothing fancy, does the job. The waiting area for to-go food is awkward, a tightly grouped "L" of chairs. Luckily I was the only one. The tacos were surprisingly good for fast casual to-go, they essentially matched the menu picture. Even the Stonehenge of chips was intact when I got back to the office. Kudos to the kitchen, this plastic clamshell presented better than a lot of the sit down restaurants I've visited. 4/5

Aroma - Something had coconut in it. Either the salsa or the ranch. I usually don't care for coconut, but for some reason it really worked here. Solid smelling tacos. 4/5

Value - $8.99 for two tacos and a side of rice and beans. $1.99 for a drink. $11.64 out the door for lunch. Initially this wasn't going to score well, however after eating them, I am pretty full. That rarely happens with a two taco plate. They were generously filled and the side of rice and beans was not small. Additionally there is always a coupon floating around. If I had some foresight I would have brought one, but eating solo it probably wouldn't have helped (coupons are usually buy one, get one for $1). Overall a bit above average. 6/10

Fish - I wish I knew what the fish was, it's on the menu as simply "seasonal fish". It was good, nice little chunks with a mild spice and great texture. Not fried, but not bad. 6/10

Not Fish - I wasn't expecting much from the side of rice and beans, it ended up being great though. Nice flavor, not boring, and it was filling while still feeling healthy-ish. However, the non-fish taco filling was the real star. As mentioned above I'm not a coconut fan, and there was definitely a heavy dose of coconut flavor here, but I really enjoyed it. Mild spice from the jalapeno ranch, nice sweetness from the pineapple, great consistency and balance. I'm guessing this is the best a flour tortilla can do in this tour. 8/10

Overall Taste - Unique. These tasted decidedly Hawaiian and surprisingly different from the more traditional flavor I've come to enjoy. They were great, top to bottom, including the runoff sauce that I mashed the rice and beans into. Just really enjoyable. 8/10

Bonus Points - Nothing jumps out, solid tacos, expectedly decent experience, but nothing above and beyond. +0

Overall Overall - 36/50

Not counting the one-off Bittercreek tires (still deciding their fate, or rather ignoring them until I have to) a 36 puts these tied for 2nd place. Sort of, there are two 37's, so I guess they could be tied for 3rd. Never fully understood how that should work. Regardless, very respectable with 21 stops down. I expect these will become my new go-to at Rumbi, they're solid. Cheers.

Taco Del Mar - It's In The Name

Taco Del Mar is pretty much named for this tour. Taco of the sea, really either fish or shrimp, and shrimp is not on the menu. Might as well call the place Fish Tacos. They pretty much do actually, see below.

See that sign in the lower right?  It's been in the window of all of the Taco Del Mar locations I've visited. Good sign. Literally.

The interior is kitschy, if not a bit forced. Definitely feels like the inside of a Chili's or something, enough freedom to differentiate a bit, but you can just sense the corporate mandated "flair". The girls liked it, surfboards are enough to pique their interest. Not a bad set of kids menu options either. When I ordered the tacos the server asked if I wanted them traditional and gave a short description, which more or less matches my definition of a "proper" fish taco. Another good sign.

Presentation - This is always a tough one with fast food. I didn't do it any favors either, taking it home and thus, letting it cool down a bit more than I should have. That said, they did about as good as they could have.  Aluminum foil wrappers are the right way to go, I wish there was a lime tucked in there, but I can't have it all.  Coupled with the rest of the decor, middle of the road.  Perhaps two citrus slices short of a 4th point. 3/5

Aroma - A bit of citrus on these, relatively mild fish smell. Good, not great. 3/5

Value - $4.59 for a pair, so $2.30 each. Make it a combo with a couple sides and a drink for $7.59, $8.09 if you want guacamole. Two tacos were fairly filling, though I stole the girls leftovers, as a dad is privileged to do. Overall a pretty decent deal. Make it sweeter by buying a Groupon like I did, ended up feeding myself and both girls at a cost of a bit over $10. 7/10

Fish - This is where my delay in eating them is not so helpful. Luke warm they were surprisingly alright, but hot they would have inevitably been better. Pretty mellow breading, not quite as crunchy as I like but not bad. Good flavor, good quantity. 6/10

Not Fish - As I mentioned above, they were offered to me as "traditional", which for the most part was dead on. Cabbage, pico, white sauce, wrapped in two corn tortillas. They included cheese, which wasn't a terrible addition, but wasn't necessary. I liked the white sauce, it had a nice citrus flavor to it that made the lack of limes tolerable. Being a bit generous here to try and even out my mistreatment of the tacos. 7/10

Overall Taste - As usual, follow a recipe and you'll make something very palatable. This is a case in point, these didn't wow me, but even a bit cold, they were good. Not memorable, but solidly good. 6/10

Bonus Points - These tacos were actually free for me. I got some arbitrary Groupon credit a while back that got me the deal for free, and to top it off their internet was down so they couldn't charge my card the extra $3. I don't carry cash because it's 2016 and they refused my offer to write a check, so free tacos! But that was just luck and happenstance, so no points.

Overall Overall - 32/50

32 is a respectable score and these would be a good option for a quick drop in fish taco. The biggest issue for me is location, there are 4 in the valley, but the closest is 6 miles away. Many tacos closer than that. On we go.

El Gallo Giro - Tiny Tacos!

Yeesh, been a bit, eh? This was the big vacation for the summer, a few days in Oregon, a couple days back at work while the girls stayed on the coast, and then back out to Washington to hit some national parks. 11 days total and obviously I've been slacking on the blog. I apologize. A little bit at least. Not a ton.

I did have some tacos on the coast, rockfish and halibut at a place called Clearwater in Newport. Not bad at all, but they had the advantage of being by the ocean. Like right by it. There were seals in a pile on a dock not 50 feet from where we sat. Barking the whole damn time. Dicks.

But tonight we're back at it! For some reason my dad is a huge fan of El Gallo Giro in Kuna (Google says it's called Enrique's now, not sure if that's true), so I've been there a few times. Not bad. Hadn't been to the El Gallo Giro in Boise before, but with a vague understanding of their relationship, I assumed good things.

The restaurant is well hidden on Glenwood, I had to annoy the drivers behind me as I slowed a few times trying to find the place. We eventually made it in to a pretty sleepy restaurant. A couple other customers, Olympics on the TV, and quick service. Just fine for an early Thursday evening.

Presentation - Really no complaints here. It has the ambiance of a typical valley Mexican restaurant and a menu to match. The molcajetas are their specialty (Christine got one, it was pretty decent) but they also have a pair of taco options on the menu. Per the rules, I tried the entree and added an ala carte solo taco. Nothing fancy in the plating, though taco holders are always a welcome addition. 4/5

Aroma - They smelled like tacos. The big ones had a cheese smell, probably because they had cheese on them. The little one was simpler, cilantro, onions, and salsa. Nice tomatillo smell to that one. 3/5

Value - Like Fresh of the Hook, a bit tricky here. The entree (Tacos de Pescado) is $10.95 and comes with a pair of good sized tacos, rice, and beans. Average deal, and the tacos are generously sized. The ala carte option is $1.50, as you can see it's not large, Still, it's a dollar freakin fifty. For $10.95 you could have seven of them. That'll fill you up fine.  I'd wager that 4-5 plus the free chips and salsa they give you would be enough for a filling dinner at well under $10 with a drink. Really solid for a sit down restaurant. 7/10

Fish - I really liked the breading, it was nice and crunchy and just the right amount. Reasonably generous amounts all around, the tiny taco is a two biter, the entree tacos are stuffed with it. Flavor is decent, not a lot of seasoning and they didn't specify what it is, mild but nothing wrong with that. 6/10

Not Fish - The sauces (apparently there were two of them) on the entree tacos were really mild. I can't say I actually saw or tasted them, though I didn't look too hard. This left the tacos a tad dry, but not enough to matter much. The little one was just fine. Flour tortilla on the entree, two corn tortillas on the ala carte. One lime with the ala carte, none with the entree. Just a bit above average all around, nothing wrong but nothing exceptional. 6/10

Overall Taste - These all went down very easy. I don't vividly remember them, they didn't wow me, but they were balanced and tasty, I cleaned my plate. 6/10

Bonus Points - They have an all you can eat taco buffet on Tuesday for something like $8. I want to try that. However it does not include fish tacos and today is not Thursday. No points for you. +0

Overall Overall - 32/50

Middle of the pack, good not great. They will not be winning this contest, but I'll be back for Taco Tuesday to try their other offerings. That has to mean something. Ole!