French Kissing a Mexican

Intriguing title no?

What really happened was Belle Bleue and her husband and the boy and I visited Mi Barrio the other night in Grant Park. It came to us with great reviews. The kissing reference alludes to some fantastic tongue I had. I had never had tongue...well beef tongue... and I am glad I have now.

In the interest of time I will review what the boy and I ate since I did not taste our friend's meals. We had:

Guacamole
Good! Simple! Not crammed with stuff that belongs in salsa, picante or pico de gallo. Just avocado whipped to its sexy personal creaminess and a hint of lime and salt.

Beef Tongue and Steak "Soft" Tacos
I loved both these tacos. They are the simple, real Mexican style taco with cilantro, a little onion and lime juice. The tongue was rich and moist; the steak flavorful. The tortillas are hand made, and I wonder if they are white corn because they tasted like corn, but were not the pale yellow of regular corn tortillas. They were delicious and light in any case.

Pork Tamale
Too dry and tasteless. Steaming these babies should keep them moist and flavorful, especially if they are not slipped out of their corn husk embrace until right before serving. I used to buy some from the guys in my old neighborhood in Chicago for $1. They would pull them steaming from the pockets of their coats, and I would unpeel the corn husk and nibble on moist tenderness while I waited in the snow for the train...that was good tamale.

Chile Relleno

Aiight. The poblano probably should have been charred a little more or blanched a little longer. It was a little too al dente and was still more hot than roasty rich spicy poblano-ey.

Coctel de Camaron (small)
Bizarre and very huge. Especially for a small. It was layered cilantro, tomatoes, onions and shrimp in faintly lime scented watery stuff. The shrimp were the right firmness and tasted fresh; they just bored me. But perhaps it is my own fault for sharing this and not getting the ceviche...I was craving the crisp burst of lime marinated seafood and the floral dance of cilantro around firm flesh, but this was hardly the coctel. Though to be fair, the boy liked it and so do Bleue and hubby.

Beverages: A Tecate and a Modelo

The service left something to be desired. It was very busy and confused. Every table was filled, and we had four different people attending to us, but none of them seemed aware of the other. I have no idea whom we tipped at the end. Sadly all of us had eaten most of our supper before the boy's chile relleno even arrived. I am assuming the place is just having growing pains as they seem wildly popular, and this could explain some of the disappointing dishes as well as the haphazard service. Neither were bad per se, just nervously ill prepared. I wish them luck and may be back for another little kiss sometime in the future.