Well, okay... Taquería Los Potrillos

There's a little taqueria on Starcrest, just east of NEISD's sports fields, that I'd been to once before. I have only a vague memory of that earlier experience; I remember that I had the migas, because they don't offer chilaquiles, and my impression is that I was unimpressed. I assume that, because I hadn't ever been back to it.

It's generally a little out of the way for me in the mornings. Rick and I go to the gym four mornings a week, usually -- we play racquetball two mornings a week, and two mornings a week we work out on the machinery ... although it gets easier and easier to find other, more pressing things to do on those mornings when we'd normally be straining at firming up those abs and biceps and what-not. And afterwards we go for tacos. Except, as anyone who's read anything in this blog likely knows already, there just ain't much in the way of good Mexican food to choose among out there in Loopland.

So I guess I'm settling, to a certain degree, when I say that this morning, Taqueria Los Potrillos impressed. Maybe it's because I departed from my quest for the perfect chilaquiles and ordered what turned out to be remarkably good potato, egg and cheese tacos (only 2 -- I'm trying to lose some weight; an effort limited in its success by my constitutional need for tacos).

The place is large and unpretentious, and noticably clean. The tables are far enough apart that you don't feel crowded, and there's plenty of space for servers or customers to move about it. The service was cheerful -- a marked variance with Los Roberto's [sic], which I blogged about yesterday -- and attentive. The chips and salsa they brought us right away were excellent; the chips were a fresh-made mix of corn and wheat tostadas, the salsa was picquant and fresh, with a roasted-pepper flavour that we both enjoyed. The coffee was excellent and the waitstaff replenished it regularly, without waiting for us to wave coffee cups in the air or go to the counter and ask about the possibility of another cup; again, a marked departure from other places I could name (again).

Rick went with the carne asada tacos; they're billed on the menu as "beef fajita," but it was carne asada, and he loved it. It looked pretty plain to me, but it was what he wanted. I, as I said, went with the quintessential breakfast taco combination, potato and egg with cheese.

I don't usually order it because, in too many places, it is served as an egg, unseasoned, scrambled on a dry grill, with a few chunks of too-far-gone boiled potatotes thrown in at the last minute. Or -- and here is the influence of national fast-food chains that have adopted this simple fare and dumbed it down to the mass palate -- a tasteless egg scrambled with those prefab "hash brown" potatoes made infamous by Arby's and McDonald's. But Los Potrillos have maintained the traditional way of fixing this dish, which properly done is every bit as good as chilaquiles. The potatoes are diced small, not shredded, and after cooking on their own are mixed in with the egg and seasonings, then folded into a tortilla -- flour, in my case -- sprinkled with sharp cheddar cheese, and served hot. Personally I might prefer jack cheese, or a mix of jack and cheddar, but cheddar by itself is acceptable. And, personally, I thought the tortillas could be a little better, but there was nothing actually wrong with them. And did I mention how good the salsa was? Yes, I did.

What does that mean?