So, there are a bunch of foods that I have just never eaten. Like perfectly common everyday foods and drinks that I have never tried for absolutely no real reason other than that I just haven’t yet.
Now, I had attempted one taco before in my life prior to this excursion. It was maybe three years ago and I hated it. I probably just hated it not because it was a taco, but because the taco I tried consisted of nothing more than a cold small tortilla and cold cactus. Thus, I thought tacos might deserve a second chance.
I have also managed to somehow miss out on eating most Mexican foods as well, so I thought I’d test out a few more dishes on this trip to John’s Tex Mex. And yes, I understand that Tex Mex is not a representation of real authentic Mexican cuisine, but Google Maps said this place was close, affordable, and highly rated, so it had to do for the time being.
The taco of the day during this excursion was the fish taco, which is a favorite in my family. Naturally, I had to give it a chance. I was very conflicted in my feelings about this dish. I initially liked the lack of seasoning on the fish because it allowed for a greater straight taste of the freshness of the fish. But after a couple bites, the freshness of both the plain, cold fish and the sauce along with the also cold and fresh tomato and lettuce became a bit too plain. Everything was just a bit cold, soft, and bland when combined. I wanted another element with a bit more distinguished flavor or a kick in there to add some complexity.
Also on the taco spectrum, I ordered the tofu taco bowl. This was a hard taco shell bowl filled with seasoned tofu, refried beans, and a couple of other components. There were a few different options for meaty fillings for this dish, but I thought I’d add some diversity in here by testing their vegetarian options. I am so sorry to say that I really hated this dish. I absolutely love tofu, and this tofu was almost unpalatable. The tofu was so incredibly dry and heavily seasoned that the flavor went bitter. I found myself just digging to the bottom for the refried beans because their blandness was a nice palate cleanser from the chalky tofu.
However, one dish that I solidly enjoyed was the pork tostada. The pork inside seemed to be almost like a pulled pork and it was really enjoyable. The meat itself was very moist and flavorful. I could taste the spice rub immediately in the mouth, but then there was a kick of heat that would come later in the throat. Of course, I don’t have extensive knowledge of tostadas — since this was my first one — but I would label this an overall solid tostada.
The one other dish ordered on this excursion was Ryan’s beef burrito bowl, which he described as, “good, I dunno.” I was planning on taking a taste of this, but sadly, Ryan altered it by dumping a bunch of hot sauce into it before I had the chance. He did, however, note that he mixed hot sauce into it because it was really bland and flavorless, so maybe he actually saved me from this one.
All said and done, I don’t think I’m too eager to return to John’s Tex Mex. It was really cute, homey, and comfortable on the inside and I did like that most items were small and individual, so you can order a bunch of small single items to put together to craft your own platter — for fairly cheap, by the way. However, the food — which was all suspiciously cold or lukewarm, by the way — just didn’t live up to desires.
