Cafe Cafe

Ive been seeing Cafe Cafe, a small Italian restaurant for awhile every time I pass it down yonder on Cerrillos Road. Finally decided to try it out. The menu was simple... pizza and some Italian entrees. The appetizers looked good, though, so we decided to sample their caprese salad and a small pepperoni n italian sausage pizza.

The caprese salad was delicious. They added pine nuts, a cool touch. Wolfed it down. The pizza was so-so... the sauce was too sweet for my liking. L wolfed it down, though, so people definitely have different tastes for pizza!

The entrees looked good but were very overpriced. A plate of spaghetti and meatballs cost upwards of $18. I wanted to try their house-made meatballs but $18? I think not. The pizza and apps were reasonably priced though- strange.

Overall, not a bad place. Espiritu still does it for me.

Cowgirls'

What to do in Santa Fe on a Friday night? Cowgirls'! Their frozen margaritas rock (most of the time). Sweet, yes, but countered by the salt on the rim of the glass. Potent? Definitely! After two of those babies, I had to order their nachos to make sure I could drive home eventually. Nachos were pretty good... but it's weird to see olives as an option. I made sure my nachos came without those!

Their drinks rock but food is hit and miss. This restaurant has always been 3 stars out of 5.

Recovering from the party last night so adieu.

Dara Thai

I've passed this restaurant on Cerrillos Road for a couple of years now, and never stepped in. Why? I love Thai food so this restaurant should have been tried long ago. L doesn't like Thai food. At least, she thinks she doesn't. Thursday, L turned to me and said, "Let's try that Thai place on Cerrillos". I was taken by surprise but let's not look a gift horse in the mouth.

The menu carried many common varieties of Thai dishes and I selected Panang curry chicken since that was about the only dish with curry I thought L would like. She hates curry but I didn't want to eat something Asian (Dara Thai has options like orange chicken and cashew chicken)-- what's the point?

The panang curry chicken was brought over in a nicely steaming bowl. We had ordered a '2' (from the 1 to 5 spicy option) and it was spicy enough to give some heat but not reach the ears if you know what I mean. The chicken itself was delicious and the sauce was pretty good. This is a dish I would order again, definitely.

3 stars out of 5 for now.

Burro e salvia!

I had to stop by Women's Health Services on Alameda today and decided to take a peek at the Marketplace. I was thinking of grabbing a bite for lunch, even though I had a lunch bag in the refrigerator at work. I was disappointed to find that the deli was closed due to a water main break and decided to take a brief look around. I was amazed to find that the Marketplace carried cool local products, especially the 'Pasta Delicacies' (I might have gotten that wrong, but it's close enough) brand from Albuquerque. They had burro e salvia!! Now, for those of you who have not visited Italy, frequently you will see on their menus- 'pasta con burro e salvia'. This means pasta with butter. Not just any butter. Butter that is creamy and delicious-- the forebearer of Fettucine Alfredo, if you will.

I'm gonna grab some next time I swing by the Marketplace-- am thinking of pairing it up with some fresh pasta from Torino's @ Home. Yum!

Los Amigos

Impulse eating. L and I were out on a mission to find her new glasses, and we were at Acoma Optical. Nice store. Anyway, we had to kill a hour and half before picking up L's new glasses, so we were pondering the food options in the area. We decided on Los Amigos, the new restaurant that took up the space that was formerly Castro's.

First impressions: they paved the parking lot! It had always been gravel and we were surprised at the nicely paved lot. Entering the restaurant, the ambiance isn't all that different from when the restaurant was Castro's. Same layout, similar looking tables, etc. The only thing that was really different was the menu itself- very colorful and bright. The menu items are similar to what you would find in a New Mexican cafe, but they also carry sandwiches such as roast beef, BLT's, and ham & swiss on rye.

L let me take the lead, and I ordered flat cheese enchiladas with green chile (the benchmark that I rate all Mexican or New Mexican restaurants by). The enchiladas came with beans & rice and we dug in. The green chile was reasonably good, as were the enchiladas and beans. I can't say the same for the rice... the rice was pretty salty and didn't have that proper taste-- it tasted like cafeteria rice, really. The sopapilla was a little bit oily but it tasted good, too. It's not too hard to go wrong with sopapillas :)

Los Amigos is the perfect neighborhood cafe/diner spot where one can find cheap & good food. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for comfort New Mexican food.

Four out of five stars.

**Los Amigos is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner

Tecolote Cafe

August 10, 2008

L and I were supposed to go cycling this morning. Yesterday I had it in the back of my mind to cycle to Guadulape Cafe and try out their breakfast, but decided on Tecolote Cafe after reading Gil Garduno's review (www.nmgastronome.com). This morning, L wasn't up to it so we just drove instead.

The cafe itself is small, consisting of three rooms. People were crowded inside the small waiting area and outside. The wait wasn't bad for a Sunday morning- 20 mins. Once we were seated, the service was excellent and prompt-- our drinks were instantly brought by and the waitress didn't blink an eye when we asked to split the entree.

The menu offered a decent variety of choices and we decided on the

• HUEVOS YUCATECOS…corn tortilla layered with black beans, two eggs any style, green chile, Swiss and feta cheese, pico de gallo, and surrounded with fried bananas; choice of beans, posole, or potatoes

And, of course, we asked for the bakery basket (they offer this in place of toast). The basket was immediatley brought by and contained a blueberry muffin, small cinnamon roll, and biscuit. The butter was very good (I hail from near Wisconsin and am a butter snob) as was the blueberry muffin. The cinnamon roll was pretty good, and L greatly liked the biscuit.

The Huevos Yucatecos arrived and man, was the green chile hot. I don't know if it's the usual at Tecolote Cafe or they just got a fresh crop of chile, but our noses were running! The taste of the cheese was good, but there weren't enough black beans in my opinion. The fried bananas helped balance out the spiciness of the green chile. L loved the potatoes, while I found them to be passable. The beans were medicore but went with the dish.

I'd say that the bakery basket was the highlight of this meal. While I wouldn't rush back, I wouldn't turn down a chance to try this place again.

3 stars out of 5 stars.

My apologies for not having pictures at this time! I need a iPhone ;)

http://www.tecolotecafe.com

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foodie - a person devoted to refined sensuous enjoyment (especially good food and drink)