A few years ago, we had such great ideas for how to celebrate this milestone--a cruise, a romantic mountain getaway, a short trip to Mexico. As the years rolled on (and children, bank accounts, and life hit us with a cold dose of reality), we began to re-evaluate our options. Earlier in 2011, some friends of ours celebrated their ten-year anniversary by setting out to eat ten different desserts, all from different locations around town. Unfortunately, they only made it through four or five before they had to quit. But we liked their basic premise, and so we began brainstorming on ways to accomplish a similar goal. Nathan (who loves to play with spreadsheets for any reason, including this one) finally came up with a suitable plan of action:
Goal: To eat a ten-course meal for our ten-year anniversary celebration--with each course from a different restaurant in Tucson.
We established a few guidelines for ourselves:
1. All the restaurants we visited would be local Tucson chains; no Chili's or Subway allowed! Some of the restaurants we had visited before; others would be new to us.
2. Drinks didn't count as a "course."
3. We allowed ourselves two lengthy "breaks" to walk off some of the food!
4. The restaurants were all within a few miles of our old Tucson apartment; it would be a trip down memory lane for us as well as an eating experience. Plus, this would make the logistics of the day much simpler.
5. It would be okay to buy only one meal/course and split it between ourselves.
6. Dessert would be the tenth course.
We started our grand experiment at about 1:45 pm on Friday, December 30, 2011. Here's how it all went down--the restaurants we visited, what we ordered, our thoughts on the atmosphere/service, and our final verdict of each location.
Here's the first third of our grand adventure!
I have to admit it--we kind of pulled this restaurant out of a hat when we made our plans. We knew nothing about it going in; we chose it because it was geographically close to the other restaurants on our list, and because we were up for a little variety. Its front facade is part of a small strip mall along Speedway, so it does look a little cheesy. The interior, however, was more tasteful--dark walls & carpets with nice patterns, and a clean bar & spacious table area. Our table, however, had the distressing tendency to rock back and forth a bit.
What We Ate:
Falafel for Nathan, Baba Ghnoouj for myself. Sadly, I made two mistakes at this restaurant. The more serious sin was ordering my own appetizer; Nate & I should have shared, so as to "pace ourselves." But I'd been fasting all morning and I was hungry, so I ordered the ghnoouj without thinking...and that turned out to be my second mistake! I enjoy eggplant, and I enjoy experimenting with new dishes, but this eggplant/yogurt mix just didn't do it for me. Oh well, Nate let me try his falafel, and that was quite delicious.
Verdict: A clean interior and good service did a lot to recommend this restaurant. The service was also prompt and polite--granted, that's easy when it's 2 in the afternoon and there are almost no other customers! Our waitress appeared bemused when we explained our "big plan" to order food from ten different restaurants. Baba Ghnoouj aside, I would be curious to try other dishes at Ali Baba; it's a restaurant with potential.
Course 2: Bangkok Cafe Authentic Thai Cuisine--2511 E. Speedway Blvd.; Tucson, AZ 85716
I've wanted to try this restaurant for years--mostly because I love Thai food. Nate, however, isn't a fan, so it finally took a massive 10-year anniversary eating spree to get him inside. This restaurant was literally one building down from Ali Baba (you can even see Ali Baba in the corner of the picture above!), so we hoofed it over.
What We Ate:
After wanting to eat here for so long, it was hard to limit myself! But we'd splurged too much at Ali Baba, so it was just one appetizer for two...fried shrimp rolls with a spicy sauce. They were darn good, though! Despite being fried, they tasted a lot lighter than the Ali Baba food; plus the pineapple was a great palate-cleanser! Nate loved them too.
Verdict: Eating at sit-down restaurants at 2:30 in the afternoon was a weird experience; nobody was around! As a result, we were free to soak in the atmosphere...it was an older building, but the decorations in Bangkok Cafe were just barely on the "tasteful" side of the tasteful/tacky divide. Since we were pretty much the only customers, the servers were very polite and friendly...our waitress thought our adventure was a very romantic idea! My biggest regret is not being able to sample more of the menu; alas, this was not the day for that. I really want to return to this restaurant someday (with or without Nate!).
Course 3: Tucson Tamale Company--2545 E Broadway Blvd.; Tucson, AZ 85716
Finally--a restaurant we were excited about visiting! Not that the first two restaurants were bad; far from it. But the reputation of Tucson Tamale Company preceded it...Nathan had heard very good things from his coworkers & friends! This restaurant also prides itself on its vegan/organic/gluten-free/fair-trade ingredients, and its tamales are often sold at local farmer's markets. But to me, none of that "pat-yourself-on-the-back," ethically sound talk would matter if the tamales were no good. It was time to put them to the test!
What We Ate:
We got one tamale each; Nathan chose the "Madison" tamale, which was filled with black beans, fresh corn, red peppers, & a variety of spices inside red chile masa. I had "The Tucson Tamale," which was deliciously simple...loads of cheese inside jalapeno masa. It was light and creamy, but packed a kick! Nathan's was the freshest-tasting tamale I'd ever had; it tasted a little too "vegetable-y" for me, but it was a fun change-up. The sheer variety of flavors & options available for the humble tamale made us eager to try more in the future.
Full Factor: By this point, the limits of our digestive system were just beginning to be tested. We slipped up again at Tucson Tamale Company by each of us ordering our own tamale; we probably should have split one to save room from later courses. But the variety left us vulnerable to temptation--and, later, to a slight heaviness in the stomach.
Verdict: Dee-licious! Tucson Tamale Company is not really a "sit-down" restaurant; there are barely any seats inside and a small (but covered) rear patio. However, I don't think that's really their style; they seem to prefer being mostly a "to-go" service. They have many frozen-only varieties of tamales that seem to strengthen this theory. In addition, this is definitely not a "traditional" Mexican tamale factory. However, Mexican cuisine has proven to be very versatile over the years, with many new flavors & ingredients added to it over time without diminishing its overall cultural and culinary impact. Tucson Tamale Company showed us that even the humble tamale is capable of going "trendy" while still staying true to its basic nature. We can't wait to go back and try it out again!
Break #1: A quick walk in the zoo!
Lookit those giraffes!! Aren't they something? Ahem...we weren't totally bloated by this point, but we thought it would be a good idea to give our stomachs a little time to settle before plowing on ahead. So we went to the nearby Reid Park Zoo (a favorite destination of our kids, and a former "neighbor"--we used to live within walking distance of the zoo!). We walked around the grounds for a while, paying a little attention to the animals and a lot of attention to the beautiful weather and the general hotness of each other. Ah, romance.
I'll cover the next three courses very soon!
We really like Bangkok Cafe. Although we'd probably do better going in the middle of the afternoon like you did. It can have horrendous wait times in the evening.
ReplyDeleteThose tamales look awesome - going on the list!