Cafe Ole - Mall Tacos

Another hiatus. This one has a bit more explanation and was not for lack of trying. More details soon enough. Either way, it ended last night with a trip to (*shudder*) the mall. I read through the list, Cafe Ole is definitely the closest in proximity to the nightmarish hellscape that is the Boise Town Square. Oddly enough I actually ventured inside this past weekend, took Addie down there to use up an almost expired Eddie Bauer reward. She got a flashlight, I got reassurance that carrying a pocket knife at all times is not a bad idea.

Oddly enough the ambiance of this little place is completely removed from the suckfest of the mall. Walk past the fountain and through the doors and it's a nice joint. I preferred the old downtown location a bit more (if for nothing more than the location) but this is by no means bad. Quiet, well laid out, plus an indoor fountain! I don't get it, but the girls love it. The decor seems fairly authentic, even with a very tex-mex menu, and the place is sort of divided into rooms which keeps it from feeling super full.

Presentation - As mentioned above, nice atmosphere. My small gripe was our benches were awful tight to the table, but it didn't really cause any issues. The plating was good, I like the separate dish for the rice and beans to keep things nice and tidy. The sauce on the side was a nice bonus too, made it easy to customize tacos as you ate. 4/5

Aroma - Nice and citrusy, the fish was marinated in something simple but appealing. I'm factoring in the great smelling salsa options too since you have the ability to add it at your leisure. 4/5

Value - This continues to be a tough category to remain consistent on, but I will try. Three tacos with rice and beans for $11.99, average to high for a sit down restaurant. However it really helps that they start you off with chips, salsa, and refried beans. I can't confirm, but these seem to be bottomless as they refilled them for us with no charge on the bill. They also have a salsa bar with a great variety of options to complement the already included ones. I'd say this is normally a $4-6 appetizer at a restaurant, and one I'd typically order. I was also completely stuffed after my meal, so the portions were generous. 7/10

Fish - The waiter didn't bat an eye when I asked for one grilled and two fried, which was nice, let me try both options. The fried is definitely pan fried, not a lot of breading. You can see it in the picture above, probably closer to blackened than fried. The pan frying dried it out a bit and killed off some of the seasoning, so surprisingly enough, I preferred the grilled. The flavor came through a lot better, it was nicely juicy, and just overall tasted better. Not amazing, but solid. Instead of one or two large pieces they are smaller chunks that are plentiful and well distributed. 6/10

Not fish - Some oddities here. The corn tortillas are pan fried and relatively greasy. Not enough to offend, but different. This helps them hold together well enough, even with just one per taco. There's also melted cheese hiding under the ingredients, uncommon for fish tacos. The tacos came relatively naked, I tried the first one with just a squeeze of lime (one on the plate but I think there were more available at the salsa bar) and it was a bit bland. Adding the sauce and some salsa made it much better. Cabbage and pico were solid, sides were good, I like that they default to black beans instead of pinto or refried. 7/10

Overall Taste - These came together well, just enough off the normal recipe to stand out, but still undeniably identifiable as fish tacos. 7/10

Bonus Points - I really like the kids menu, $3.99 for a wide variety of tex-mex or boring options, all of which are plenty big for kids. Counterpoint, drinks aren't cheap, $2.99 for soda, $1.95 for chocolate milk, almost $10 total in beverages at the table. Counter-counterpoint, kids eat free on Mondays. Tipping point, our server (sorry man, forgot your name entirely) was great. +1

Overall Overall - 36/50

36 is getting a bit crowded. I'm 22 stops in and I have 4 of them. Only 6 under 30, seems like I'm a bit positively biased at this point. Either way, worth a stop in to try these.

Starting to get into the less familiar area of the list. There are a bunch on there I haven't been to in years, even more that I've never patronized. Horizons unknown or something like that. Onwards.

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!

Fresh Off The Hook - So Many Choices

I knew this day would come. A truly complicated menu. 3 fish options, each available grilled or fried, and without an obvious "everything" option. One or two tacos, one fish at a time. Not unexpected from a high quality seafood restaurant like Fresh Off The Hook, but difficult all the same. With a little finagling I was able to get a plate with all 3 fish options, which was about all I could fit in my stomach anyway. We'll have to leave the grilled options for another time I suppose.

We ended up at the BoDo location on Saturday night, which ended up being perfect patio weather. A light breeze, low 80's, shade, hard to beat. The location is good, right on the corner of 8th and Broad, good people watching and general entertainment. The server mispronounced cumin, but I'll forgive the mistake, she hooked up the off-the-menu triple taco plate.

Presentation - The patio was great as mentioned above. Service was decent. The interior seating didn't seem quite as inviting, but overall not bad. On the whole, solid experience. The plating was nothing out of the ordinary, functional but not anything visually exciting. From the left; cod, mahi mahi, and halibut. 3/5

Aroma - As usual, mild but good. The salsa and lime-cilantro dressing were appealing, but were not strong. The breading pretty easily overpowered them, luckily it was also good. 4/5

Value - This was actually a fairly contested point with Christine. The 3 taco plate was not cheap at all, $19.99 total. I originally had this as a 4/10, which I feel was being a bit generous, but she thinks it deserves more. Let me fully explain the menu; Regardless of how many tacos you get, you get a salad (or soup for an extra buck), a side of chips and salsa (or fries or coleslaw for $0.75, sweet potato fries for $1.50), and a sherbet. At $7.99 for a single taco (they are not small) this becomes a better deal. Personally a single taco is a bit light for me, but if it's enough for you, solid price. The deal you get is your decision, so we came to a consensus on this and an extra point was earned. 5/10

Fish - Things start to get really good here. Unsurprisingly a seafood specific restaurant has really good fish across the board. I also salute their choices, all 3 are mild flavored and on my arbitrary "good fish" list. High marks before the tacos were even delivered. When they came, they did not disappoint. The fish was plentiful (tortillas were leaning more towards the "burrito" size versus the "taco" size) and perfectly battered. I ate them from left to right, so cod first. It was the best of the three and about impossible to find fault with. Mahi mahi, while good, was a bit dry and lighter on flavor. Halibut was a close second to cod, still a tad dry but seasoned well and oh so tasty. 9/10

Not Fish - Flour tortillas, while not ideal, worked ok here. If nothing else they helped the sizable tacos hold together. Only one lime for the three tacos, but it was juicy. The dressing and pico were simple but tasty. The menu claims guacamole and cheese, neither of which I actually noticed. They could have been there, could have not. Might be getting a bit generous here but I can't find any big faults. 8/10

Overall Taste - Really good, if not a bit on the simple side. A unique sauce or more flavor to the existing ones may up it a bit, but maybe that's not what they're going for. I can see these appealing to a wide range of tastes, as they did to mine. 8/10

Bonus Points - Nothing jumping out at me here. No kids with us this time, so no opportunity there, though their kids menu looks good and decently priced. If I hadn't included the sherbet in the value section it might have earned one. Anyway. +0

Overall Overall - 37/50

37 is a solid score. Depending on where Bittercreek falls it's tied for 1st or 2nd. About what I expected for a true seafood place, but again slightly dinged by the value. I think I'm going to have to have some extra awards at the end, best fish, best value, all that. Anyway, solid tacos, really looking forward to the rest of the real seafood joints.

La Tapatia - 18 Years!?!?

Unless I'm misinterpreting something on their Facebook page, it appears that La Tapatia has been a staple of dining in Boise for 18 years. More than half of my life. Mind blown. I honestly hadn't even heard of it until it showed up on the list earlier this spring.

La Tapatia is on Parkcenter in the same lot as Red Robin and Barbacoa, so I've definitely passed by it, probably hundreds of times. Hell, I lived less than a mile away for a while. Weird. The patio seems decent, if not a bit small. Inside is laid out well enough, quiet and clean. The menu is large, quite a few options. In fact, this was the first time I've run into two separate fish taco entree options. I explained my predicament and they graciously offered to combine the plates and give me two of each.

Presentation - Good, simple decor, not too flashy. Enough to feel like a Mexican restaurant without smooshing your face in it. Service was great, glasses were never empty and chips and salsa showed up shortly after we sat down. The plating was fairly traditional, though I will say that the plate was damn near on fire for a few minutes. I brushed my arm against it a few times shortly after it was delivered and I sure felt it. The bare corn tortillas are the Tacos Mexicanos, the spiced ones are Tacos Al Comal. 4/5

Aroma - Something about the smell was just fantastic. As usual, hard to tell why, but it was about perfect. Citrus, spice, all that, spot on. First perfect score here. 5/5

Value - The online menu I found puts these at $10.75-11.50, which is not bad. However, the actual current menu price for either is $13.99, a pretty sizable jump. They were nice enough to give me 4, entrees are usually only 3. The low point of this review, just not a great deal. I did leave full, so it's still a good sized meal, but a below average deal. 4/10

Fish - In former reviews for places with multiple options I've reviewed the better of the two. Here that's hard to nail down, they were both pretty good. Tacotatorship, I will review both! The Al Comal were grilled and spiced really well. A good bit of bite, garlic, maybe some chipotle in there. The description is vague, so those are a guess, but the flavor was great. The Mexicanos were fried, medium-heavy batter and a really nice lime flavor to them. If there's one fault to find here, the fried were a bit on the bland side, well flavored but pretty mild, especially compared to the Al Comal. However, minor gripe at most. Both had plenty of fish per taco. Two for two. 8/10

Not Fish - Tacotatorship, double double review! Corn tortillas for both, though just one per taco and they did fall apart a bit. The Al Comal tortillas had a spice or sauce on them that added to the overall spiciness. Non-traditional, but I liked it. The Mexicanos had lettuce and pico de gallo in them, the Al Comal had tomatoes, onions, and a few other things that are slipping my mind. The guacamole was good and a nice addition to both tacos and the sauce had a nice spiciness to it. The side of rice and beans was mild, but good. I cleaned my plate without issue. One gripe as usual, no limes. 7/10

Overall Taste - Triple double? Triple double! The Mexicanos were, as mentioned, a bit on the mild side. More traditional, the sauce and guac did a good job of filling them out a bit. The Al Comal edged out the win, non-traditional and it really works. I wish they had a slightly more filled out menu description so I could remember what the hell was on them. 8/10

Bonus Points - Kids meals were fine, Christine's enchiladas were well reviewed, all around solid meal that came in at $50 with a tip, about average for us anymore. I'm almost tempted to give them one for the bonus taco, but that doesn't seem fair. Oh well. +0

Overall Overall - 36/50

The value torpedoed this one. Currently tied for 3rd with The Reef, but at the price advertised online I think they'd be a strong 2nd behind Bittercreek (whose future still remains up in the air). The rules of Tour de Fish Taco are unflinchingly rigid and divisive, and thus, on we go!

Pollo Rey - New Ownership, New Experience

Pollo Rey has been around for over 20 years at this point, though I don't recall going before last fall. We went in for a meal and left overall unimpressed. Food wasn't great, prices were high, I don't remember all of the specifics but just not a good time. I was expecting the same this time, however I did recall something about Bittercreek Ale House buying them a while back, which could prove beneficial. Google confirmed when I got home, changed hands in December. Potential.

I should preface this by saying I just came back from 4 days of the best food I've ever had. I'm a bit worried this might sway my ranking, but on we go. Walking in the ambiance hadn't changed much. Open floorplan, fast casual feel, same menu and all that. However the service seemed improved, I recall a fairly grumpy server last time, this one was way more cheerful. Could have just been an off night for the first one, but this was a welcome start.

Presentation - The decor is fine, not fancy but does the job and fits the Mexican restaurant vibe. The menu doesn't explicitly state it, but it seems like everything comes with chips, at least everything that we ordered did, kids meals included. Tacos are sold ala carte, so per the rules I got two of them, skipped the beans and rice because of the aforementioned chips. There's a salsa bar with a couple options and as many limes as you want. Food comes in lined baskets, nothing fancy, but fits the bill. 3/5

Aroma - The chipotle comes through, there's also a bit of citrus. Nothing too strong, fairly balanced. 3/5

Value - $6.90 for two tacos, $1.59 for a drink, $8.49 total. Not a bad price, not a great deal for counter service. 5/10

Fish - Grilled, so starting at a disadvantage. That said, damn, really solid. About the perfect amount, a nice spice/marinade, and the crispiness from the grill worked great. Not quite all the way to blackened, but crunchier than usual grilled fish. Great flavor, my fried preference stands but there's nothing wrong with these. 7/10

Not Fish - The trend follows here, simple but effective. Two corn tortillas that are done as good as I've ever seen. Slightly blackened like the fish and it seems like they grilled both together as they aren't quite aligned but are stuck together. Hard to explain but for some reason it works great. The sauce was on point, the veggies were great, really good on all fronts. 9/10

Overall Taste - These hit the spot. I almost went back and got a third. Very balanced, perfect size. Not much more to say, just really good. 8/10

Bonus Points - If there was a "most improved" category this would get it. Worth a point? Nah, but worth noting. +0

Overall Overall - 35/50

This is another one that I feel is better than the score indicates. 35 is not far from the top, but regardless of the outcome, Pollo Rey is worth a visit. Seems the new ownership is doing things right.