Finally, some proper Mexican food!

The citizens of New Orleans are, rightfully so, quite proud of their food. There really is nothing like the Creole or Cajun food in this town, the seafood is incredible, we've had some great pho, and, if the stories are true, the Italian places in town are great. I can stop in a gas station here and get some great fried chicken or a ginormous po' boy, or some Vietnamese food in a strip mall that measures up to anything I might get back in Sacramento or San Francisco. There is one food, though, that this town doesn't do well: Mexican.

In California, you can visit a taco truck, or, as we more affectionately call them, a roach coach, and get a fantastic taco or burrito for somewhere in the range of $1.50 to $5.00, depending on your order. Coupled with jalapeno, radish, and lime, taco truck food is something of an obsession for both me and the wife. We also are regular patrons of the tamale guys who skulk about in the parking lot at Lowe's or Home Depot, or the tamale lady who used to come into one of our favorite bars back in Sacramento, Socal's. Let's just say that we love Mexican street food, so we've been quite disappointed with what we've found thus far in New Orleans. There is some high end Mexican food in town, but that's not what makes us happy. There's nothing quite like taking a drive down the levees in the Sacramento River delta and stopping at the truck by the bridge over the river near Courtland, CA for a trio of asada tacos and a bottle of Jarritos, wolfing them down while watching some guys fishing for stripers or catfish next to the bridge.

My wife and I have tried to continue our tradition of going out on Friday nights, but it's been difficult without a regular sitter that doesn't cost a fortune (seriously - a low cost sitter is $10/hour?!?!?), so we have been taking a lot of drives since we can't always leave the baby with a sitter. On these drives, we never see taco trucks, including the one afternoon we drove some 80 miles down the Mississippi River to Venice, LA. Sure, there are po' boy shops and seafood huts and, of course, the ever-present drive-through bars daiquiri shops along the highway, but there are no stainless steel-clad food trucks with tinny Tejano music playing on a Wal-mart special radio while someone with a tenuous grasp on the English language takes my order, the odors of carne asada, pollo asada, lengua, cabeza, carnitas, and a medley of spices wafting out to greet your nose as you place your order, then wander back to the car to await your food. This has been the sole gap in our food experience since coming to town. Sure, we've been to Casa Garcia, and their food is decent gringo Mexican, but I can't take a Mexican place too seriously that has ribs, burgers, and chicken fingers on the menu. The folks in New Orleans swear it's a great place, and it's decent if you want a replacement for Chevy's, but it's no authentic Mexican.

After our experience at Casa Garcia and trying a couple other places, we figured we wouldn't be able to find good Mexican in the New Orleans area. Color us wrong. Last night, we took a drive after work to the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, and I suggested we go check out this golf cart shop that I'd seen on another drive before my wife had joined me here. The shop was closed, and we were getting hungry, but there was a place that advertised tamales just a block down the road, so we pulled in. After placing an order, I asked how long it would be to get the tamales, and they said it would take at least 30 minutes. Evidently they had to be thawed, then baked. Yeah, not so great. We turned around and walked out, then saw a sign advertising po' boys at the corner. We stopped at a restaurant called Che Gaucho, and I wondered why a Mexican place was serving po' boys, but I didn't dare try to find something else given that we had a hungry baby in the back seat and I had a grouchy and hungry wife in the front seat, so in the doors I went, and I'm so happy I did.

The first thing that I noticed was the odor when I opened the door: it was not pleasant by any stretch. The smell of a mildewed, long closed seafood display case greeted my nostrils as I opened the door, and I was very concerned about my food choices. The second thing I noticed was that the dining area that greets you when you open the door is, quite frankly, ugly and poorly decorated, and looks like it used to be a seafood retail space that had the sales counter shortened to just be a small hostess stand, the floor painted black, and some tables thrown into the space. Masking my hesitancy, I asked the girl at the register/counter if I could order some food to go and for a menu.

She handed me a menu that looked like a generic Mexican food place menu with enchiladas, tacos, and the like on it, so I asked about the po' boy sign. She then handed me a second menu, and that was when I realized I had made the right decision. This menu had tamales, empanadas, and various other delectable delights, plus a small po' boy menu. I ordered pork tamales, which my wife was craving, three empanadas (corn, chicken, and beef), a quesadilla for V, and a small green salad for my wife. All told, it came to about $17 with tip, which was ridiculously cheap. We took a brief (20 minute) drive around the Robert, LA area to see Jellystone Park and a couple other sights, then picked up our food and started the drive back to our place in NOLA.

As Sexy Wife got the food situated, the smells started to hit me: the masa and the spicy simmered pork from the tamales and the oil and dough scent from the empanadas. The quesadilla was uninspired, but it was for V, so that didn't matter to much to us. It was just a tortilla grilled with cheddar. The tamales, though, were the best we'd ever had. The masa they used was incredibly creamy and smooth, and looked like it was made with white corn, while the pork was tender and wonderfully spicy and delicious! The star of the meal, though, had to be the empanadas. The dough they used for the empanadas was light, airy, and wonderfully chewy, and the fillings just kept getting better. Sexy Wife kept making naughty sounds while eating the beef empanada, and I had the chicken empanada, which was good, and the corn empanada, which was mindblowingly good. Fresh corn and cheese were wrapped in that delicate dough, then deep fried to a golden brown and served just for me! Seasoned perfectly, it made my day.

So hey, if you're looking for some good Mexican food somewhere near NOLA, you can go to Robert, LA, and visit Che Gaucho. While speaking to the owner's daughter, who is also the cashier, she told me that they had just moved to Robert from Miami. The owner himself is from central Mexico, and he can cook. I can't wait to be up on the north shore again to try it.