La Norteña–Pecos, TX

La Norteña
211 E. 3rd St.
Pecos, TX
(432) 445-3273

Update 2016: Since my review the business has moved across the street into a larger building. It appears, though, that the tamales are still for takeout (I am not sure if they have tables available to eat them on site).

La Norteña has found success by making items that are staples in many Mexican meals, tortillas and tamales, but which few families have time to prepare when they cook. The food is served fresh and hot, but La Norteña is take-out only. If you wish to eat it in your car or take it to a city park for a picnic, though, the owners will make accommodation by providing napkins, plastic forks, and other useful items.

Having a widespread following for their Tamales, many travelers stop by for a dozen or so while diving through on Interstate 20. I had heard that these spicy, New Mexico style tamales were good, and they lived up to their billing. The standard tamales sold are made with red chile and shredded pork, and honestly seemed as if they could be served by the best restaurants in Albuquerque or Santa Fe. Around Christmas other types of tamales are available as well.

Open throughout the day, the tamales here would make a good breakfast or lunch if you wish to try them fresh (which I recommend).


RATING: 22

Cuisine: Mexican New Mexican
Cost: $
Hours: Open daily (breakfast & lunch only)
Special Features: Takeout Only

Most Recent Visit: Jan. 6, 2004
Number of Visits: 1
Best Item: Tamales

 

Special Ratings
star 5 Tamales

King And I–Midland, TX

King and I Thai Cuisine
801 N. Big Spring St.
Midland, TX
(432) 682-0988
King and I Thai Cuisine

King and I in Midland


This Thai restaurant near downtown Midland may seem out of place in the land of steaks and barbecue, but the large number of patrons who frequent King and I testify that there is a hunger for Asian food in West Texas that goes beyond the typical Chinese buffet.

King and I Thai Cuisine was recommended by a West Texan I met through my webpage, and I can well understand why this restaurant would command a strong loyalty from its fans. I sensed the same kind of loyalty from the customers who were there, many of whom seemed to be regular visitors and knew exactly what they wanted to order upon being seated.

King and I occupies a small building that looks like a converted fast food restaurant, and it was completely full at lunch time with cars lined up at the take-out window outside. The tables were close together but not cramped. It was not what I would call an upscale restaurant, but ads were placed on the tables indicating that a rather elaborate dinner would be available as a special on Valentine’s Day. I suspect that if guys wanted to wear jeans to the special dinner it would be just fine.

The good thing about having a lot of regular customers is that they seemed to come in and out fairly quickly, opening up tables at a rapid rate. The service was prompt and the waitresses were willing to make suggestions for those who were not already familiar with the food.The waitress I talked to seemed quite knowledgeable, and not only told me what was popular, but also what she considered to be representative of typical Thai food.

Thai Tea
I started out ordering Thai Tea, a creamy blend of tea that is served in almost all Thai restaurants, but not all are as good as at King and I. The glass was filled with enough ice to keep the tea cold, and the ingredients were in the correct proportions so that it did not end up with anything floating on top or settling to the bottom. My only complaint was that I wish there had been more of the tea once I started eating some extremely hot chiles with the meal, but the serving was actually the same size I normally find at Thai restaurants.

Main Dishes
The next step was to choose from among the varied types of food that were available, from salads to curries to noodles. Some lunch specials were being served but since I recognized most of the items on the regular menu as being the dishes I find at most of the better Thai restaurants, I wanted to get one of these.

Pad thai

Pad thai

The waitress recommended the Pad Thai as being one of the better noodle dishes, and one that she liked. My insider information had also recommended the pad thai, so this was enough to overcome my normal reluctance to order a dish that is many times modified for American tastes in too many of the Thai restaurants I have visited. This was a grayish-brown version that might have been as bland as many others I have tried, but turned out to have the full rich flavors of the spices Thais use to make their noodle dishes interesting. It had a “sweet spot” on top where sugar had been added, and a lime was supplied for a citrus flavor. I ordered the one with chicken, and it was of good quality. It came with cabbage on the side, something that I am pretty sure is a Thai tradition rather than being based on popular request by American customers (I happened to like the cabbage).

Side Dishes

Panang curry

Panang curry

In an effort to get a more complete sample of the restaurant’s food, I ordered a small bowl of Panang Curry with white rice. In terms of quantity the pad thai would have been plenty, but I am glad I got the extra flavor of this side dish. First, I was quite impressed that they were even willing to serve me a small portion of curry without charging a price that would have been close to ordering a second meal. Additionally, I was impressed with the curry itself. It was thin and runny (my only complaint), but the flavor was rich and smooth. I am not prone to heartburn, but this seemed to be the type of curry that would not bother people with sensitive stomachs. Many of the rather bad curries I have experienced have been in various cities throughout Texas, and I was surprised to find such a good one in the rather small city of Midland.

Overall Impressions
The Thai chiles I got as a condiment for the pad thai were serious in terms of both heat and flavor. The curry was only medium hot, and the pad thai itself was quite mild without the chiles being added. I know eating Thai food in West Texas is not the same as being in Bangkok, and I believe the restaurant has made an accommodation by making the food less spicy than is normally found in Thai restaurants. After I got the extra condiments, though, I was quite happy with the result. I believe if I were to order a curry dish I would ask them to make it more spicy, though.

I was impressed by what is on the menu, and I believe there are many good things to try here.


RATING: 22
Cuisine: Thai
Cost: $$
Hours: Closed Sun.
Accessible: Yes
Smoking: No Smoking
 
Most Recent Visit: Feb. 12, 2008
Number of Visits: 1
Best Items: Pad Thai, Thai Tea
 

 

Asian Food Details
Tea: Jasmine/ Thai Tea
MSG: No
Buffet: No

 

Special Ratings
star 5 Pad Thai
star 4 Panang Curry
star 5 Thai Tea

Dao’s Tai Pan’s–Tucson, AZ

Dao’s Tai Pan’s
446 N. Wilmot Rd.
Tucson, AZ
(520) 722-0055

When I visited a Chinese market in Tucson the employees recommended about three Chinese restaurants in town that served good quality and authentic Chinese food. It seems to be a different story with Vietnamese food, however, with several restaurants that have been recommended both by local residents and by reviews on the Internet. One of the ones of which I had heard good things was Dao’s Tai Pan’s in the eastern portion of the city (most other Vietnamese restaurants were located closer to downtown and the University).

Dao’s seems to get a lot of its lunch crowd from the neighboring hospital and medical center. While I know firsthand that not all medical personnel are particularly health conscious when they go to lunch, a growing number are choosing light and healthy Asian food for a midday meal. Dao’s is open for both lunch and dinner, but lunch is when its location seems to make it particularly popular with nearby businesses for takeout or quick meals before returning to work.

The decor of Dao’s is similar to the style I have come to know from Vietnamese restaurants in other cities where tables are rather small and the emphasis is on being able to serve large numbers of people during rush times. I actually got more of a feeling of being in Vietnam than usual with decorations around the restaurant and trees outside, it is just that I would not describe the tables as spacious. Patrons are not paying for a fine dining experience but I would describe the restaurant as comfortable with good service. It seemed to be spotless clean with enough light coming in from outside that anything out of order would be noticeable.

I have found some high end Vietnamese restaurants on the west coast with food selection that is more extensive than Dao’s, but outside of this group Dao’s has one of the largest menus. The food at Dao’s falls into the categories of salads, soups, noodle dishes, rice, and hot pots. Chinese food is available for lunch, but the dinner menu is strictly Vietnamese. A large selection of boba teas is available, and it looks as if they know what they are doing.

Although almost all dinners fall within the budget range on my price scale, I think my normal meal would include extras that would increase the cost to the moderate range. The boba tea would surely raise the cost, but in the summer I would think few people would want to order the more economical hot tea.

Spring Rolls

Spring rolls

Spring rolls

Spring Rolls are an item that I consider almost a necessity with Vietnamese food. I tried the vegetarian version with fried tofu and vegetables wrapped in a clear colored rice sheet. Most Vietnamese restaurants do not get this appetizer wrong, so there is not a lot of difference between them. At Dao’s, though, I particularly liked the dipping sauce that was fresh and home made. It seemed to be high on peanut content, which is common in foods from Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

Clay Pot

Bean curd in clay pot

Bean curd in clay pot

The Bean Curd in Clay Pot is probably the most expensive vegetarian dish the restaurant serves, costing $7.99 just for this dish alone. To properly judge the restaurant, though, (and to have a good lunch) I wanted to order the best thing I could find. This dish differed from others I have tried by having more subtle flavors, but it was in no way less satisfying. The freshness of the dish made it very good, regardless of how strong the spices were. The clay pot dish came with fried tofu, a few carrots and onions, and a sweet and spicy sauce at the bottom. The contents of the pot are normally poured over rice and eaten with vegetables. I will have to say that it looked rather plain but tasted very good. I do not know if others would derive as much enjoyment out of a vegetarian dish as I do, since several clay pots are available with meat, but it is not often I find a tofu dish that provides as much satisfaction as this one.

Vermicelli Plates

Rice vermicelli with shrimp and pork

Rice vermicelli with shrimp and pork

The meat dishes are also very good at Dao’s, such as the Rice Vermicelli with Grilled Shrimp and Pork that I sampled. This was the standard Vietnamese noodle bowl (but served on a plate) with rice noodles, vegetables, and cilantro leaves with fish sauce on the side to pour over the plate as desired. Like the clay pot, I found the flavors to be somewhat understated compared to the usual Vietnamese food I eat, but I liked everything about the plate including the less strong spices. The meat and vegetables were so fresh they were good on their own regardless of the spices used.

Drinks
The hot tea was very good, and the selection of boba teas looks very impressive although I did not try them.

Overall Assessment
I don’t know if Dao’s is the best Vietnamese restaurant in Tucson, but I was certainly very impressed with it. When you factor in the cost I think it is one of the better Asian restaurants in the city for the money. I have heard that there are other restaurants in Tucson that might have better pho, but I saw quite a few people eating it at Dao’s.For me one of the big issues with pho is finding one without MSG. Dao’s uses MSG in some of the dishes, but was able to omit it from the clay pot tofu. The restaurant does not use it in the vermicelli dishes, and I do not know about the pho. The food I had did not cause any MSG after effects, so I was very happy with it. I love Vietnamese food but it is not often that I find a place where everything was as good as at Dao’s.


RATING: 23
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Cost: $
Hours: Open 10 am to 8 pm
 
Most Recent Visit: Nov. 8, 2007
Number of Visits: 1
Best Items: Vermicelli Dishes, Spring Rolls
 

 

Asian Food Details
Tea: Jasmine
MSG: Yes
Buffet: No

 

Special Ratings
star 5 Spring Rolls
star 5 Bean Curd in Clay Pot
star 5 Vermicelli with Shrimp and Pork

Blue Donkey–Oklahoma City, OK

Blue Donkey
Food Truck
Oklahoma City, OK
(405) 434-5172
Blue Donkey

Blue Donkey food truck


I am somewhat new to the food truck craze, mainly because I do not often make snap decisions to have a meal as I pass by something that looks interesting, but rather I am already going to a predetermined location.

Food trucks in Oklahoma City seem to travel quite a bit, although the ones I think are luckiest find a home location and only occasionally have to travel to other spots. In examining Blue Donkey’s Facebook page it lists a number of locations where the truck will be located at certain times. Its home base is the Arts District in downtown Oklahoma City (near the Oklahoma City Museum of Art). There is quite a bit of downtown traffic at lunch on weekdays, but the down times at evening and weekends afford Blue Donkey ample opportunities to travel elsewhere in the Metro where likely customers can be found.

One of these excursions was at N.W. 122nd Street and Rockwell, where the Blue Donkey truck showed up several weeks in a row, establishing enough of a pattern that I could predict when and where I could find it. This afforded me the opportunity to try all three of its menu items (tacos and two side dishes), and also gave me the desire to go back and try it again (which I did until I no longer found the truck at that location).

The Food

Tacos and side dishes

Tacos with donkey poo and black beans

Information on the truck indicated that this is Guatemalan food. I have been to Guatemala and did not really recognize the food they were serving as being from that country, especially considering the very high spice levels of the food that somewhat approached those of Hatch, New Mexico, the “chile capital” of the United States.

There are two types of Tacos, chicken and beef (I only ordered the chicken ones). These were quite good and whether they are actually Guatemalan or Mexican does not matter very much because I enjoyed the end result.

One of the side dishes is called “Donkey Poo” and consists of guacamole and cucumbers. Also in abundance is a very spicy chile that I was not expecting in a Guatemalan food truck, but it was good.

I thought the Black Beans were more flavorful than the guacamole, and would be my preference except for the fact that they were even more spicy. The problem with this is that it is in a food truck setting where the selection of drinks is limited, and I cannot get my usual iced tea to quench my mouth with this type of spicy food (as I recall Blue Donkey did not have iced tea, much less the refills that I would have required). I was able to take the food home and provide my own drinks, but absent this I am not sure Blue Donkey would have been an enjoyable experience.

Black bean soup

Black bean soup

The Black Beans also come as a large side order that is in the form of a soup (but these are the same beans served as a side dish on taco orders).

Additional Comments
I am still at somewhat of a preliminary stage in evaluating the food because there were a lot of factors that entered into my experience, the main one being that this is not a regular restaurant where they could serve the drinks I would want to have with spicy food.

The tacos were certainly good, and probably better than at Big Truck Tacos (another food truck which was formerly located at this intersection). Big Truck had a much larger selection of tacos, though, so I am not sure how the two trucks really compare to each other.


RATING: 20

Cuisine: Guatemalan
Cost: $
Hours: N/A
Accessible: N/A
Smoking: N/A
Alcohol: N/A

Most Recent Visit: Oct. 4, 2016

Number of Visits: 2

Best Item: Tacos

 

Special Ratings
star 5 Chicken Tacos
star 4 Donkey Poo (Guacamole)
star 4 Black Bean Soup